The Unnamed Load We Carry

How many different roles in life can you count up?

There will be some that come quickly to mind like Mum or business owner, daughter or chef. There will be some roles that you love which just fill you with energy and some roles that just drain you and you have to fight to do complete. The sneak roles are the ones we don’t even really realise we are carrying. 

I recently learned of a role I carry that I’ve always felt the weight of but never had name for and I think it matters for all women in business to know it exists. 

What is it I hear you cry?! 

Kinkeeping.

You may have already heard of it but for me it’s brand new information! 

Dictionary.com defintes kinkeeping as 

The labor involved in maintaining and enhancing family ties, including organising social occasions, remembering birthdays, sending gifts, etc.

Kinkeeping often is invisible, most commonly carried by women, and is dedicated to family relationships and special moments.

It’s all those extra things we walk around thinking about and sorting. 

Why does it matter to give it a name? 

I don’t know about you but by giving that role a name is really helpful because it made me recognise that role that I carry. I think about being a mum, being a wife, being a business owner, being a helper, being a daughter and a friend but I do not think about those extras that I often do without thinking.

The thing is that just because we often do them without thinking about them it doesn’t mean that they aren’t using up precious resources. As a business owner you are the main resource to your business.. Your time is a resource. Your energy is a resource. Your thought time is a resource. By recognising that kinkeeping uses your resources you can make adjustments to your expectations or timeframes. 

How might it change the way you do business?

Lots of very wise people over the years have said that knowledge is power. The knowledge of kinkeeping is power in the hands of a female business owner. It’s power because the more we know about our load the more we can make sure we allow to be able to carry it. 

For example in our house we have 3 birthdays within a week in November which also comes a week after a 2 week half term school holiday where we live. The kinkeeping involved with school holiday entertainment and then 3 birthdays is HUGE. I’ve done many October/November’s feeling overwhelmed but not fully grasping why. Now I can see that load of kinkeeping is taking so much of my energy and that I need to not add extra things into my diary, need to get ahead with marketing planning or workload so that I can kinkeep well whilst also keeping my business thriving. 

Virtual Assistants and Kinkeeping 

The relationship between business owner and virtual assistant works best when they work together as a team. There will be so many times as your virtual assistant I could help lift the load to help with those kinkeeping moments. When you need juggle your priorities so that business falls further down the list than family or kinkeeping a virtual assistant can keep your business running by responding to customer emails, keeping social communities running or creating product descriptions for things you’ve created to sell. 

A virtual assistant can also help with more personal diary management. Perhaps having someone remind you to send a birthday card to Auntie Agnes might just lift some of the mental load of kinkeeping. 

Feeling the pressure of all roles? Realised that your kinkeeping responsibilities mean that your business suffers sometimes? 

Get in touch so I can help you and your business thrive.