The Unbusy Mom: More clients, same hours, plus a business that doesn't need you for everything.

What do you tell your kids when you need to work?

Because it's one thing to decide you're going to sit down and get something done - it's another thing when the kids are around, you're trying to focus, and everyone has their own ideas about whether you're actually available.

This conversation got into the very practical side of making work time work when you're a parent.

She can lose a couple of days researching something for her website…. Then she comes out the other side wondering whether it was even important in the first place.

Sound familiar? 😂

And that's happening alongside homeschooling six kids, working around their activities, and trying to find a couple of hours to record content once a week.

The schedule itself actually isn't looking too bad - there's a routine - there are places where she can get business work done….

But there were two things we needed to look at...

Doctor's appointment.
Work.
Rest.
The creative stuff.

And when one thing gets moved, everything else gets shoved around to make room for IT.

That's where the bucket system started making sense for this conversation. Because it's one thing to put something on the calendar, and another to know you've actually protected time for it.

We also got into the kids taking on more responsibility over the summer, whether she really needed a team in her business, and why hiring more people isn't automatically the answer.

You have ten hours a week to work on your business.

TEN.

And then the kids interrupt - bedtime takes longer than expected - somebody needs you…. And suddenly the afternoon you thought you'd have to work is turning into a whole thing.

So, of course, you start trying to figure out how to MAKE the schedule work.

But what if part of the problem is the expectation that those hours should go exactly as planned?

This reading got into the mental story behind bedtime, the need fo...

She can feel the big-picture success she's working toward. So why does she keep getting pulled into today's sales numbers?

There's a trip to Scotland she'd thought she'd have the money for by now. There's a Facebook business page she's checking to see whether people have been polite or just harassing her. And there's the ongoing frustration of being busy all day and STILL not getting the bottle labels on.

So in this reading, we get into what happens when you stop letting the pressure to make sales dictate your entire workday. We...

You want more free time - but you’re not willing to give up your ambition to get it.

You’re not going to stop showing up for your kids, and you’re not going to stop growing your business. So where exactly is that time supposed to come from?

Because there’s one place I think you’ve forgotten to look.

All the stuff in your home and business that doesn’t actually need to be done by you.

The podcast editing. The show notes. The client reminders. The meal pla...

Remember the dog walker episode? We're doing a redo. 😂

The first time around, we got into Tami's work style, the puppy, and how much smoother her day goes when she has the right support in place.

But now she knows her birth time.

So we get to look at her chart again and see what changes. And this time, we found something that makes a BIG difference to how she actually organizes her workday.

In the original reading, we were looking at pre-planning tasks for specific times and days.

She likes a plan - she also likes approximately everything.

Because she's meant to have a normal workday, a bunch of different things she enjoys doing in her business, and all kinds of different hobbies outside of it.

So if she's been trying to narrow everything down to ONE thing because that's what productivity advice says to do? We need to have a conversation. 😂

But here's the other part of her work style: she actually wants structure.

A tidy workspace. Tasks at specific times. Projects broken down into step-by-step act...

She thought by now she'd have figured out how to make room for the beach.

Instead, she gets the schedule working beautifully for a month or two…. Then realizes she's holding the whole thing together with bubble gum and tape.

(She's been busy onboarding clients, building a CRM, and recovering from surgery.) 😂

And then there’s the laundry. The unexpected phone call. The shiny thing that suddenly seems much more interesting than whatever she was supposed to be doing.

So we got into what it looks like for her to work...

She wants absolutely no one telling her which step to do next.

Okay, I love this combo. 😂

Because you might look at her work style and think, great, let's make a schedule. Put the projects in their slots. Break everything into steps. Build the launch checklist.

And then you've accidentally built the exact thing that's going to make her work harder than it needs to.

‘Cause she wants to choose which project gets her attention in a particular block of time. And once she's inside that project? She wants to fo...

What if this gets to be easy?

That's the question I want her asking when she gets stuck.

Because she's naturally going to look for the lowest-lift path. The easiest way this could actually work.

Not 47 possible solutions.
Not every hole that could go wrong.
Not another giant list of things to fix.

Just... how could I let this be easy?

And then there's the very real problem of trying to do creative work while the kids are home.

We got into what...

You’re allowed to want more free time.

Unrushed mornings. Actual lunch breaks. Evenings filled with things you enjoy. A house where you’re not the one managing every single detail.

And you’re allowed to want all of that while still being ambitious about your business.

But nobody’s going to magically show up and decide you need more support. Your kids aren’t suddenly going to start doing the dishes. Your team isn’t going to spontaneously take over the responsibilities you’ve never actually handed off.

You have to decide what...

“What can I do to fix this problem?”

That question might sound like a recipe for making yourself crazy.

But for her? It's actually how her brain naturally engages with things.

She sees the problem. She pokes at it. She starts looking for the thing that could make it work better.

So we don't need to turn that off - but we do need to stop treating it like a character flaw. 😂

And then there's the other interesting piece: she likes structure around when she works, but once sh...

She had 3 and a half hours with no client... and had no idea what she wanted to do with them.

So we started talking about whether she needed more freedom.

And then her chart basically said: Maybe you need a menu. 😂

You know, like pre-chosen things you already know you enjoy. Projects. Tasks. Possibilities.

Then you get to look at the list and go, “Ooh. THAT sounds fun today.”

Which is a very different kind of “in flow” than just staring at a blank afternoon and hoping inspiration...

What if you're not supposed to be “on” every day?

That's one of the biggest things we got into here.

Because as a Manifestor, you might have a day where you're absolutely lit up and ready to make something happen.

And then... nothing.

No desire. No energy. No interest in doing the thing.

Except maybe something fun. 😂

So instead of trying to force a consistent amount of output every single day, this reading gets into what it could look like to build around those burst/rest cy...

She spent almost 14 hours dealing with tiny pop-up tasks.

Fourteen. Hours.

And none of that time was actually accounted for in the schedule. 😯

So of course the things she really wanted to do kept getting pushed to the bottom.

You know, writing. Drawing. Resting…. The stuff that's actually for her.

And this is where the reading got really interesting, because her chart isn't telling her to just “be more flexible” - she wants certain things happening at certain times - but once she's in the project, she wants to...

The database was out of date.

And suddenly this wasn't just a database problem - it was a “how do I make this feel easy enough that I’ll actually do it?” problem.

So we started there.

Because her brain naturally wants to know: Do we have enough time for this? Do we have the right support? Is this actually sustainable? What happens if I add this to the week?

That isn't her being fearful or difficult - it's her internal security meter doing exactly what it's designed to do.

What if the “easier” version of your business isn't some unicorn life you have to figure out how to force into existence??

What if it's just what naturally happens when you stop working against yourself?

Because maybe you don't need the 14-step morning routine.
Maybe you do your best work alone.
Maybe you need to work from the sofa.
Maybe you need to change the plan when your brain says, “Actually, THIS is what I want to work on today.”

And that's not you being difficult - that's you being YOU.

She already knew time blocking worked - she just wasn't using it.

And the question wasn't really, “How do I make myself be more disciplined?”

It was: What would make this feel like something I get to do?

Because her chart actually wants structure.

A tidy workspace. Certain things happening at certain times. Step-by-step plans ready to go.

But here's the part that makes this interesting…. She doesn't want the schedule to decide everything for her.

She wants to be able to look at that time b...

What do you need to feel more secure about this?

That’s the question I want her asking when she feels stuck.

Because her brain is naturally going to look around the corner.

That “yes, but have you considered THIS?” thing isn't a problem to get rid of - it’s how she’s designed to make decisions.

And then we got into her w...

What if you're actually supposed to choose what you work on?

Not have every single priority decided three weeks in advance.

Not follow a perfectly pre-planned schedule.

Not force yourself to focus on one thing just because somebody told you that's how productive people work.

We got into this really interesting combination of wanting freedom to choose what feels like the right thing to work on... while still wanting step-by-step plans for how to actually do it.

So yes, there's structure - just maybe not the kind...

Someone told her to focus on ONE thing.

Which was probably terrible advice. 😂

Because she's a Manifesting Generator. She's meant to have a normal work day and a bunch of different things that actually light her up.

So we got into what happens when you've got a brain that wants lots of things going on... and you're trying to force yourself to focus on one thing because that's what you're “supposed” to do.

And then the real-life problem underneath all of it?

The puppy.

Yep. 😂

Co...