Back-to-School Schedule for Entrepreneur Moms: Create a Routine that Brings Stability, Growth & Freedom

Aug 14

Written By Katie Zabarauckas

The Back-to-School Shift: From Summer Fun to New Routines

Back-to-school energy is in the air.

It’s time to savour the last few weeks of summer by…

Taking sundaes to the water park and running back to the car because the rain starts pouring down.

Celebrating birthdays and sharing full-body laughs with friends who get you.

Trips to the beach with full beach attire on, pool noodles ready, only to arrive and be met with a full-on case of green algae.

After dinner walks, talking about how jellyfish don’t have brains or a heart, followed by racing to the wooden bridge tucked away on the walking path behind the house.

Of stormy afternoons, packed onto the couch, cuddled up under the blankets, watching Free Willy and then pretending to be Willy and Jessie.

This time of year is the slow transition from the slower summer pace, where a lighter work schedule and focus on rest, relaxation and fun change to waking up early for school, packing lunches and new routines.

It’s a time where the nervousness of what is to come next — whether that’s sending your child off to their first day of kindergarten, going full-time in your entrepreneur business, or starting a new chapter yourself — naturally comes up. And it’s all part of the journey.

September can also mean stepping into a season where the to-do list grows a little longer, your calendar fills faster than you’d like, and your energy feels like it’s being pulled in more directions than usual, which is why it’s the perfect time to reset, re-align, and create a rhythm that actually works for you.

Taking Clues from Success: Building Habits for Freedom & Wealth

Have you ever heard the phrase, “The rich leave clues”? I’ve taken that to heart lately because I’m on a quest to learn and adopt the habits of the most successful women — the ones who are creating lives full of freedom, wealth, and meaning.

I also know September can feel like there’s a lot on your plate.

There are business goals you’ve been meaning to work on, school schedules to adjust to, and personal dreams that deserve more space in your day.

That’s why I’m using this natural back-to-school reset to pause, re-align, and set goals for the remainder of the year — not just the big ones I’ve already mapped out, but the daily habits and rhythms that will support my vision of learning, building, and cultivating generational wealth.

The Morning Routine That Sets the Tone for Success

In my own journey to learn and adopt the habits of the most successful people who are creating a life of freedom and wealth, I am taking this natural reset to set goals for the remainder of the year. To remind myself of the goals I already created for myself and to create daily habits and rhythms to support my vision of learning and cultivating generational wealth.

I know how easy it is to roll straight from bed into a whirlwind — answering client emails while making breakfast, skimming social media while packing lunches, and feeling like you’re already behind before the school bell even rings.

That’s why starting the day with intention has been a game-changer for me.

A few years ago, I read The Miracle Morning. I can honestly say it was a life-changer. I have implemented it consistently over the past three years. Of course, there are days when I can only implement parts of my Miracle Morning routine, but overall, it continues to expand and evolve as I enter different phases of my life.

The general idea behind The Miracle Morning is to start your day off with intention by practicing six different elements daily:
• Silence
• Affirmations
• Visualization
• Exercise
• Reading
• Scribing

The one thing I want to encourage is that it doesn’t have to be perfect in order for you to show up each day and practice your new routine; you only have to show up and do your best. It can look like spreading out the different steps throughout the day, or it can be a quick 5-minute grounding exercise to start your day.

Some of my favourite resources that I have incorporated into my mornings and throughout my day are:
• Headspace app for meditations
• Inner Dimension for yoga
• Yoga with Adrienne on YouTube
• Activations app for motivation throughout the day

Recommended Read: The Miracle Morning

Goal Setting: Designing a Life You Love

A great place to start is by creating the space to ask yourself what’s next?

I am a big journaler; I could write for pages and pages and pages (a habit I developed over time). For me, writing is meditative. It’s where I process what’s happening, record the golden nuggets of knowledge I am learning and whatever else I need it to be.

I find that when I’m unsure of what direction I want to take next, whether that be what I want to learn next or what goal I want to accomplish. It helps to braindump everything that’s swirling around in my head.

Just taking 10 minutes to pull out a piece of paper and pen to write down anything and everything that comes to mind without criticism, judgment, or harsh words can simply be what I need to get started. I use it as a time to allow my creativity and big dreams to flow. From there, I can design my life.

I like to create a ritual by lighting a candle, grabbing my favourite tea and cozying up under a blanket.

I start by using this prompt:

“If I could do anything this next X months, what would it be?”

And then I let it all flow. Sometimes, the first couple of bullet points are stubborn, but state the obvious things and let them go…

Learn to start investing
Read one business book a month
Family Friday cooking nights
Pay off one debt
Splurge on those pair of earrings I’ve been eyeing
Plan a girls’ night
Start blogging weekly
Attend an in-person workshop on building a business built on freedom

Let yourself really go wild; this is the time to dream big, not to limit yourself.

Next, identify your three big goals that you are working towards:

For me right now my goals are:

Working with incredible women to create a website that allows them to show up authentically online and work with more dream clients
Build wealth by learning and starting to invest in real estate
Save and plan for our epic family vacation to Mexico

The point of this isn't to stress yourself out thinking about what you need to accomplish, but to align your daily actions with your goals. Think baby steps.

From Big Dreams to Daily Actions

So often as women in business and women raising a family, we put a lot of pressure on ourselves to be everywhere, do everything and do it all perfectly.

It’s a lot.

It’s a recipe for burnout.

Sometimes the first step to creating a life that is full of fun, laughter, and I can’t believe that just happened moments is creating a vision for what your life could look like and starting to take baby steps towards it.

Maybe you want to work only during school hours so you can pick your kids up after school.

Maybe you want to take Fridays off so that you can pamper yourself and have a self-care day.

Maybe you want to raise your rates so you can spend more time working with only the clients you love.

Whatever it is, it’s all ok.

You can have it simply because you want it.

This is a guilt-free zone.

Where courage means you faced your fears and did it anyway.

Where laughter fuels your creative work.

Where being a successful entrepreneur, a mom, and a woman is celebrated and accepted.

How to Time Block & Theme Your Days for Maximum Focus

The reason this matters so much is that without it, your week can turn into a patchwork of scattered tasks, constant context-switching, and that nagging “I worked all day but got nothing done” feeling.

Let’s take a minute to talk about the practical application of creating a schedule that is built for you and is the best use of your time.

We’re going to be looking deeper into:

Time blocking
Themed days
Clear goals and boundaries

“Know that you are exactly where you need to be, and are learning exactly what you need to learn to be successful.”

Themed days + time blocks

Start by grouping similar tasks and activities together.

Have you ever felt the off-balance because you spent the entire morning jumping from one task to the next?

It often feels like you accomplished nothing all day, and you just want to lie down and take a nap, or binge watch the newest season of Perfect Match.

What this looks like in practice is blocking off days and hours in your week to complete just one task or goal.

For example:

Monday afternoons → calls and meetings
Tuesdays → creative work
Wednesdays & Thursdays → client work

*Framework courtesy of Chaitra from the High End Web Designer*

One of the books that helped me create a schedule based on my goals was 10x is greater than 2x.

The biggest takeaways I took away from this book are that:

Rest and learning are non-negotiable.
Schedule free days first (school holidays, vacations).
Focus on only 2-3 priorities a day.
Block tasks in large chunks of 3–4 hours.

Recommended Reading: 10x is easier than 2x

The phrase “paying yourself first” is something you might have heard in the finance space. I love that this is a similar concept, but it focuses on giving yourself the space to rest, learn and create first. What a beautiful gift to give yourself.

Track Your Wins to Stay Motivated

It’s easy to forget how far you’ve come when you’re in the middle of the hustle. Some weeks, it might even feel like you’re spinning your wheels. That’s why tracking your wins, even the small ones, is such a powerful motivator.

Having a place to track your success allows you to see what is working and identify areas for improvement.

I use my journal daily to work through any blocks and record anything I am learning, things like quotes, lessons from books or workshops, or anything that I am uncovering as I learn.

Earlier this year, I started a spreadsheet where I wrote down all my wins and the date I accomplished them. I like to review it monthly to update it and to give myself the opportunity to see that I am accomplishing things, both big and small, and keep my motivation alive.

To take this a step further, within the context of your business, track your progress so that you can see what’s working and what’s not working to optimize your workflow further. Track things like:

How many people signed up for your email newsletter per month
How much traffic was directed to your website
How many sales calls you received through your website

and then take the time to learn more about how to optimize and improve your processes to increase those numbers.

Mindset Shift: Moving Beyond the 9-5 Way of Working

There is a difference between focused and productive work and working for the sake of completing a certain number of hours in a day.

You can be productive and write a new and captivating blog post in two focused hours.

You can take an hour break in the middle of the day to recharge and still accomplish everything on your to-do list.

You can still provide financially for yourself, your family and your business and pick your kids up from school by doing something you love.

Your Next Step: Create a Schedule That Works for You

This is your reminder that you get to design a schedule that serves you, your family, and your vision, guilt-free.

MENTIONED RESOURCES:

Headspace app for meditations
Inner Dimension for yoga
Yoga with Adrienne on YouTube
Activations app for motivation throughout the day
The Miracle Morning
10x is easier than 2x