I spoke on a panel today and a lot of women came up afterwards saying that they wanted to learn more about how I started Work It, Mom! because they had ideas for a business and thought it would be a great way to get more work-life balance.

I was honest and told them that I work more and harder than ever, 15-hour days are the norm, I don't sleep, or take very good care of myself I do have more flexibility, but I pay for it by cutting out more sleep.

I am curious -- did you find that starting your own business was better or worse for so called work-life balance

I couldn't agree with you more Nataly. I thought that I would have complete control of my schedule by starting my business. Not so. I routinely work 12 to 16 hours days. I am working on following some of the suggestions in The Four Hour Work Week to reduce my schedule. And I am determined to start sleeping better. It is essential to my health and my creativity.

Balance? It's more like a teeter totter! I love the flexibility I now have with my family. What does this mean for my business? It means getting up at 5am to get a jump on the day, conducting business calls while wiping my toddler on the potty, shipping packages in between carpools, and then working from 8pm-wee morning hours many days out of the week. My mind is constantly running and I feel guilty at times for not focusing on what my family is saying when they speak to me.
Last month I started keeping a Daily Win journal by my bed. Every night I write down one positive thing that happened that day, one thing for work and one thing for home. It helps me to reflect upon my day. I set high expectations for myself and my business. This journal helps me to stop and be thankful for the small wins in business- ie. got the contact name for a buyer I'd been tracking. It also helps me to reflect and appreciate how important the small things are in my family- ie. my son was so sweet and picked a flower for me today. This has helped me to find some inner peace and balance.

It's a myth - if you truly believe in your own company, then you put in even more hours than when you worked for the "Man" or the "Woman." I recently started my own Internet company and 12+ hours/day are common - not counting all the countless hours I sit wide awake in bed with my MacBook beside me just in case I get inspired.

However, like the previous writers, I find myself with more flexibility during the day. As a result, I have been able to volunteer as the room parent for both my children's classrooms and participate in a few other community organizations. But it just means that you are likely to find me online and active at 2am.

It also means that I am more neurotic than before, and need to make time to exercise for both my health and for an outlet for aggression/frustration.

But I wouldn't trade it for anything! The flexibility, the ownership, the reward, the excitement... it's completely worth it.

Well to be honest, I have complete balance with what I do! I work completely around my kids and the most I work in one day would be about 8 hours and I normally don't work on weekends except some training or something when I have nothing else to do (kids are down for a nap and cleaning etc. is done) I'm pretty organized and I have set business hours so I think I'm pretty in control of my time and I'm pretty balanced! The support I get too from our team is awesome to help with that!

I have to say that the balance shifts depending upon my son's needs. He's 27-months-old, so some days--when he needs more Mama-time, that means that I do more work either early in the morning or late at night. I do know that once he's in daycare or preschool that it will be a bit easier in terms of working during "normal" business hours. Overall, like Crystal, I organize my day and the week into getting specific tasks and achieving specific goals. But, being a writer and magazine publisher, I'm not interfacing with clients who necessarily *need* me during regular business hours, and for my editing business, all of my clients know that I work from home and have a toddler, and most are sensitive to that...they know for instance, not to call my home number during the middle of the day, and instead, call the cell.

I agree that I work more hours on my business than I did when I worked for someone else, but because I have control over my scheduling, I am also able to balance more. For example coming from a healthcare background, which is a 24/7 business, I often ended working .holidays and weekends. Now I am able to take off for holidays and spend it with my family. I also can split up my workday to accommodate being home with my 3-year-old son.

Balance definitely becomes more of a challenge during the school year when I am going to school full-time, while working part-time (which lets face it usually moves into full time hours anyway) and taking care of our son. Balance often is a series of compromises in our family, DH doesn't mind occupying Logan while I finish work or school projects as long as I set aside a full family day as well.

Even with everything I am doing I still take time for myself, because I know that if I don't my stress level with get too high and then I am not productive in any area in my life. Sleep is something that goes in streaks for me, I have been getting better with making sure that I allow for enough sleep for me to function during the day, but there are times when i know that I do not get enough sleep and I pay for it throughout the day.

Sometimes you have to let things go in order to take care of yourself, and believe me if you take better care of yourself you will improve all areas of your life including balance.

Like many of the moms who have already replied, I work more as an entrepreneur than I ever did as a full-time employee, primarily because I no longer have a predictable paycheck to rely on each month. If I'm not marketing, selling and delivering my services, then I don't get paid.

I've also found that you're pretty much working 24/7, even if you're not purposely putting in hours into your business. Since I do public speaking and also teach college classes, I'm constantly being spotted by former audience members, students and clients. It's strange to be recognized when you think you're "off duty." It also forces me to always be and look my best when I'm out 'n about...and frankly, I want to enjoy days where I can slum around town in a t-shirt, raggedy shorts, flip-flops and a pony-tail.

On the upside, I have incredible flexibility in my schedule and that's the whole reason I chose this line of work.