Work at Home Moms Talk Radio

In one hand you have your work to do list and in the other you have little hands tugging you, needing you. How do you juggle your work at home business and being a mom?

Knowing this was not the first issue I thought about when I embarked in my venture to make a living from home, in fact it didn’t cross my mind until it became an issue. We are woman, we juggle many things successfully each day, so we can take this on and make it work for us too.

Our business needs us to work it and we need to have the time to do it. We also must make sure our children, spouse and house are taken care of too. It can feel out of control in the beginning but as mentioned you juggle your work and your family without either having to suffer or go without.

I will use my current schedule as an example. Here is a little back ground on my family’s needs and my business. I have four children, 15 yrs old, 9 yrs old, 7 yrs old and 2 yrs old. I home school the three oldest children and well the 2 yr old plays school with crayons and paper or her little learning computer. I also run my design business and my Etsy shop, plus blog on a few blog sites.

My schedule:

7:30am – 9:30am: I check, clean and return emails. Write up the days to do list.  Work on blog posts or client projects. I also make the bed as soon as I get up and put any laundry in the hamper if there is need.

8:30am 9:30am: I wake up all the kids. They get dressed (oldest helps by getting the 2 yr old dressed)and eat breakfast (and watch about 30 minutes of T.V.

9:30am – 12:00pm: School time

12:00am – 1:00pm: Lunch. I jump on twitter; emails for a little networking or a jump start on to do list.

1:00pm- 2-3:00pm: School time

3:00pm – 6:30pm: Work on days to do list hard and heavy. The 7 and 9 yr old take to doing their chores at this time. 15 yr old watches 2 yr old until my husband gets home, then does her chores.

6:30pm – 9-9:30pm: Dinner and family time

9-9:30pm – 11-11:30pm: Finish up to do list if needed, clean email if needed. This is the kids and husbands bedtime. With the exception to Friday date nights with my husband, this schedule I follow.

I will work on a weekend now and again but I don’t make it a have to and I never schedule it in. If I find I will have some time to get more work done for the coming week I will certainly take advantage of it!

I work a full 8 hours just broken up. I also deviate from this from time to time when the need arises such as doctor appointments, dentist appointments and such.

Not everyone will have the luxury of having someone to babysit within their home and that’s fine. With younger children with longer nap times you can easily work your schedule around those. You can also work something out with your spouse (this is if you’re married) to gain a few extra hours to work like I have.

Juggling your time takes a bit of time to figure out, here are some tips to get you on your way.

Tip #2: If you have school age children in public/private school, definitely work during that time.

Tip #3: For younger children, nap time is optimal time to work, you may get 30 minutes here and there by offering them to sit on your lap and color while you check emails (personally have done this back with only 2 children and it honestly only works for about 30 minutes, so it’s prime for email correspondence).

Tip #4: Work out a schedule between you and your spouse to give you uninterrupted work time.

Brainstorm your schedule and write it out. Try your schedule for a couple of weeks, if it doesn’t work out at all, start from scratch with a whole new schedule. If some parts work and others don’t adjust where needed. I have tried many before I found one that worked for me, so don’t give up and have patience because you will find one that fits your needs.