Planning for Maternity Leave (When You're Your Own Boss)

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Preparing Your Home & Self for a Newborn

My mother-in-law loves the phrase, “prior planning prevents poor performance,” and I couldn’t think of a better reminder as I prep not only my business but also myself and home for the biggest life change my husband and I will ever undergo. While everyone’s circumstance is different, planning for maternity leave seems to be a daunting subject for many women, both in the workforce & those working for themselves. My biggest angst right now is the question: ‘how in the world am I going to juggle my job & a baby while being the best as possible in both areas?’

When you run your own business, you don’t have the typical ‘maternity’ leave that most have. I don’t have paid time off with benefits, but the tradeoff is that I have the luxury of being home with my newborn as long as possible. There are pros and cons to both situations. I stress that money won’t necessarily be coming in while I’m taking time off, which isn’t feasible for our current circumstances. I worry that I’ll feel this pressure to create when I have no stamina. I fear that my clientele won’t exist when I make the transition to enter back into artist mode.

However, I know that while this next chapter is going to be everything from exhausting to exhilarating, I can do certain things now to best prepare myself & home in order to be the best mom possible, and the best entrepreneur possible (when I return).

1.) Create a Plan to Manage Your Business While Away:

You don’t need to be pregnant for this takeaway to resonate. Any creative or entrepreneur needs to have plans in place for the times in life when you're thrown a curveball. Ask yourself these questions if you were to have a situation arise where you can’t work.

1. Are you able to fully step away from your business?

2. Can your business run without you?

3. What areas in your business can you outsource to others?

Set up a system to automate routine tasks, like social media. Create SOPs (standard operating procedures) for your business and routine tasks so you can pass off tasks, where you write out all of the details from start to finish. Time and thought must go into this step -& you’ll want to make this as specific as possible. When these things are created, whoever takes over can ensure they have checked off every step ensuring a seamless transition. Lastly, hire help to outsource & offload tasks, like shipping products or handling client inquiries. 

• Set up automated systems (like Tailwind, which will auto-post on social media)

• Outsource routine tasks, like shipping or client communication

• Create SOPs for your business, so that it can run while you are away

***If you plan to still check in with your work, be sure to set boundaries for yourself and for your team. 

2.) Prepping for baby:

In order to ease as much anxiety as possible prior to the baby's arrival is to be a girl scout & well-prepared. Washing the baby's clothes, arranging the closet & dresser (these drawer dividers & very affordable organizational boxes are my favorites), and having a well-stocked nursing & changing station will free up a little tension and give you a little more time to soak in the newborn stage. I purchased this handy baby briefcase to stow away all of the baby's important documents and adore this baby book to record all of her firsts and memories so that I don't forget this soon-to-be hazy time period. 

• Wash baby's clothes (this has been the most recommended baby detergent)

• Organize the baby's closet

• Create a well-stocked nursing & changing station (and don’t forget a bin for baby medicines!)

Products for Organizing Baby Spaces:

3.) Self-Care:

One area that so many of us often neglect is ourselves. Although I haven't crossed the line on becoming a mother yet, I am trying to mentally prepare myself for the inevitable late nights & messy home, and I'm also trying to remind myself to give myself as much grace as possible during this next chapter. I tend to put myself last, and I'm really trying to make an effort to prepare things to where I can take just a little bit more care of myself in the coming months. Ultimately, if we aren't taking care of ourselves, then we are doing our newborns and significant others a huge disservice. These few tasks below are areas that I know will ease my mind and will hopefully allow me just an ounce of time to take care of myself.

• Create a post-partum caddy

• Make freezer meals in advance (we love these casserole dishes)

• Arrange necessary appointments in advance (like haircuts, dentist, dermatologist, and maybe even a day for TLC - get your nails done & a massage!)

Favorite Organizational Tools:

My favorite caddy for all things >>

<< Our favorite tupperware for freezer meals

Binder for holding all of baby’s important documents & essentials >>

Postpartum Necessities:

Want to know what I’m up to on the every day? Follow along on Instagram at @cocozentner_art or on my Pinterest page. I love to post what inspires me, behind the scenes of my painting process, and my pup, Maudie!

Until next time,

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To see more about what inspires CoCo, check-out her Instagram page at @cocozentner_art!