Work at Home Moms Talk Radio

I am so happy to be buzzing this week about Daisy Sutherland, otherwise known as “Dr. Mommy.”  It is inspiring to see a mom who has made such a firm commitment to her family, but has also carved out a successful writing and blogging career for herself.   Join me as I learn how she has turned her passions into profit, her secrets to finding a work/life balance, and the tools she uses to keep it all organized!

Each of your blogs highlight an important interest of yours.  Can you tell me more about each of them?
Wow, sure, I can do that, I think:)  Ok, first is Dr. Mommy Chronicles – on that site I share my faith, life with children, homeschooling tips, meal ideas, saving money tips, as well as reviews/giveaways.

Then I have Dr. Mommy Says where I have some wonderful people contributing to help others live healthier and happier lives.  We share alternative medicine, life coaching, and personal fitness strategies.  I also share health tips, and healthy meal ideas along with videos and audios.

I also have Dr. Mommy Health Tips – which I share health tips ranging from nutrition, to exercises, Woman’s Health, meal ideas and so much more.  I also have occasional reviews and guest contributors to make the site fresh and new.

“Reserved Only” is an exciting new structured 3-month e-learning program by you for parents meant to teach them how to talk to their children about sex and abstinence, rather than leaving peers or media as a primary information source.   What inspired you to start this project?  If moms would like to help promote “Reserved Only”, how can they find out more information about becoming an affiliate?
First off, I want to let you know it is not merely a program to teach about sex and abstinence; it is much more.  It is actually a program designed to help parents teach the children the importance of the 3R’s – Respect, Responsibility and Renewal.

This program is a very important one and one that I felt was very needed.  Coming from a household that did not communicate much, I knew that I did not want the same for my family.  I share my experiences and how I have worked with  my husband and taught my children.  It is important to realize that the first R – Respect, is something that can be taught from an early age and the other 2 R’s will follow.

Reserved Only does have an affiliate program to entice other moms the importance of this program.  More information about the affiliate program can be found in the Affiliate Center.

You have made the decision to put your family of 5 children first by putting your Chiropractic career on hold while you home school your children and pursue other writing and blogging opportunities.  How have you made your work-at-home career work, logistically speaking?  It sounds pretty busy around your house to me!
Yes, several years ago I made the decision to put my profession aside in order to home school my children which I had 3 at the time, now 12 years later and with a total of 5 children..I am very happy I made that decision.  Of course, my need to educate and help others was still burning inside me, so that led me to blogging.

Although I manage my husband’s office (also a Chiropractor), that did not satisfy my urge to help others until I began blogging.  It is definitely a busy household, but thankfully I am very neurotic about organization so that is what keeps me somewhat sane.

I have set hours to do my writing and my online ventures and thankfully have a private office within our home in order to get some sort of privacy.  But with 5 children, that is not always the case, nonetheless, my family is aware of my schedule so it works great.

What tools do you use to keep yourself organized?
I am somewhat old-fashioned when it comes to organization.  I still use a planner..I love my Moleskine planner and have one for my business and one for my family activities.

I’ve tried using the online organizational tools, but I always resort back to my handy planner.  I use a lot of post-it notes and love the different color ones. The tech tool that I use along with my planner is my Black Berry…have all my phone numbers listed within it  and would be lost without it.

I use colored highlighters in my planners to designate the importance as well as the different activity per child.  I have moved my passion for organization into my kitchen and have a chore list for my children.  Each day has a different chore per child and color coded too…and I also have my 2 week menu posted on my kitchen wall for all to see.

What advice do you have for other work-at-home moms who wonder how or if they can balance family life and a work-at-home career?
First off, the passion to make it succeed is extremely necessary.  I am living proof that it can be done and still have a healthy, loving family and relationship with your spouse or significant other.

It is important to schedule your time…the computer is something that can easily suck your time and that can definitely be detrimental to your business and your life in general.

Once you have a schedule written out, stick to it…be sure to make time for yourself and time for your relationship and family.  Once you have all this figured out, you will find that you actually have time to spare, of course to do the housework along with cooking and chauffeuring of the kiddos:)

Want to keep up with Daisy?  Follow her on Twitter @drmommy or sign up for her newsletter.