Brianne Ika, Super Mom and Co-Founder of Workman Success Systems was interviewed by Terry Murphy on the Woman Wisdom Network, Women in Business Webinar earlier this month. They discussed how Brianne is able to work from home with 2 young daughters and a baby on the way and still get it all done. They also talked about how important it is to carve out a little quiet time and balance what is most important by labeling it “non-negotiable time” for both work and family activities.
Brianne credits a lot of her success to balancing her time and blocking off sections in her calendar to make sure she does those non-negotiable activities, like making her kids lunch, during the afternoon. However, it didn’t start out that way.
Brianne recalls a few occasions where she found herself working through lunch (like many of us do) and realizing that she hadn’t fed her kids yet! Luckily, she raised polite children; they calmly came up and asked her when lunch was going to be ready. What a wake up call. She decided from that moment forward to physically block off time in her calendar to make sure that her family was taken care of. In fact, she got the whole family involved and started this new undertaking off by creating a refrigerator calendar that was color coordinated so her kids could understand what their expected time blocks were too (like nap time and lunch time).
What about work, and what about all of the other tasks and appointments that Brianne needed to keep? Well, she uses the Daily Success Habits tracker to make sure she is staying right on track with her day. Her perfect week is a rhythm of small and large habits and tasks that move the needle forward.
She attributes her success at work by doing activities that are not necessarily exhausting, but are actually productive. The Daily Success Habits Tracker works so well because, when it is used every day, you are making sure you are doing all you can for yourself and your business.
The DSH tracker utilizes a points system, and to have a good income producing day, you need a minimum of 61 points made up of various activities. This style of tracking is one of the best things that you, as an agent or real estate business individual, can do for yourself because it makes you more accountable to your time. You’ll never change your life until you change what you do day to day. Small, daily steps lead to progress beyond what you ever could think possible!
When it comes to how to have quiet or alone time with yourself, Brianne finds that it can be difficult to do. The gym is her go-to sanctuary. It gives her time to truly disconnect herself and physically put herself in an environment where the objective is to be present for herself. She has discovered that during the pandemic, however, that home workouts can be a lot more difficult. She can’t seem to peel herself away from what is going on at home to complete her self care. She had to find a better solution.
Her self care now consists of watching a movie and eating an ice cream cone for at least 10 minutes alone after her kids have gone to bed. She tries to be her best self, and expresses that there is no judgement in what you choose to do during your alone time. In fact, Terry chimed in that, “we as women tend to want everything to go perfectly all the time.” She suggests, “accepting what you can control and what you can’t control.” Give yourself the ability to control your schedule and environment where you can so that you really can utilize your strengths and systems to further attempt to balance family and business so that you can be your best self.
