23 Ultimate Mompreneur Tools to Build a Happy Empire

Believe it or not, running your own business from home is relatively simple. It is all the family distractions, social demands, and personal obligations that get in the way. These demands can easily stress any entrepreneur right out of business.

Intentional Marketer University’s founders, Anne DiVitto and Meredith Dale, know a thing or two about these demands! We are both full time entrepreneurs, wives, mothers, and also desire to keep ourselves sane through diet, exercise and sleep.

You have asked for our expert advice and here it is.

IMU’s 23 Ultimate Mompreneur Tools to Build a Happy Empire.

Sleep is going to be the most important factor that determines whether you are able to meet the demands of family and business requests.

• Sleep makes you less irritable and better able to handle distractions. A well-rested mom will handle her toddlers 8^th demand for milk (taking her attention away from work) far better than a mom working on 4 hours of sleep.
• Sleep deprivation will cause you to make bad decisions. Enough said.
• Sleep allows your brain to ‘think’ about the best course of action. While we sleep our brains have time to rest and weigh the options of each decision we must make. Giving your brain this relaxation is key to making the best business decisions.
• Sleep solidifies your memories. Ever wonder why we as mom’s forget how stressful newborn baby nights are when considering having another child? It is because we were sleep deprived! Those memories simply did not get stored. As an entrepreneur make sure you give your brain plenty of time to rest so you can remember names, connections, and other important business figures.
• PZIZZ: Free in the App Store. White noise is proven to produce a more restful sleep. Choose from various relaxing ambiance noises.

Family Time Tools is next on our list.

When you work from the home there is no denying it. You will be interrupted. That’s why Family Time falls next on our list of needing the most attention. Trying to force yourself to work when your small children (or teenagers!) need some attention will only lead to burn out. Set scheduled Family Time and the whole business will fare better.

• Play More, Worry Less. If you are following proven business growth strategies day in and day out, then your business WILL grow regardless of another hour working while your toddler is screaming (this just leaves you with a headache!) Laughter will make you feel better and come back to work more relaxed.
• Set clear times for family. Do not bring your work (phone, tablet, or other) with you during this time. Consider this your rest time. Your family will appreciate your un-divided attention.
• Ask family opinions. When you are facing a business question, ask your family. They just might help you get unstuck. Little minds often come up with the biggest and best ideas!

Now, we get to the Work Tools. Did you start your stay-at-home business because you wanted the time freedom of being home with your children and spouse? But now all it seems like you do is work (or worry about working)? Remember how we mentioned in the Family Time section that using proven business growth strategies causes your business to ‘work’ whether you are physically working it or not?

Believe it, because it is true! That is why actual ‘work tools’ fall 3^rd on our priority list. Yes, there will be some days that you put in more hours than others when you are setting up your automations, email marketing funnels, social media campaigns, and writing emails to your leads. But when you have put in the long hours (read, hired a babysitter for the day), you truly can spend more time taking care of yourself and your family then working on tasks that aren’t working. Here are some of our favorite IMU work tools:

• Sanebox.com. Free App to keep your email inbox de-cluttered and stress free when you open it first thing in the morning.
• Wunderlist. You can find this free App in the App Store. Successful entrepreneurs always have a to-do list. Wunderlist helps you keep it organized effortlessly.
• Slack. Free App in the App Store. Hosting team meetings, or client meetings can become crazy fast. Slack helps you make your meetings clear and productive.
• Google Docs. Free App in the App Store. One location allows multiple team members to edit any piece of content. (Not sure what ‘content’ is? Check out this IMU article).

Social time is important to your overall mental health as well as the health of your business. Even though times may be lean financially when you first start your business, there are some tools that can help. Use these tools to take clients to a coffee or lunch while tracking your expenses for business write off. How about a nice, inexpensive date night with your spouse? Not only is it good for the relationship, it is good for your mind. As an entrepreneur it is easy to never stop working. There is no ‘cleaning crew’ that comes in to let you know it’s time to leave (wait, we ARE the cleaning crew)! Use these helpful tools to schedule your social time.

• Netflix. It doesn’t get much better than pulling on your favorite pj’s popping the kids some popcorn, and settling in to cuddle with a favorite show. It’s good for the mind and its healthy for the wallet.
• OpenTable. Free App in the App Store. Save money, find great deals on local restaurants running specials, and get out of the house. Take clients for lunch as well.
• Expensify. . Free App in the App Store. Track expenses for business write off while securing clients with a nice meal at the same time.
• FreedCamp. Free at FreedCamp.com. Track the little tasks in your life so that you have real free social time. Don’t let the little tasks turn a molehill into a mountain.

Last on our list, but definitely as important as all the others, is exercise. We are exhausted, we are mentally drained, if you have faced a recent disappointment or dry spell you might be discouraged. Guess what? Regular exercise cures all of that! Exercise produces endorphins, and endorphins make you feel better. Where ever you have a spare hour during the day, fill it with an hour of exercise. You will release pent up frustration, increase oxygen into your body which stimulates ideas, and you will all of a sudden have these amazing epiphanies! Trust us, some of our best thoughts have come while we are exercising. Here are two of our favorite exercise tools to help make that hour fun.

• MyFitnessPal. Free App in the App Store. Track healthy food choices.
• Coach.Me. Free App in the App Store. Make your exercise hour count! Free coaching and advice.

As a mompreneur you are beyond stretched thin, we get it! We are in the same shoes too. Using the tools and schedule above, we have been able to not only keep our sanity but grow our businesses. You can read more about the IMU story here.

Do you have a favorite mompreneur strategy you use that wasn’t covered here? We would love to hear it. Drop a comment below.