Top class businessmen often tell us about their successful habits and we can learn a lot from what they tell us. But as a mumpreneur or work at home mum, running a business and a family means that such habits are not always easy to adopt.

Being a mum and an entrepreneur is a delicate balancing act and many mums often turn to online life coaching experts and services to approach this significant challenge. By coaching women I can understand the difficulties and the particular circumstances, between work, family and being a woman. I also focus her in on seven fundamental “habits” that will help her to juggle it all without feeling overwhelmed.

Habit No. 1 – Prioritise!

We certainly don’t have enough time and it is very precious and easily wasted. Have you ever noticed that time flies when you’re having fun, but the opposite is also true?

If we are busier than ever and time is flickering past, we have to be able to understand the management of time, or we will be quickly overpowered.

Most professional coaching experts will tell you that time management is rule number one.

Look at all the tasks ahead of you, get a piece of paper and write it all down. Sort the list and prioritise and work on whittling the list down until it is workable. When you embark on this task, it can seem daunting, if not impossible. However, with a little ingenuity and application, you can make it work. When you have finished, print it all out and make sure you display it prominently, so you can always refer to it.

Habit No. 2 – Don’t forget about you!

The second habit of highly effective mumpreneurs is that they remember to think about themselves! Without rewarding yourself and enjoying valuable “me” time you will quickly burn yourself out and be far less productive.

Don’t think about priority time for yourself as being a selfish decision, but view it as a large investment in your vitality and business life.

Habit No. 3 – Make friends with a little routine in your life.

Become a creature of habit with a set routine. They say that it takes a minimum of 14 attempts at something before a habit becomes ingrained, and we all seem to work better if we adopt a routine.

Some of us do not like to be structured in this way, but experience has shown that injecting some routine markedly helps with daily management.

Habit No. 4 – Don’t get distracted!

Even though phone calls from good friends can occasionally be quite a relief from daily pressures, make a point of not letting distractions get in the way of your efficiency. You have to block out time when you can turn off your mobile phone and make use of your voice-mail facility.

I’m certainly not saying that you should be ignoring people, but taking some “quite” time to concentrate on bigger projects can make all the difference when it comes to major accomplishments. Once you’ve taken this time for yourself, you can then set aside additional time to return calls once you’ve finished the endeavours that are crucial to the expansion of your enterprise.

Habit No. 5 – Create sacred space to work.

Habit number five is about creating your own special and protected area. A surprising number of mumpreneurs operate their businesses from their homes. If you happen to be a work from home entrepreneur, you’ll know from first-hand experience that it’s not a good idea to try balancing a laptop on the living room table and placing your file cabinet in the lounge!

In whatever spot it is in your house, make your workspace special and if possible set it up in its own room, away from the children when you’re trying to work. Set this room up with ergonomics and efficiency in mind, and don’t use the room for any other purpose than work. If feasible, try to have another computer set up in another spot for personal applications.

Habit No. 6 – Healthy body, healthy business.

If you don’t look after your health, all the other habits will be difficult to maintain. Exercise and fitness must become a habit and you should plan on getting at least three exercise sessions in per week.

Do whatever is easiest for you to take on as a new exercise habit. So if you don’t reside close to a gym, it’s just not reasonable to plan to go to a gym three times a week, as you’ll quickly realise that you simply don’t have the extra time to travel back and forth. Keep it simple – walking, running, cycling or dancing in front of an exercise DVD are all examples of keeping your body moving that are easy to adopt into your life as a mum.

Habit No. 7 – Build a superstar success team.

You’ve heard the expression “no man is an island” and the same applies to women! None of us can run a business alone and we all need support in various guises – mothers even more than most as we’re juggling so many commitments. Ask yourself what sort of support you need to become a highly successful mumpreneur and start to look for ways of building your “superstar success team.”

Professional coaching for women can help you to achieve your business goals much more quickly than you would on your own and is an important part of any highly effective mumpreneur’s success team.

But however you choose to build your team, don’t try to do everything on your own as there is so much to be gained from seeking the wisdom of good friends, confidants, associates and professional coaching experts. They can be superb sounding posts and lynchpins to your business success!

Amanda Alexander, Director of Coaching Mums, helps pressure-cooked, stressed working mums who long for more hours in the day. Through her coaching programmes and online life coaching courses, Amanda shows mums how to create fulfilling and successful lives. For your simple 5 step guide to balance as a working mum, download our free eBook today!