Making time for your kids and your Home Business

Posted by Nick Niesen on October 28th, 2010

If you decide to work at home, you will also need to be organized and disciplined so that
you get a lot of work done. It is your sole responsibility to keep yourself motivated. It is very easy to be distracted while working at home, therefore it is important for you to have some guideline to follow while you work at home.

When running a business from home, it?s easy to let the phone calls, emails and paperwork keep you tied down, making you feel that you don?t have time to take a break or to spend quality time with your family. Maybe you?ve noticed that you spend a little more time than you?d like in front of your computer or on the phone. Maybe you see your kids acting out, trying to gain your attention.

Perhaps you are seeing that this isn?t the work-at-home dream you envisioned. You started out with such noble intentions, but maybe the excitement of success in your business has caused you to lose sight of the REAL reason you do what you do each day. It happens to so many of us, but don?t worry, help is on the way!

Daily routine is important
Have an established daily routine. Set your daily ?to do list? and follow it diligently in order for you to achieve your goals. Your daily routine should include all the actions you need to take in order to succeed in your home business. Prioritize your activities and also include some break time to relax or spend some with your family. Taking breaks is very important because when you come back to your work after a break you would be refreshed. The benefits of having a working at home business are that you can set your own hours of working, and you can take time to relax when you need it.

Consider the Kids too
In many ways, the mix of a home business and kids drastically alters the very definition of a work schedule. Moreover, if you're thinking about a business that's confined to "usual" business hours, as many service-based operations are, chances are your children will eat into the hours you're able to work each week.
But here's hope: If you're willing to approach a home-based business with some flexibility, kids and work can happily coexist. For instance, if your kids demand some attention during conventional workday hours, schedule a deliberate break during the day and then do some work in the evening, after they've conked out.

Another strategy is to use "fun time" as motivation for sterling behavior -- the kids give you four hours of continuous, hissy-fit free work time in exchange for an hour or so at the skating rink or swimming pool.

Try to plan out when you can work on your business without losing out on time with your children. If your children are in school, make it a point to stop working when they get home. If your children are still small, maybe you can limit work hours to naptime or, if possible, have a grandparent watch them once or twice a week to allow you a bit more work time.

Establish a routine and stick with it.
Make a work schedule and stick to it. If you spend all your time in front of your computer, you defeat the purpose of staying home with your kids. One WAHM that I know has an autoreply on her email. Everytime I send her an email, I receive a response thanking me for my message and listing her work hours to reflect her commitment to her work mission AND family. Impressive!
Kids like routine, and you'll find that having a routine makes you more productive when you're working at your home-based business.

If your kids know, for instance, that mommy works from 1 to 3 p.m. and should not be interrupted except for emergencies, you'll find you're interrupted much less often.

Make time with your kids part of your routine.

Whether it's the story before bedtime, having breakfast with the kids, or an hour spent helping your child with homework, kids appreciate predictability, and scheduling regular time with your kids will help you avoid getting too obsessed with the demands of your home-based business.

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