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How To: Work from home with kids in tow (and survive the madness)! Most peoples idea of a normal workday might involve commutes, coffee breaks & office gossip around the water cooler. For a work at home mom or dad, the workday (or night) looks much, much different. A mad dash to the grocery store, peanut butter & jelly lunch dates and trying to work around a cranky toddler’s post naptime meltdown are much more likely to occur during the average work day than a business lunch with sparkling adult conversation. While the fantasy of working in your PJ’s might actually make up for the hectic reality of working from home, we all know the act of successfully running a business in your PJ's often requires the balance of a tightrope walker! Here are some tips for keeping things on a (mostly!) even keel:1. Let the Kids Entertain Themselves Mom’s (and Dad’s) today have swallowed the idea that they need to spend large amounts of time playing with their kids or organizing activities for them. Chances are your kids have plenty of toys, arts and crafts materials, books, games & dirt to dig in. So… let ‘em at it! Through trial and error we've found that our children can spend an entire afternoon playing with a shoebox quite happily and chances are yours can too. By no means do we advocate ignoring your kids, yet we believe it is healthy for them to recognize that Mom or Dad has their own interests and needs, and teaching them to be self sufficient helps develop their creativity and imagination. If your kids are used to being constantly directed in their playtime this will take some getting used to, but the intricacies in their play when left to their own devices will usually far surpass anything you could have dreamt up for them. 2. Time It Right It’s hard to get anything done when you constantly have to stop and take care of household chores, errands and taxi time. Try to plan your day accordingly. Set aside an hour in the morning and an hour in the evening to tidy the house rather than constantly picking up messes made by little (and big) kids. Insist that everyone pitch in. Children as young as 2 can learn to pick up their toys and older children can do dishes, vacuum & sweep floors. We believe that work ethic and teamwork is something you must begin to instill early. Plan to run errands after you drop older children off at school so you can give yourself a nice chunk of uninterrupted work time. 3. Plan, Plot & Schedule Get a good desk calendar and spend a week or three journaling your daily routine. This will help you identify blocks of time that you can utilize working that won't take away from family time or leave you frazzled. Be certain to leave yourself some free time though, as ambitious women we know that it's all too easy to push ourselves to the limits- and that's not good for your sanity, the people you love or your business. If you over schedule you'll find yourself burned out before you even begin! 4. Smell the Roses! No matter how often you might wish for superpowers, chances are it’s not going to happen. You are a fabulous, wonderful human requiring food, exercise, rest, quiet and fun. Make all of those things a priority! Listen to your mama and eat three square’s a day… and no, Twinkies at your desk don’t count. Take a walk, dance with the kids or get out and dig in the dirt for awhile. Make it a priority to veg out a little each day… ESPECIALLY days when you are really feeling the pressure. Get dressed & throw on a little mascara every day. Even if your clients cannot see that you are wearing a wrinkly t-shirt and frayed pajama pants you can, and even a little self-indulgence can put a spring in your step and make you feel more confident in yourself. Pretend you are the boss of your work self… is my work self frazzled? Stressed and unproductive? Insist that poor woman take a break!! You’ll thank yourself later when you get back to work and dazzle everyone with your brilliant new ideas. 5. Talk About It Working from home can get lonely. You may have a 5 year old to bounce ideas off, but they may not be especially versed in business or as of yet talented at making professional quality product. Joining a local business group or participating in a forum for business women can give you fresh perspective & let you connect with others who are in the same boat. Problems can seem much smaller when you have a resourceful, supportive group of people to turn to when things get rough. This brought to you by our very own copy writing guru Valerie, also of Valerie's Virtual Services, and Phaedra of Phaedra Web Design. |