Double Management – How Well Can You Walk A Tight Rope?

If you know me, then you know that my two sons are everything to me! I can barely be away from them for more than a day (But I'm ready to take a break from them after 30 mins *covers eyes*) Despite loving both career and family, many women are faced with this double management duty. You’re a manager at work; and when you return to your home you have to manage things there as well. With March being Women’s History Month and Mother’s day around the corner, I thought I’d share some of the ways I stay sane while juggling my businesses and my little ones.

Supportive Spouse

This is a non-starter, and I’m being completely serious. If you do not find a supportive spouse, you can kiss your entrepreneurship dreams good bye. In fact there is a great article on Harvard Business Review to back up my position. I‘m lucky enough to have a husband who, not only is willing to sit down and strategize with me but also understands that being a father involves more than ‘providing’ for the home.

Infrastructure at Home

‘Everyday I’m hustling’, Check out what successful founder of Spanx (Sara Blakely) had to say about working your behind off, no matter how much you think you’ve made it. Of course when you do that, your ability to do things at home is greatly diminished. It’s not lost on me that being able to live in Lagos and have help at home (maid, driver, etc) is a luxury. But at the same time, we all make choices. For example some people choose to buy the iPhone X instead of paying a nanny to help them out. Infrastructure is critical, it’s the fix that let’s you focus your time elsewhere. Be cognizant of the things you choose in place of it.

Infrastructure at Work

This one can be a little harder to settle. What I mean is, it’s hard work to put in place a team that can run like a machine when you have limited involvement. As hands on as you might prefer to be, there will come a time when for one reason or another you will need to step out. When you’re just starting out, hiring (and often firing) is a painfully annoying process, but hang in there! There is nothing quite like going to sleep knowing that everything will run smoothly tomorrow if you decide to take the day off!

My greatest effort

This is perhaps the most important of all. On this long hard journey of motherhood and entrepreneurship, never lose sight of your vision. That is (or should be) the best thing that you can achieve through your greatest effort. On your entrepreneurship journey, it’s ok to be fearlessly determined but you must be compassionate toward yourself. The struggle is real bruuuhhhhh!!!