Overcoming parenting exhaustion and start thriving in your business
Being a parent in business can be tough. From the juggle between business demands and our little ones, right to the sheer sleep deprivation when the nights are tough! I know, because I’ve lived through this too. Not only does out business suffer, but so does our wellbeing and our mental health.
It can be a never-ending cycle too; we try to cram our business tasks into different parts of the day. Just when we feel the evenings should be quiet and peaceful, we end up battling with our kids at bedtime for hours! This is then leaving us so exhausted and stressed that we just aren’t in the frame of mind for kick starting a business task.
I’m going to share some tips for the juggle, your child’s sleep and keeping our energy up whilst building our business.
Plan for the times in the day where you can focus. If this is naps or evenings – have a plan for exactly what you aim to achieve in that small time! It brings full focus and achievable sizes of work that you can complete.
When do you work your best? It might be that you are so exhausted in the evenings that you struggle to get any business tasks complete. Do you work better in the mornings? Then shift your pattern! Instead of working late at night, get an early bedtime and wake up early to get an hour of work done before the kids wake up!
Often, we get in a cycle of using every bit of time to work, work, work. As a business owner, the tasks are never ending! However, carve out the time for a walk or some exercise in the day, even if it is brief. It will help your focus and productivity by taking that break.
Try to switch the caffeine for water! I know it’s easy to turn to the coffee and the sugary treats when we need that boost but as the day goes on it is going to have a worse effect. Water gives our bodies what it needs – and did you know that an apple can wake us up just as much as a coffee with the natural sugar content!?
Now – this is all well if little one is sleeping in the evenings and not rising at the crack of dawn! However, if you are finding that your little one’s sleep isn’t where you want it to be, there are a few things you can think about to help.
1. Sleep Pressure
Overtiredness is one of the most common reasons for night awakenings. Overtiredness can impact: - Short Naps, Night Awakenings, Fighting Sleep and Early Rises. This could be happening with a wake window which is too long in their day - for example between naps or between last nap and bedtime.
Then we have Under-tiredness.
This is less common - but can happen if little one is getting too much day sleep. You may find this nearer the time when they are ready to cut one of their naps, or if their wake windows are changing. For example, bedtime falls too close after naptime.
2. Do they have any Sleep Associations?
This is often a one of the bigger reasons for sleep disturbances that I see. From the age of 4 months, babies cognitively develop the ability to sense they are waking in a position/place different from where they fell asleep. This could then begin to impact their sleep cycles and no longer do these knit together, but they wake frequently between sleep cycles aware they no longer have the thing that put then to sleep.
3. Watch out for Development Leaps.
Babies reach development leaps and milestones at different stages, and will fall slightly differently for each child, for example - rolling, sitting up, walking, talking and so on.
If they have previously slept well, and suddenly there are split nights and lengthy awakenings, chances are they have hit a development leap! Their brains are wired to be awake during big developmental changes, and often not much resettles them.
Top tip - keep consistency! Any new habits we embed now may stick well beyond the leap ends, so try keep to whatever worked before this hit.
4. Set Up a Sleep-Inducing Environment
White and Blue lights hinder melatonin production! Whereas Red/Amber lights don’t hinder the melatonin production – and these tones prove much better for sleep!
Also – do consider white noise not only to drown out any excessive noises or noisy siblings but to act as a sleep cue. This can work well in the bedtime routine.
5. Look at Changes During Routine/Settle
The ideal maximum length of a bedtime routine sits at around 30/40 minutes. So not to overstimulate with an extensive routine. This also helps keep the routine very rhythmic and it acts as a cue for sleep. If there a lot of changes during the routine, this could bring on a bedtime battle!
Running a business whilst suffering in sleep deprivation is extremely tough. And sometimes we need to put some time and focus on what is going on around sleep to get it consistently good and enable you to find a great working rhythm for your business. Put the focus on this and getting your energy back – so you can be the parent and business owner you strive to be!
Please know there is likely something you can do to help. And you don't need to do it alone. You can grab the guide here – https://www.beyondthestars.co.uk/stepstosleepsuccess
