Balancing Babies and Business for the Work-At-Home Mom
Balancing Babies and Business for the Work-At-Home Mom
So you've finally decided going back to work will be the most beneficial to your family. But being home with your children is also very important to your family, so you decide to have the best of both worlds and become a work at home mom. It seems like an incredible blessing at first, making money while you get to stay home with kids, but starting out, many moms find the hardest part about working from home is actually being able to work while looking after your kids.
Here are a few helpful hints that will allow you to bring home the bacon, while cooking it at home too.
Create a written schedule and tie it to your wrist. (Well maybe you can forget the latter part of this tip)
But just because you're not punching into a time clock every day, doesn't mean you shouldn't plan your day as if you were working in the office. Allot a certain amount of hours to spend time on your work and your kids. If you were a workaholic in your past life and just can't seem to pull away from your work at the assigned time, buy a timer, and once it goes off, hit the save button on your computer and turn your attention to your kids. Also, take advantage of any down time you may come across. This may include naps, playing quietly in their rooms, when dad comes home and of course bed time. Include these hours in your schedule to maintain a consistent agenda
Of course, like anything, life gets in the way sometimes and your child may get sick or have another problem that will divert your attention from work. But doesn't this also happen while you're at the office and the school nurse gives you a phone call to come pick up your child? The point is don't be discouraged if you can't work a lot one day. Just pick up from where you left off and you will eventually catch up on your missed assignments.
Make a Child-friendly Work Space
It's very important, especially if your kids are young, to have a work environment catered to your children. Create fun projects your kids can do while you work on your own projects. Set up a desk and chairs for your children with a variety of supplies they will have fun with but also to not completely distract you from your work. Things such as coloring books, Crayola Art Kits, some toys and games are a few options. Also, to make your work area more inviting to your kids, use their projects they created while you were working, as pieces of decor in your work space.
Time for Business
While communicating with clients may be one of the most difficult feats a work at home mom may encounter, by altering your method of communicating, you can save yourself a lot of effort and embarrassment with clients. Most businesses conduct communication via email these days. That's going to be your most convenient mode because if your children are yelling at one another it can't be heard through your computer, (well maybe in the future). If the telephone is your only option, try to arrange phone calls between your children's downtime. If you child does interrupt a phone call, politely ask the person you're speaking with if you can schedule a different time to talk.
Don't Be Afraid To Ask For Help
If working at home and being a mom at the same time is beginning to be just too straining, hire somebody to look after them. If you're not able to afford a babysitter, don't be ashamed to ask a family member or family friend to help. The summer will probably be the easiest time to find inexpensive or free child care because many teenagers are out of school and looking to earn a little bit of cash. You can also coax your niece or nephew to look after your children by offering to buy them something.
Of course don't forget about your spouse as a way to help out with your children. After all, they're his kids too.
Time-Saving Tips
In addition to creating a work schedule to allot time for your children, don't forget that you may still be responsible for household chores such as cooking, cleaning and laundry.
To save time cooking, you can dedicate a day to cook a few meals that will last a few days. All you have to do is freeze it. Actually, dishes such as spaghetti and lasagna taste better after they're a few days old. If your family or you for that matter isn't too keen on leftovers, a slow cooker is another option. Just cut up what you need, throw it in, set a timer and voila, dinner is served.
While most people who do laundry wait until they have absolutely no clothes until they heap loads and loads in the laundry room, as a work at home mom, you may want to rethink saving all the laundry until the last minute. If you don't, you may end up spending the entire day on just laundry. Instead try to do a load a day so it doesn't get to that overwhelming point.
Again with cleaning the rest of your house, don't wait until everything is a complete mess before you clean. Try to dedicate small increments of time to each space in your house, especially the rooms that need the most attention.
One of the most important things to remember for a work at home mom is to not sweat the small stuff. If you don't have time to cook or clean for a day don't demean yourself for not being perfect. A mom who works at home usually decides this so she can spend time with her family. If you find yourself at a crossroads, reflect on what you feel is most important and take your next step from there.
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