Finding Balance As A WAHM
April 27, 2008
Work at home moms face challenges that are very unique. The decision to work outside the home or stay with your children is difficult, with each option having advantages and disadvantages. If you stay home you may lose income and you will lose interaction with fellow employees, and if you work outside the home you live with separation from your children and pay caregiver expenses. Many women are choosing to work at home and finding the right opportunity is the first step in finding success as a work at home mom.
You could use the knowledge and skills you have and become a consultant, develop a career in design or writing, telecommute to a job, or start a home-based business. The opportunities are endless.
It can be difficult for a work at home mom to balance home, family, and career. Even if you are not a parent it is hard to find time for a personal life when you operate a home-based business. It is very easy to become consumed by your work when you work from home and it can be a challenge to find time for yourself and your family.
To successfully balance a home and career you must create a work schedule. Decide what hours will be set aside for work and try hard to stick to that time-frame. It very beneficial to create a boundary between work and home. Setting a work schedule will give you a routine to follow.
To give yourself the opportunity to socialize and meet new people, try geting involved with community or other volunteer activities. If you do not get out of the house regularly you may begin to resent your work and your family obligations.
During your workday, take short breaks to get up and move around. A simple stretching routine or a short walk will do wonders for your outlook. It will be necessary for you to deliberately schedule time for personal activities such as reading, picnics, or exercise.
By adding these activities and free time to your schedule you will ensure that you get some much needed “mommy” time and that your family spends quality time together. You will find that if your leisure and family time suffer too much, your relationships will suffer as well. Make time for the fun things and times shared with children and family.
If you implement these ideas into your life as a work at home mom, you will be better able to achieve balance between work and your home life.
Last 5 posts by Aurelia Williams
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I’m still having a hard time learning balance and scheduling to get everything done. I’ve found that I spend more time working than I’d like, so I’m often up well after the kids go to bed, sometimes as late as 1-3a.m. Then I’m cranky the next day. It’s a vicious cycle.
I’ll try some of your hints and see how things go.
Thanks, Aurelia.
Aurelia,
I think you hit on some very important points here, including the inevitable frustration that can come along with running both a family and a business. It’s not easy, but you do need to love your job to have any hope of succeeding. You’re also absolutely correct about the need for a regimented schedule to keep on track. You may be your own boss, but this isn’t something you can do completely on your own! And finally: the internet, which enables us to run a small business from the comfort of our own living room! I just took my own business to the internet with Office Live Small Business from Microsoft. Have you heard of it? It’s a fabulous tool for any entrepreneur’s arsenal; I highly suggest you check it out. I’ve been using it for the past few weeks, and I just love the organized e-mail system (it even checks the status of sent messages!) and the easy-to-use website layout designer. Now, I don’t know the first thing about HTML, but I managed to design a fabulous layout for my webpage with OLSB.
There’s more information at http://smallbusiness.officelive.com
The best part, in my opinion, is the free personalized “.com” URL you get on top of everything else! Oh, and Microsoft hosts everything on your site for free as well. It’s a real money saver, and a quick and efficient way of starting and running your business online. I just thought I’d let all the mompreneurs and WAHMs out there know about it. Now, I work with Microsoft, so if you or any readers have any questions, I’d be more than happy to answer them! My personal e-mail address is k-rosenberg@live.com. Feel free to e-mail me anytime! Thanks for the awesome read, I hope to be in touch!
Best,
Kimberly
Thanks, Aurelia, for provoking some thoughts. I find that if I actively schedule time away from both computers and the phone and STICK TO THAT (!), I return with renewed focus and much clearer thought processes.
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