One of the biggest obstacles work at home moms face is balancing work and home. They may see the scales moving back and forth constantly – one week they have a clean house but not much work done, the next they are very productive in their work, but the house looks like a cyclone hit it and the husband and kids feel ignored.
Read on to find out how you can work toward a better balance between work and home while earning an income!
Create a work schedule.
It doesn’t have to be a strict routine where you list, down to the minute, everything you and your family will do. Being a WAHM, something that tight is likely to fail. Instead, have a flexible schedule that lets you work while also fitting in time for your family, household chores, and personal “me” time.
Learn to “leave your work at the desk”.
Unlike an outside the home job where you can leave the work behind, a work at home mom is always at the office. It’s important that you don’t let the work at your desk consume you and your thoughts after you leave the chair.
When work time is done, forget about the deadlines and what needs to get done. Get into the habit of clearing your mind from work-related thoughts when you are focusing on your family or the home.
Take the weekends off.
This gives you lots of free time to clean, spend time with family, and just relax. Most outside the home jobs are Monday-Friday, so you owe it to yourself to figure in you won’t work during the weekends! Give yourself a little allowance for work emergencies, but plan ahead and don’t give yourself a deadline or take a job that would require you to work all day on Saturday or Sunday.
Work when the family isn’t available.
The best way to balance work and home is to get your job done when the family is sleeping or away from home. Set work hours that include waking earlier than everyone else, working during naptime or while kids are in school, or stay up 1-2 hours later than your loved ones for uninterrupted work time that doesn’t interfere with anyone else.
To-do lists are your friend!
The key to a good work/home balance is being productive when you are working. That way, you get more done in the time you have scheduled – and then have more time for everything else in life. Make a daily list of the tasks you need to get done. Be finished with work for the day once that list is completed.
Outsource the “busy tasks” in your work.
At some point, many WAHMs feel they are working too much on the unimportant tasks, when they need to be focusing on what makes them more money. For example, a blogger may find Twitter or Pinterest tedious and wish they could just focus on writing posts and photography.
Outsourcing the tasks you aren’t passionate about (or that aren’t directly making you money) is a great way to free up time for your loved ones. Consider hiring a VA to take over your email, social media, and other mundane activities.
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