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Balancing Homeschooling and Working at Home
Posted by: | CommentsA common reason for moms to homeschool their children and work from home is that the at-home lifestyle appeals to them. It sounds like an ideal situation – you’re home, the kids are at home, and everyone’s happy.
But juggling a home business with homeschooling usually doesn’t look as peaceful as it might sound. In fact, this is a more likely scenario:
You’ve planned to do a math lesson with your children at 9 am. Since you have a few minutes of peace while the kids are finishing breakfast, you decide to fit in a quick email check.
There’s an email from a prospective client, who wants a proposal from you right away, for a juicy contract. There’s still 20 minutes before you had planned to start your school day, so you start to reply.
Well, one thing leads to another… the computer is slower than usual, someone spills a bowl of cereal in the kitchen, the cat decides to throw up on the couch, and by the time your email is sent, it’s an hour later.
Still, not bad, you tell yourself, and you settle down with the kids to begin their lesson.
Halfway through the first page of math problems, you hear a new email coming in. Thinking it might be about the email you just sent, you tell the kids, “I’ll be right back.”
Now he wants to talk to you over the phone. Can you call him as soon as you get this email? You pick up the phone and start dialing.
In the next room, the kids are frustrated with the math problems and starting to throw pencils and erasers at each other. While the phone’s ringing, you call out to them to quiet down and just read a book instead.
Your call is answered, but it’s a little hard to hear the reply over the fighting that has ensued. Your children have suddenly decided they have to read the very same book, at the same time. Their arguing has gotten the dog riled up, and now he’s barking too.
You mumble something about needing to call back later, apologize, and hang up the phone. By the time you get the dog outside, the kids calmed down enough to focus on their lesson, it’s time for lunch and you need a nap.
There are a few steps you can do to be sure your days don’t end up looking like this.
Schedule time for work and time for school. When it’s time for school, give your kids 100% of your attention. Then when it’s time for you to work, give 100% of your attention to your business. Problems arise when you try to multi-task because you’re won’t be able to give proper attention to either your kids or your business.
Teach your children how to work independently. There will be times when you won’t be available for your kids because of your business. So, it’s important to give your kids opportunities to learn to work independently. If you have a phone call that goes long, or if you are busy with an important project, the school day won’t automatically fall apart. Even young children can work independently for a short time.
Enlist the help of other homeschooling parents. See if you can work out a childcare exchange, for times when you need the kids out of the house. Then you can return the favor when they need help.
Be flexible. No matter how well you plan your day, always expect the unexpected. Organize your day as best as you can, but be willing to change your schedule at a moment’s notice.
Article Source: http://www.wahm-articles.com
Work at home mom extraordinaire Michelle Shaeffer publishes The Muses Brainstorm, a weekly ezine with tips to help you balance, manage, and market your home based business. If you’re ready for inspirational guidance and bright ideas sign up free at www.thesmallbusinessmuse.com
Finding balance between working at home, family and life
Posted by: | CommentsMany times people will give up on working from home as family and life get in the way and take over. They will make excuses and act like they do not have the time to fit in a work-at-home business or job. What many should understand is that if they really, deep down want to be working from home successfully, then it should be a priority just like everything else in their life. It should be on the top of their list just like their children, family, job, etc. We tend to procrastinate and make excuses to things that should be very important in our lives by doing the things that are not so important. Like watching that TV show each day that we know is not benefiting us in anyway or cleaning the house until we are blue in the face. Even for those who are currently working outside the home can and will make the time for their work-at-home business or job if they wanted it that much and were willing.
That ultimately is what it comes down to. How bad do you want success working from home? What are you willing to put into it to make it happen? Are you willing to never give up? These are all important questions you need to answer before becoming successful working from home. So, what you honestly need to do is sit yourself down and ask yourself: What am I willing to sacrifice to achieve success working from home?
When you finally decide that you are ready to make that commitment, that is where you will need to find the balance between working at home, your family, your life, your job, etc. This is where many get stuck, frustrated and give up. This is the ultimate test and obstacle to achieving success working from home. What are you going to do when the times get tough? Are you ready to knock that wall down?
You can find the balance. It is there if you put forth the effort to creating it and allowing it to be active in your life. That is why the below tips will help you if you really commit to them and to working at home.
Here are the top 5 tips to achieving balance:
1. Create a schedule. There is always the right time for certain things. Write down, type up or buy a planner. Stay consistent 3 to 5 days a week working your work-at-home business or job. Work it around your family and life but also make it a priority. It must come first just like many other things in your life. Write the to do list at what time each day you need to do work-at-home tasks, family time, etc. so you can achieve a successful schedule.
2. Stick to what you plan. With a job outside the home many tend to think they do not have a choice in making their job a priority. You need to have this same mentality with your work-at-home business or job. It must be a large part of your life but not take over your life. That is simple when you stick with what you plan, schedule and stay focused on the tasks at hand. After setting up your daily schedules for the week, stick to them and that way you still allow the important things like family and life to come first while achieving the tasks you need to get done to make working at home a success.
3. Learn how to sacrifice. I know it is exciting to know that your favorite show will be on, that the new movie in the theaters is coming out, that much needed nap is calling your name and so many other things we do to utilize our time and money. Think about all the things we purchase on a monthly basis from pizza to that cute purse we want to the couple extra things at Walmart we didn’t need get. Sacrificing is a concept that many should understand when working at home or even not working at home. No matter what we will have to sacrifice something, sometime. That is life. Do you want to sacrifice that little bit now to not have to sacrifice all that time and money later? Or do you want to sacrifice the rest of your life as you keep procrastinating the important things that need to be done now to achieve success? It is your choice to decide what is important in your life and follow through with it.
4. Allow the small things to fall away. Don’t focus on the things you cannot control. Do not allow things that are not so important in your life determine how you feel, what you achieve each day and how you approach life’s situations. We seem to focus so much on what we cannot control or change, that we do not realize that there are so many things we can focus on that will allow us to change or control our future, our purpose, or life. Let the past go, let the hardships go… move forward, stay focused, stay positive and just do whatever it takes to making your goals and dreams possible.
5. Work on personal growth and development. Staying inspired, encouraged and happy allows you to balance life and work-at-home. It teaches you what is important in life, your purpose and how to achieve your goals without stress or worry. Learning who you are, what you want, how you can help others and all around what your purpose is will allow freedom and happiness into your life. Which in return achieves balance.
In result of doing all of the above you will come to realize how much simpler it can be working from home if you just allow it to be simple.
Article Source: http://www.wahm-articles.com
Jennifer May is a proud work-at-home Mom with Ameriplan® and also is the Founder/Owner of www.TheWAHMGuide.com. She has experienced years of searching for work from home and is now successful from this experience. She has made it her goal and purpose to help as many as she can find and grow work-at-home successfully. She also shares true work-at-home jobs, home based businesses, research, tips, advice, personal experience and more. She has a passion for helping others and changing lives! She shares extensive resources, listings, knowledge, advice and tips in her Work from Home Mom Website www.TheWAHMGuide.com.
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