Getting to work at home with your children running around can seem absolutely impossible at times. Being a mom and running a home-based business at the same time is so incredibly challenging. While these strategies won’t relieve this challenge, they will help reduce your stress and help you to accomplish more with the time you have available to run your business.
Work in the Early Hours or Very Late Hours
Early in the morning before the children wake up and/or the late hours after they have gone to sleep can be incredibly valuable hours for a work-at-home mom.
Get to know yourself and your internal productivity clock. Some people get their best work done late at night, while others accomplish the most early in the morning. Figure out which one you are and try and fit as much work as possible into that time period. Sometimes the early mornings and/or late nights are the only interrupted time periods you will have in your day.
Involve Your Children in Small Business Tasks
Have your children pack boxes of product and so on. If you have rather repetitive tasks, chances are that if you make it into a game, your children will actually enjoy it. There are many benefits to involving your children in the tasks of your small business. It gives them something to do so they are not distracting you. It also gives them a bit more of a sense of what you do and another dimension of connection with you.
Do Urgent Work First and Expect “Emergencies”
There are going to be days when you are not going to be able to get anything done. You can’t always plan for and expect those days. Your child could hurt himself and you may need to unexpectedly spend the whole afternoon in the emergency room.
There will always be times when you will have to take unexpected breaks. Plan for them and just accept that they will occur. Always try to accomplish all your most urgent work first. Don’t wait until you have just 24 hours left to complete a task as surprises can occur at any time.
Plan Quality Time with Your Children
Don’t just plan your time away from your children. Include story time or play time in your schedule. It can sometimes be so easy to get so totally involved in work and not take any time to be with your children. When you are with your children, put work out of your mind and be with them totally. They need their mother and even if they don’t get to be with you all day, they will want you to be really there when you are with them.
