A challenge in my work at home business has, and probably always will be, how to find time in the day to work when I have two children to take care of.  Many of us have this challenge, but there are ways to help us not feel so overwhelmed.  Actually, as I am writing this, my 3 year old is taking a nap and my 8 month old is moving puzzle pieces around on the floor.  This is a time during my day where I can work, and it is pretty much stress free.  Here are some things I have learned over the past few years.

 

1. Nap-time is a great time to work, as long as you don’t need one yourself!  There have been many days where I have wanted and needed to work during a nap-time, but I was really just too tired.  When I had my son, I didn’t really listen to the advice of ‘sleep when he sleeps’.  This all changed when I had my daughter.  If I had both of them sleeping at the same time, I was almost certainly napping!  As she gets older, the need for me to nap is diminishing so I am getting more work done.

 

2. Getting up early helps me find some time.  I know, I know- why would you want to get up early if you have an infant keeping you up for hours at night.  Well, I didn’t start doing this until my daughter was doing better at night.  Let’s face it.  We need rest; without it, our work probably wouldn’t be that good anyway!  I am at a point now that I can get up earlier than my 3 year old(not my 8 month old!) and get some work done.  It is pretty peaceful and I don’t have to worry about the phone ringing.  And at that point in the day I am not worrying about laundry or cleaning.

 

3. Staying up later can help get work done too.  So, am I telling you to get up early and go to sleep late?  No, unless you don’t need much sleep!  Maybe you are more of a night owl than an early bird.  It is really the same concept.  Peace and quiet (hopefully!), no phone calls, no one demanding your attention.  I don’t really use nighttime to work.  I do get tired and I would rather work in the morning.  For me, nighttime is a time to relax and give myself a break.  It is whatever works best for you.

 

4. Sneaking in work in bits during the day.  If your kids are having a snack or watching a show, you might have enough time to write that follow up email or get that business packet together.  I do find times throughout the day to get something done.  Not everyday, but some days.  Keep in mind that it is best to do something simple in these time slots, since you won’t have time to really concentrate on it.  If you have lots of tasks for the day or week, make a list.  You can then make a quick decision on what to do in your small time slot.

 

5. Let your kids help you with work!  Crazy as it seems, many kids will like to help out.  Every thing is age appropriate of course, but I know that my son likes to help me out with my business.  He loves to smell the candles when I get them.  He can help me put on my labels.  He even helps me make scent samples by crushing up the votives.  Last year, he could have cared less.  He wasn’t interested in anything but banging and stacking the candles- not too helpful.  Now, he is my little helper and I love it!  I can do work and be with my kids- just what I wanted!

A powerful tool to help personal development is goal setting.  Even more important is to write these goals down.  Until now, I have skipped over that part.  I do have goals, but they were just in my head.  I hadn’t written them down and for me that was a step I shouldn’t have passed over.  Once the goals are written, then they really exist.  I can’t ignore the fact that I made those goals.  I physically wrote them out and look at them often (they are posted by my computer).  I have a lot more accountability now and that is something that is really helping me move forward in the right direction. 

 

Something that is so important when writing goals is to make sure that they are attainable for you during the time frame you set (short term and long term).  If you set a truly unattainable goal, then you may feel like a failure when you don’t meet it.  It doesn’t mean that goal isn’t one you could meet later on, but maybe just not at this time.

 

I have a sense of accomplishment that I have written out my goals and have posted them so I can read them every day.  I know that the hard work hasn’t been done yet, but I am certainly motivated to get it done!

This is my first blog post ever.  I am really excited about taking this step into the ‘unknown’- at least for me.  As I was wondering what post to start my blog with, it brought me back to when I started my business.  It was almost three and a half years ago.  I was a new mother and I wanted to help contribute to the family finances since I was not going to be working full time anymore.  I wanted something for myself too.  My husband and I knew that my being able to stay home with our son was a priority.  Even though I didn’t know it at the time, I had already identified my ‘why’.

See, I was very new to having a home business.  I didn’t know that many people talked about how important knowing your ‘Why’ was.  Of course, now I know that anyone starting a home business should identify their reasons for wanting to do it.  Really take the time, sit down and write out your reasons…your ‘Why’. 

Looking at my list of ‘Why’ really helps me focus and remember my priorities.  If I get off course or frustrated, it reminds me why I am working from home.  Most importantly, for me, it reminds me who I am working from home for.