Kiddipedia
by: Sabri Suby, founder at King Kong
Building a business and raising children simultaneously will give you a different perspective that you can’t unsee.
It is said that as a parent you will get to spend approximately 18 summers with your children, and that 95% of the time you’ll spend with your children, in a lifetime, happens in the first 18 years. The remaining 5% is over the course of your life. While this may seem irrelevant to business owners, there is a key, valuable business lesson to be learned from having children – perspective.
The significance of “yes” or “no”
The truth is, whether you’re a business owner or flying high in a senior role, the more you realise that it is what you say “no” to that really makes the difference. Understand that every time you say yes to something, you’re saying no to something else.
This becomes even more pronounced when you have children. Business owners, especially those running a business and a household, should always be thinking: ”how can I strip my activities down to my most leveraged activities? Is what I am spending my time on of absolute value to my business? Or my livelihood?”. If the answer is no, then you simply shouldn’t be doing those activities.
The same can be said for the consistent guilt of not spending enough time at home. My wife and I have recently welcomed our third daughter to our household. As a result, my time at home with them is more precious than ever. That weekly check in meeting with a supplier takes 2 hours per month, could it be delegated elsewhere? That’s 2 additional bed-time routines per month, 24 per year… Learn which tasks are worth your time, and delegate or reappropriate the ones that aren’t.
Separating chores from valuable actions
A poll carried out by Savanta ComRes earlier this year found that 45% of parents feel burned out from juggling work and home, while a study by Oxford university found levels of stress, anxiety and depression rose in parents and carers during the pandemic lockdowns. This is all pretty expected stuff… All of your most time-consuming activities in one place, and one time, all making the same stress-inducing noises.
In my business I apply the 80:20 rule to help identify where I should be focusing my energy. The 80/20 Rule demonstrates that you can, and should disregard 80% of your business activities. They should either be delegated or outsourced so you can focus on the top 20% that produce revenue.
So, surely the 80:20 rule can be applied at home? Try this with your mounting list of ‘to-do’s’ that you probably have stuck to the fridge. Cross out all of the activities that do not contribute to the things that really matter, such as, feeding the children or keeping the pets alive, and you’ll automatically find yourself with a much smaller list of boxes to tick.
Common mistakes made in house and home
The past 2 years have left many households, parents and carers feeling drained. Some businesses are switching back to the office, but many are now facing hybrid working options and possibly wondering if full balance will ever be restored. It is crucial where to draw the line, and to recognise when the line between work and home priorities are blurring.
Attempting to hold a meeting with background distractions, such as providing a consistent supply of snacks or breaking up a sibling argument, is of no use to anyone. My advice is to block off client time, in fact, block off time for everything that matters, and be strict.
Block time out to walk alone, block time out for story times and block time out for important client calls. I block out Monday and Friday to tend to basic administrative, and non-priority items. This can be anything from approving non-urgent documents to clearing my inbox. Tuesday through to Thursday is where I perform deep work, where I give the tasks worthy of my attention the full 100%, without distraction.
This method can be implemented in the home. Identify a time where you are child and chore free, and dedicate that time to deep work on the business tasks that really move the needle – new business calls, content creation and sharing your wins – the tasks that will grow your business. Try to carve out a regular day and time for this activity and stick to it, even if it’s just 10 minutes, it is worth every one.
Accept that you can’t do it all
For many, accepting that you won’t be as proactive at home as you can in the office is the major part of the struggle. It is impossible for you to achieve the same outcome in a completely different setting, but it doesn’t mean that you can’t create some new processes to make your new surroundings easier to manage.
Work closely with other members of your household to clearly identify which tasks need to take priority, and treat them (temporarily) as colleagues rather than family members. This will help identify which tasks hold meaning and value to you all, as a household, and collectively you can work together to get them done. Ticking these boxes at home will help to keep stress levels low – for everyone.
Accept that where you might have normally ticked 7 things off of your to-do list before, you may only tick 3, and that’s OK. But by identifying areas where things are not running smoothly, and creating time pockets to manage these items appropriately will transform the equilibrium of working-home environments; and you’ll soon become the ultimate, entre-paren-teur.
Sabri Suby and King Kong
Sabri Suby is the founder and head of growth at Australia’s fastest-growing full-service digital marketing agency King Kong, and author of international bestseller Sell Like Crazy. Operating out of offices in South Yarra and Melbourne, King Kong has carved out a niche by guaranteeing results – or they don’t get paid. Sabri strongly believes that impressions, clicks, likes, shares, follows and other similar vanity metrics don’t mean a thing unless they convert into sales.
King Kong is the 17th fastest-growing company in Australia across all industries, and has been named the fastest-growing digital marketing agency in the country by the AFR and Deloitte.
