Balancing Work And Home While You Work At Home-Houdini Ain’t Got Nothing On You
A work at home mom has a unique set of dilemmas, and soon realizes there is a fine line between a curse and a blessing. A mother who works a traditional job gets to leave for the day while a home based business means simply that, you are home but still with the responsibility of running a business. Working from home doesn’t lessen the determination, pride, or enthusiasm you have for your job. Quite contrarily it empowers you to be more passionate than ever.
So how do you handle the assumptions that since you are at home you must have time to bake cookies for your child’s school carnival? Tactfully would be the first answer that came to mind. Honestly and politely are other choices. Guiltlessly would seem the most important answer though.
Explaining what products or services you provide and how much time it consumes would be a great way to help Miss Johnson understand why your kindergarten son’s version of your “job” isn’t exactly true. Mommy’s who stay home all day and paint may seem like the perfect candidate for baked goods necessary for this year’s fund raiser. Moms who paint custom floor cloths, complete with deadlines, to sell is the “rest of the story.”
Once Miss Johnson understands where you stand with time the next step for a work at home mom is not to feel guilty because you have to say no. Always remember that when you do have time to help in some way you will, but now is just not a good time. The dialogue you allow to run through your own head can sometimes be more harmful than what anyone else truly thinks about your efforts. When you balance work and home and work at home… remember, Houdini doesn’t have anything on you babe.
The Magic Act-Managing Your Time Before It Vanishes
There is just not enough time in the day. You’ve heard it before and if you are a work at home mom you’ve probably said it several times. You may have even said it several times today. Twenty-four hours seems eternity when you are anticipating a special event, but flies by far too rapidly on a normal day.
There are strategies that will help you manage your time more effectively and efficiently. Schedules have to be made even if you abhor structure. Visualizing the week all at once really creates the necessity to eliminate things you can live without. You may realize your children are involved in too many activities and you can’t be two places at once. That’s right even with all the technology we have clones are still “too controversial.” Sorry moms!
You may have to make a few schedules – one for home, one to keep the home based business rolling along smoothly, and one just for your personal time. The idea of scheduling is to eliminate a lot of clutter and guess work so the fewer schedules you need to adhere to the better your schedule will actually work.
Structuring your chores so that you are not looping around and backtracking like the kid in the Family Circle cartoon is a simple yet monumental achievement. In house chores as well as out of house chores are equally in need of being planned.
Structuring homework, dinner and bed for the kids and doing the same for your major chunks of time is a great way to keep everyone in a rhythm. This is not to say that you can’t deviate from the schedule from time to time. In order to manage time more effectively there should be a structure to the main core of events.
Keeping your home-based business on track and being certain deadlines are met, clients are happy, banking gets done is another reason for a separate business schedule. Incorporating the business life into the personal life is a unique process. This is a challenge for all mothers but holds a unique feature for work at home moms. Being at home and having to be separate from home is a challenge in and of itself. It can be achieved and has been successfully done, so don’t give in to the lack of time. Make time work for you.
