I have been working from home really, since my youngest boy was about 4
months old (I have 3 boys). It hasn’t been without its challenges I can assure you,
I live 2000 km away from my highly supportive family and I don’t know any
mother/parent that would say it is always smooth sailing.
However, over this time I have learnt some tips and tricks that have helped me
continue to keep focused on what I am trying to achieve in my business/work
life. My priority is always my children, no question. However, working towards my goals is
actually going to have a positive impact on them.
I certainly don’t feel any more special than any other parent which is why it always
astounds me when other mother’s comment, “I have no idea how you do what you
do” or “I don’t know how you fit in all you do” and I really don’t see me as
being a high achiever. It has made me think that maybe I have something to
offer other mothers to accomplish way more than they currently THINK they
can accomplish. If I can do it SO CAN YOU! No question.
I have put a few tips together how to work from home with children successfully.
You have to start somewhere!!
1. Be Creative
You know you are more creative than you think you are.
Have you ever thought about how creative you have to be as a mother, I
bet you haven’t looked at it in that way, but you really are! Every day
you are creating a menu for the household and then putting it into reality by cooking it.
Every day you are creating ways to entertain you child from the day they
are born. Every day you are creating events, so you really are an events
planner to keep you and your child stimulated and have change of
scenes. These are just a few examples of how creative you are as a
mother and creativity is in us all and to being an entrepreneur you are
just utilising your creativity in a different form.
2. Block your time
Blocking your time allows you to focus on the thing you want to focus on
at that time without getting caught up in the flow and not accomplishing
anything that you started out to do. Your children start to realise there
is Mummy time and then there is work time and you can even schedule in
some partner and friend time. Have a look at your weekly planner and
schedule the things that have to be done no matter what, whether it’s
dropping the kids at school, doing the shopping, any appointments, the
housecleaning (more about that later), and the times you want to
do your work. It doesn’t matter how old your child is, you can start to
incorporate this strategy – no kids don’t always go according to our plan,
but they do start to learn right from the very start, so the earlier you
implement it the better. But don’t beat yourself up if it isn’t going exactly
according to plan all the time.
3. Pick small amounts of focused time
Focused time works better and is far more efficient than trying to do 10
things at once. I was the master of multitasking however I realised how
inefficient it can be. So now when my husband says, “you say you can do
more than one thing at a time, but you can’t!” my reply is… “I can but now
I choose not too!!” I am retraining myself, it is something men are really
good at in general but is a lost art to a mother. So I’m not only retraining
me, I am retraining the expectations of me from my husband AND my
children.
4. Habit is more important than length of time
Did you have a gym membership pre-babies? Did you spend hours there because
you could? Now you’re lucky to even find your gym gear (that was
probably pre-baby gear anyway and not as suitable post-baby because
things don’t sit wear they used to – well they don’t on me!!)? You really
want to get fit but you just can’t seem to squeeze the exercise in, (pardon the pun) but, you
know that you need some form of exercise for your own sanity
often. I recommend checking out debcourtneyendeavours on YouTube,
you’ll see a short video I made about this very thing. Don’t try and
conquer the world of weights by thinking you need to spend hours there
to make a difference. In fact, you don’t need to leave the house unless
you want to. Sometimes the feeling of organising everything but the
kitchen sink just to get out the door to exercise is enough to stop you
before you start. Children have a short attention span when talking
about leaving you alone for a moment (I still can’t pee without everyone
holding a conversation with me), but if you give yourself 20 minutes
every day then it’s the habit and consistency that will get you to your
goals quicker.
5. Get an agreement from your partner
I would suggest talking to your partner from the outset of what your
plans are in regards to developing a financially viable business while
working from home. By having him on board with your plans you
will find you will get more support when you need the time to
concentrate on work and they understand the importance of what it
means not just to you but to the family in the long run. Explain that
there will be an investment in time and money but you will reap the
benefits in the long run.
6. Inform the kids of your planned tasks
I always inform the boys of my plans, like “mummy needs to do some
work after we have done this together” or “tonight I need to get you all
organised a bit earlier because I need to be on a webinar at such and
such time”. Admittedly I get a better level of understanding from my
eldest boy but I am forming a habit so that the understanding from the
other 2 is reached much more quickly and my eldest helps out with the
others where ever he can because of his understanding, especially when
my husband isn’t around. Verbalising what you are doing keeps
everyone in the loop and when they know what your long-term goal is
they get on board in supporting you more quickly, especially if there is a
goal that includes something they will benefit from.
7. Leave the house to work
Leave the house? What do you mean? I’m supposed to be working
from home!
Yes, I know that, but sometimes I have found it beneficial to leave
the house to work because some days the best exercise you get its by
sitting down in front of the computer, because as soon as your bottom
touches the seat you hear “Mum!” and you’re up again. Great thigh
workout but not so good for your financial bottom line. I have been
known to go to the local library where I know they have internet, so I can
really focus on what I want to do. This works for a couple of reasons, I
don’t have to get myself distracted by all the things that need doing in
the house and the kids are completely fine with their Dad when I am not
around and it gives them their bonding time. Win/Win!
8. Swap children
No don’t really get rid of the ones you have but you could organise with
a friend to have your children for a few hours and then you could look
after their children for a few hours (particularly if you don’t have family
around to help out). What you choose to do in those hours is up to you
but it is a great time to work on yourself or your business. You’ll also
find the children actually entertain themselves much more easily when
other children are around. I often find it easier to have 6 kids in the
house than just my 3 and in fact I often do have at least 6 children in
my house after school or on weekends, but it’s great.
9. Set chores
If your children are old enough start setting them chores and if
you want to teach them to have an entrepreneurial spirit you can come
to an agreement of some form of payment. This helps reduce the
household tasks you have to do and frees up a bit of time and they are
contributing to the running of the house. There are certain jobs I expect
my children to do. However, any jobs that aren’t part of my expectations, I am
happy to pay a bit for them to do it.
10. Get a cleaner
I told you earlier I’d get to this! I know a cleaner is a bit of an expense
and even a bit of a luxury really and might not be something you can do
immediately, but if you looked at your expenses, there are probably a few
things you could forgo to get one. Consider it even just for once a fortnight. You
need to think a like an entrepreneur and calculate the value of your time
cleaning the house to what you could be earning from developing you
and your business. If you have Foxtel or some other subscription T.V. you
could cancel that. You don’t have the time to watch that
anyway, and most of what is on there is negative. (I’ll cover that
at another time)
11. Baby rest time
If you have a baby that still sleeps during the day then forget everything
else around the house. You can do all that when the baby is awake and
can watch you, sit down and concentrate on your business. If they are
breastfeeding or bottle feeding use that time to develop YOU! Don’t
turn the T.V on, plug in to webinars or read a personal development
book or watch a video on YouTube that will help to grow you or your
business. You can’t move anywhere, so use your phone or tablet and put
the time to good use. Your baby will pick up on your increasing
vibrational energy as you do this too.
12. Choosing the right time to work
Choosing the right time to work is important. It’s for this reason that it’s best not to try working
when you know crazy hour is upon you. And don’t choose times where you know the children
really need you. It will just lead to frustration for both of you. They aren’t getting your
attention and you can’t concentrate on what you are trying to do. Just let these times
be what they are and don’t allocate that as work time in your schedule,
UNLESS you can leave the house and someone else is there to get them
through “crazy hour” (so not just an hour!!)
13. Write a list
I was never much of a list writer which meant I often laid awake at night
planning what I needed to do the next day and hoping I would
remember my list in my head when I woke up the next morning. I have friends that are
great list writers and I admired how they could write one and follow it,
I didn’t think it would help me. WELL!! How wrong I was. Lists are
fantastic, even if I don’t take it with me everywhere, just the act of
writing it down makes a big difference. It’s the same with a shopping
lists. If I write a shopping list but forget to take it, I still seem to remember what I had
written on it. It is the way the brain is wired and works effectively.
I have found I achieve a great deal more and feel more accomplished if I
write a to-do list and can tick off the things I have achieved on the list and they
help me to keep track of my priorities for the day or for a week.
If you apply just one or two of these hacks, you will start to see a difference
in the amount of tasks and activities you can achieve and end up feeling more
satisfied at the end of the day.