Why You Should Be Running Your Home Like A Business

I’m a Project Manager by trade.

I develop and run projects and programs that help meet an organization’s strategic objectives. A huge portion of my job is to implement systems and processes that can support a program long-term in order to keep them operational, efficient and scalable. … and I LOVE me a good process.

Processes are my JAM. Especially in my LIFE.

They keep me consistent. They give me a level of accountability. And they allow me to be more proficient.

So what exactly is a process?

The technical definition of a process is a series of actions or steps taken in order to achieve a particular end.

When something isn’t working for me, it almost ALWAYS boils down to a lack of OR broken process.

More often than not, when we create a process for ourselves and/or our business, we are more likely to perform. When there are no processes (or systems) in place, our mode of operation defaults to random. And randomness leads to waste, stress, and inconsistencies.

While processes are critically important to BUSINESS, I want to encourage you to evaluate the processes and systems in your personal life FIRST.

You know the saying… ‘you can’t put the cart before the horse’? Yeah. That’s what we DON’T want to do here, either. If we work on optimizing our businesses first, but our “house” is totally out of order, there will always be dysfunction in our lives.

What does this look like?

This means creating structure in our day and systems in our family that allow us to know what’s coming, give others the ability to know what’s expected and create a rhythm in our life that allows for organization and flow.

It could mean more efficient morning and bedtime routines, meal planning, a plan for you and your spouse to create more time for each other…. most everything can boil down to better processes and systems.

Guaranteed.

We just need to be able to look at the less obvious things in our lives and bring better solutions for “operations”.

My question to you is this…

If you imagined your home and your family as an operational unit, how would you rate your business? Is it efficient or disorganized? Is it smooth or chaotic? Does it have an output of happiness or frustration?

These are important things to evaluate and resolve, and you can start by looking at the transitional points in your day and creating a simple process around it to make it easier on you.

I’ll share a personal experience with you as an example so you can get to brainstorming…

As a working mom, mornings used to be a shiz show for us. The WORST, actually.

My husband used to have to be into work by 6:30A, so it was just me, the kids, and the giant tornado that swept through my home as we frantically worked to get out of the door on time.

By the time I got the kids dropped off at school, I was usually near tears. I felt totally depleted — physically, mentally, and emotionally. And it was only 7:30A! I would DREAD going into work because I wanted nothing more than just to go back home and crawl into bed.

It was a nightmare.

I knew something needed to change because it was a daily struggle. And when I took a step back to see what I needed to do differently, I realized I had no method of operation WHATSOEVER. There was no system to follow. No rules in place. No guardrails to guide us.

So, I created a process for myself everyone else to follow. We implemented it, practiced it every day, and never looked back.

I want to give you permission to start small. Instead of looking at your chaos as one big THING, identify one of your biggest pain points in your day and create a process around it — a step by step system that you can repeat every day.

Remember, get your house in order FIRST and then go pursue all of your biggest dreams and desires.