Video summary
The video addresses the unique challenges faced by mothers who are simultaneously running a business and raising a toddler while adapting to a new culture, such as moving from the US to Pakistan. The speaker emphasizes that for parents in this situation, especially during the first few years with a young child, the primary goal should not be "joyful productivity" but rather achieving steadiness. With a two-year-old requiring constant attention, managing interruptions is inevitable and exhausting; therefore, simply surviving the day without breaking down or losing one's temper is considered a significant success. The speaker validates that context switching is a major drain on mental energy, and unless these switches are predictable and planned in advance, they disrupt focus and prevent deep work. Consequently, creating a steady rhythm of self-regulation amidst unpredictability is the most realistic and commendable objective at this stage of life.
To build this necessary steadiness, the speaker shares their personal evolution from valuing total schedule freedom to actively seeking structure. They now implement a routine that includes morning coordination with a partner regarding childcare, followed by exercise and dedicated deep work sessions before the child enters daycare. This structured approach ensures that essential tasks like physical health and significant business progress are completed early in the day, making the rest of the time more manageable. The speaker acknowledges that feeling alert and slightly pressured while the child is at a new daycare center is normal and expected, but they encourage trusting this process as familiarity grows. By securing these core blocks of time, parents can avoid the trap of trying to force excessive hours into an already stretched schedule, which often leads to burnout rather than growth.
As businesses face revenue plateaus, there is a temptation to simply work longer hours, such as increasing from fifteen to twenty, but the speaker advises against this when dealing with young children and cultural transitions. Instead, the focus should shift toward working smarter by optimizing existing time and leveraging available resources. The transcript highlights two powerful tools for efficiency: artificial intelligence and human assistance. AI can handle research, brainstorming, content creation, and administrative tasks overnight, effectively acting as a tireless assistant that operates while the computer is closed. Furthermore, given the location in Pakistan, there is an opportunity to hire qualified, cost-effective human freelancers to manage specific duties, allowing the parent to focus on high-level strategy and creative work without sacrificing personal well-being or family time.
Ultimately, the message is one of compassion and realistic expectation for mothers navigating complex environments. The speaker urges listeners to celebrate their ability to maintain any level of consistency, labeling it as becoming a "superwoman" worthy of gratitude. By redefining success from high-output productivity to sustainable steadiness, parents can reduce stress and potentially find joy in what they have already accomplished. The conversation concludes with an encouragement to explore AI tools or local freelance networks to optimize workflows, ensuring that business growth does not come at the expense of mental health or family stability during these formative years.
Read the full video transcript
Larissa, thanks for letting me record
this, and you have a you're you're
blessed to have a a business where it
brings you, you know, full-time income.
Um, and you're also a mother of a
2-year-old.
And you just relocated to a totally
different culture.
From US to Pakistan, right? Like Like
you're juggling a lot. I I'm now I I'm
now about year three into moving to a
different culture from US to Mexico,
which is not not as different from
compared to US to Pakistan. Uh, you have
to deal with time zone and everything,
too. So, so I feel like it took us like
2 years at least to get settled.
You know, and you're like just on that
cusp right now, and we're we're moving
to year three. So, things are much more
steady now, but I don't have children.
So, especially young children. Like one
young child is already like a two
full-time jobs, you know, in my
experience when I've lived with my
brother when he had when he had a young
child of 1 or 2 years old. So, I don't
blame you at all for for for having to
deal with a lot of context switching.
Because a baby is like context
switching, you have to be a context
switching expert. Okay, now I got to
deal with that. Now I got So, so context
switching, meaning I'm working on this,
and now I got to work on this other
thing.
Or I have this interruption.
Is a killer of joyful productivity. Um,
you know, unless unless the context
switching is planned and in advance and
predictable, rather.
The more predictable your context
switches are, to say, "Okay, I know that
in an hour I'm going to be doing this,
and then 2 hours I'm going to be doing
that, 3 hours I'm going to be doing
that." It's very steady schedule, then
the context switching is your brain is
already
preparing for it. It knows what the
day's schedule is. It's preparing for
it. But whenever you have an
interruption, you have to context
switch, and your brain gets
discombobulated, and and if you have
another interruption, yes, yet another.
So, right now, honestly, just surviving
is success for you.
While the baby is young, I'm I'm
serious. I mean, unless you have
full-time help,
right? Like or if you're the full-time
help for the baby, just surviving,
meaning and I don't mean like, you know,
on the verge of um giving everything up,
but it's more like just getting through
the day without
without, you know, freaking out or
having tantrums or whatever yourself,
is success, in my opinion. Without
breaking down, without like just And so,
I feel like joyful productivity is not
even the the goal right now. If if I
were you, and I'm not, I couldn't
couldn't even relate, but it's like the
goal right now is more like
steadiness. It's like, how can I produce
steadiness in my self-regulation
throughout a typical day with all the
interruptions and all the stuff that I
have to deal with that is often
unpredictable.
And it's like, if you can reach
steadiness, I'm I'm celebrating. I'm
like acknowledging and honoring you to
no end because
having a young child is like that.
It's so
I just want to I just want to encourage
you to say, you're probably doing great.
>> [laughter]
>> Your standard right now shouldn't be
joyful productivity, it should be
steadiness. And the steadiness is
is a you're it's you're you're being
superwoman already if you can create
steadiness in your life and in your
work.
You should really be grateful and
appreciative of the of what you've
created.
And maybe that'll bring a little bit of
joy.
You know.
>> Yeah.
Can I respond?
>> Yeah, please do, if you'd like.
>> That's helpful to hear.
And something I've recently started in
the past month is to So, coming I would
say
um in the previous
So, before I started my business and had
a child, I had a year of a sabbatical.
>> Yeah.
>> So, that year plus this past
bunch of time, I think it was a lot of
like I wanted the freedom of setting my
own schedule every single day.
>> Yeah.
>> And I relished it. I needed it.
>> Yes.
>> And what I recently realized is, okay, I
actually want more structure now. I've
I've gotten my dose of that and I want
more structure to create the steadiness.
>> Yes.
>> So, what I did is realize in the
morning, I'm just going to get up,
>> Yeah.
>> um get my trade with my husband in terms
of who's watching the baby in the
morning,
>> Right.
>> go go get my exercising.
>> Yeah.
>> And then the latter half of the morning
is my deep work time.
>> There we go.
>> So, then come and and our baby is in
daycare, but there's this feeling of
like during this
It's just 7 hours while he's in daycare.
Like
>> Like
yeah, yeah, yeah, you're you're looking
to looking to see if you're alert,
essentially.
>> Yeah. So, I guess there's a little bit
of like
Yeah, that pressure feels like it really
removes the joy. But maybe maybe that's
okay.
>> and and and I think that's to be
expected when this daycare place is
relatively new to you. I mean,
everything is relatively new right now
with the 2-year-old, but it's like once
the daycare has been proven in your mind
that it's okay, they do a really good
job or they will let me know with enough
notice whenever there's something I need
to attend to or whatever,
then the steadiness can come in. But
right now, I think being alert makes
sense as as a as a mom, you know?
Yeah.
>> Okay.
>> I I it sounds to me like you're already
you're already making headway in in
creating that steady structure
for yourself to to be able to have
something more predictable.
>> Yeah.
And and so I think I'm I'm like, "Oh, by
By the time I break for lunch, I
basically like the two most important
need things
exercise and you know, 3 hours of deep
work have been accomplished for the day.
So everything is sort of downhill from
there."
>> Right.
>> But I think recently realizing like
sort of feeling like if I want to make
more, I feel like the business has got a
plateau
in terms of the revenue and feeling
this what I
I don't know. Anyway, maybe this is not
Anyway, my hypothesis is right now is,
"Oh, to push through the plateau
>> Yeah.
>> maybe I do need to put in more time.
Maybe I have to try really hard to get
from like 15 hours to 20 hours."
>> Well,
>> And then I'm like, "Oh, it already feels
so hard to squeeze them in."
>> No, I know, right. Well, I mean, of
course, there's always an opportunity to
optimize the the hours you spend at
work. And of course, there's always
opportunity to also do more, spend more
hours, but right now with a young child
and new new culture,
yeah, I I don't blame you for not being
able to to carve out more hours. You
should probably work um think about
working what is what is working smarter
might mean for you. That's probably a
a priority to like just noodle on. I
don't know if you use AI tools, for
example, but if you do, nowadays AI is
so good that it's literally an assistant
now. Like my AI does so much for me. It
does stuff overnight. And it brings it
to me in the morning. Like researching,
brainstorming, whatever, posting, you
know, fixing, whatever. Does it
overnight. You know, my computer's
closed, but it wakes up the computer and
then it does stuff and then it
closes again. It's amazing. So I feel
like if if you uh you know, for people
who who who don't like AI, if you can
afford a human assistant to to do these
kinds of things, Pakistan there's very
very famous for smart and and low-cost
freelancers, okay?
>> [clears throat]
>> So, you're there in the country, so you
might be able to find some human
assistant to help you that's that's well
qualified or, you know, and or use AI to
to do that. But yeah, there probably is
opportunity, obviously, to to optimize
and and to grow by doing some research
about
how to get better at certain channels or
how to, you know, what what other
channels you should be using to for
growing um you know, audience and
revenue, that kind of thing or sales,
you know, optimizing your sales
um process, etc. etc. Yeah.
So, I hope this is helpful, Marissa.
>> Thank you.
>> It is.