How I Run a Successful Data Consultancy with 2 Under 4 (One Still Breastfeeding)
When people ask how I manage to run a business while raising two young children, I usually laugh. The honest answer is: I don’t manage perfectly. I manage differently. I’ve had to completely rethink what “productivity” means when your workday is interrupted by nappy changes, meal prep, and a baby attached to you.
But it works. And it’s taught me more about efficient work than any productivity course ever could.
The Phone-First Philosophy
My breakthrough came when I stopped waiting for the perfect uninterrupted eight-hour block. It doesn’t exist with young kids, so why pretend?
Instead, I do my thinking on my phone or iPad during the gaps that actually exist: while nursing (especially those long evening feeds), during nap time, or while one child watches a show. This is where the real work happens—not the typing, but the thinking.
I use a notes app to capture ideas, draft emails, sketch out analysis approaches, or write social media posts. Voice notes are my best friend here. Rather than trying to type one-handed while a baby feeds, I dictate. A three-minute voice memo might become a full blog post outline or a client proposal structure. The beauty of dictation is that it’s fast—what would take 15 minutes to type takes three minutes to say.
One game-changer: I also dictate directly to my to-do list. When I’m washing up and suddenly think “I need to send that report to Sarah” or “Follow up on the pricing query,” I just speak it into my phone. No drying hands. No stopping what I’m doing. Just dictate, and it’s added to my task list. By the time I sit down for my weekend sprint, all those half-remembered action items are already captured. I’m not relying on my brain to hold onto things while I’m elbow-deep in soapy water.
I’m not trying to create polished work at this stage. I’m capturing the thinking. The polish comes later.
The Weekend Formalization Sprint
This is where my partner becomes essential. On Saturday or Sunday mornings, I get two uninterrupted hours on my laptop while they handle the kids. This is when I transform my phone notes into actual deliverables.
A sketchy outline from Tuesday’s 6am feed becomes a formatted client report. Voice notes get transcribed and turned into a LinkedIn post using Canva. That half-baked analysis becomes a polished slide deck. A scheduling system like Asana or Notion lets me batch this work—I know exactly what needs doing before I sit down.
This system means I’m not creating from scratch on my laptop. I’m just formatting and publishing what I’ve already thought through. It’s so much faster.
The Honest Truth About Parallel Work
Here’s where I break from the usual productivity advice: I’m not one of those people who does “deep work” in a quiet room. Most of my work happens in parallel with something else, and that’s fine.
I dictate emails while doing the washing up. I review data while watching Netflix (genuinely—graphs are gripping). I plan client strategies while folding laundry. I listen to industry podcasts while walking the buggy.
Is this multitasking in the traditional sense? Sort of. But I’m not trying to do two cognitively demanding tasks at once. I’m pairing something that requires thinking with something that’s routine or passive. It works because washing up doesn’t need my brain; folding doesn’t need my brain. They need my hands and my presence, but not my attention. So my attention goes to the work.
The alternative is sitting in silence waiting for energy I don’t have. This way, I actually get things done.
Other Things That Actually Work
Batching is non-negotiable. I do all my client emails on Tuesday morning. All my social media content on Thursday evening. All my invoicing on Friday. Context-switching with three kids is death, so I eliminate it entirely. When I sit down to work, I do one type of thing.
Micro-deadlines help. “I’ll finish this sometime” doesn’t work. “I’ll dictate this proposal outline by Friday’s 2pm feed” does. Small, specific deadlines keep the work moving.
The phone is actually professional. I worried that doing consultancy work on my phone looked lazy or unprofessional. It’s neither. My clients don’t care what device I use; they care about the output. And honestly, being efficient with my time (because I have to be) makes me better at my job.
Lower friction, lower resistance. I keep my notes app open. I keep Dictaphone ready. I keep one document per project where loose ideas live. If I had to open five apps and navigate to the right folder, I wouldn’t do it during a feed. But because it takes two seconds to start, I do it constantly.
Say no to perfectionism on drafts. My first dictation is messy. My first notes are rambling. My first outline is incomplete. I used to see this as failure. Now I see it as the first draft, which is the most important part. Polishing is easy; starting is hard.
Use AI tools—but stay in the driver’s seat. I use ChatGPT to help structure blog posts, refine my email templates, and quickly draft proposals. These tools are genuinely useful when you have limited time. But here’s the important bit: I don’t use them to replace thinking. I use them to speed up the work I’ve already thought through.
I dictate my rough ideas into notes. Then I ask an AI to help organize them or suggest a better structure. I draft an email, then ask it to make it more concise. I never ask it to do the thinking for me—that’s where my expertise lives, and that’s what my clients actually pay for.
The trap is outsourcing your thinking to these tools and ending up with generic work that could be from anyone. The sweet spot is using them as fast-forwarding tools for the mechanical parts, while keeping your brain engaged on what actually matters. With young kids and limited time, this distinction is crucial. You can’t afford to waste your thinking time on things you could automate—but you also can’t afford to lose sight of what makes your work valuable in the first place.
The Grace Required: Choosing Your Non-Negotiables
Here’s something nobody tells you: you can’t be perfect at everything. And trying to be is how you burn out in week three.
I’ve had to get brutally honest about where my perfectionism matters and where it needs to go. My client deliverables? Those are polished. They’re excellent. I won’t send a report or analysis that isn’t my best work. That’s where I draw the line.
But my workspace? Chaos. My email inbox? Overflowing. My laundry folding technique? Nonexistent (I just grab clean clothes from the pile). My social media feed? Sometimes I post the same photo twice because I forgot I’d already shared it.
The capacity just isn’t there to maintain standards everywhere. And that’s okay.
I’ve learned to ask myself: “What actually matters here?” If the answer is “my client’s success,” then I perfect it. If the answer is “nobody actually cares,” then I let it go. The washing up doesn’t need to be perfect. The kids don’t need a perfect mother. My website doesn’t need to be redesigned every month. But my client work needs to be excellent.
This selective perfectionism—strict about what counts, graceful about what doesn’t—is what keeps me sane. And paradoxically, it’s what lets me deliver better work. Because my energy isn’t scattered trying to be flawless at everything. It’s concentrated where it actually matters.
I think this is the real skill: not learning how to do everything better, but learning what’s worth doing well.
What I’ve Given Up (And What I Haven’t)
I’m not working 9-to-5. I’m not in an office. I’m not available for long meetings during the day. Those are genuine constraints.
But I am delivering good work. I am building a business. I am maintaining client relationships. I’m doing this in about 10-15 hours a week, scattered across pockets of time that fit around small children.
The trade is: more structure, more intentionality, less pretense. I’m not pretending I have the same work setup as someone without young kids. I’m designing for the life I actually have.
For Mothers Thinking About Starting
If you’re considering running a business while caring for young children, here’s what I’d say: stop waiting for the perfect time. The time will never be perfect. But the time that exists—between feeds, during naps, in the early mornings before anyone wakes—that time is real. It’s usable.
You don’t need eight hours. You need to think clearly about what you can do in small increments, and then be ruthlessly efficient with those increments. A phone and a dictation app are legitimately enough to build something.
The children will still interrupt. You’ll still watch Netflix while doing the washing up. You’ll still have days where nothing gets done because someone is sick or teething.
But you’ll also build something. And you’ll do it on your own terms, in a way that actually fits your life.
That’s the real productivity hack.
I’d Love to Hear From You
If you’re running a business (or thinking about starting one) while raising young children, I want to know your story. What works for you? What’s your version of “parallel work”? What’s the one tool or system that’s made the biggest difference?
Get in touch using my Contact page or reply in the comments. I’m genuinely interested in how other parents make this work, and I’d love to feature your story in a future post.
And if you’re thinking about starting a data consultancy or need help with your analytics, that’s what I’m here for too. No pressure—just reach out if you’d like to chat.
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