Finding the Right Balance
September 11th 2008 12:45
:
Tips & Advice
My daughter was barely a year old when I first started working from home, and we all know how children are during that age. Back then, in order to get some work done while my little one was awake, I placed her in an area where I could see her, gave her some toys and made sure the area was child-proof in order to avoid accidents.
When she was four years old, I started to homeschool her so I had to come up with a new daily schedule. I would wake one hour early to get some work done and then attend to my family's needs and household chores before proceeding to homeschool my child. I also got some work done during her afternoon naps.
When my daughter was five years old, we had her tested for giftedness since I had a sneakingsuspicion that she is gifted. True enough when her test results came back it revealed that she has an IQ of an eight year old. Due to this latest development, my husband and I decided to enroll her in a public school that has an excellent gifted education program. Again, my daily schedule changed and since my daughter spends 6 hours in school, I have more time on my hands to devote to my work.
I shared with you this personal experience because I wanted to illustrate a point - in life there is nothing constant but change. As work at home moms, no two days are alike and though we try our best to draw up a schedule or stay organized, something always happens that makes us reassess our goals and priorities.
The predicament many wahms face nowadays is how to balance work and family. The answer to this will always be relative. It will depend on your current situation whether you only have one child or have more than one, whether you homeschool your children or send them to public school, etc.
Of course, balancing your family with your work doesn't mean that the weight of their importance is the same. I believe most of us value our family more than our career. By balance we mean finding ways to give proper attention to our family and not letting our work suffer and getting our work done without making our family feel neglected.
Here are some tips:
1. Come up with a daily schedule with your family so that each will know what to expect and be aware of their respective responsibilities.
2. Give your children daily chores that are suited for their age. Chores not only teach kids to be responsible and self-sufficient, they also give you extra time to do other important things.
3. Get enough sleep. Proper sleep and regular sleep patterns promotes overall health.
4. Wake up at least 30 minutes before everyone else does.
5. Whether your kids go to school or are homeschooled, prepare everything they need the night before.
6. Come up with a daily menu plan, it will save you lots of time and misery when you know what to cook at any given day.
7. Get showered and dressed before starting your work. Not only will it invigorate you but if a sudden need for you to go out of the house arises or when you have an unexpected guest, you don't have to worry about the way you look.
8. Have a work planner on your desk and write down all the important tasks you have to do that day. Check off each task when you've finished it.
9. Determine when and how much time you can devote to your job each day and try to stick to your schedule.
10. Learn to be more adaptive and flexible. As much as we want to have each day mapped out, unexpected things will always arise.
11. Take advantage of the time when your children are at school or are napping to get some work and chores done.
12. Avoid procrastinating. Consistently do small tasks everyday instead of doing a big task in a single day.
13. Spend quality time with your family, even for 30 minutes a day. Do fun things you all love, like playing board games.
14. Talk to your children often, ask them how their day at school was or if there's anything they want to share with you.
15. Set a daily talk time with your husband before you go to bed. Tell him what's happening in your work, ask him how his day was, talk about anything you want. Keeping the lines of communication open between couples ensures that you always remain supportive of each other.
16. Enlist the support of your husband. Your hubby must be your number one supporter. Let him know early on about your decision to work from home, tell him about possible job leads you're interested in or if you've landed a telecommuting job. Let him in on how your daily schedule goes. Many work at home women feel that their husbands are unsupportive, indifferent or even ambivalent about their decision to work at home. This should not be the case. Let him know that even if you're at home you're still being productive and that you don't exactly have it easy. Work at home moms deserve respect just like any other woman does.
17. Work more during the weekdays but work less during the weekends. Cut down your work hours by half on weekends and devote the rest of the time to attending to your family, home and yourself. Go out on a family field trip, have dinner with your hubby at your favorite restaurant or have a relaxing bubble bath.
18. Don't be embarrassed to ask help from your family and friends. As work at home moms we need to be surrounded with loving, supportive people so that we will continue to be inspired.
When she was four years old, I started to homeschool her so I had to come up with a new daily schedule. I would wake one hour early to get some work done and then attend to my family's needs and household chores before proceeding to homeschool my child. I also got some work done during her afternoon naps.
When my daughter was five years old, we had her tested for giftedness since I had a sneakingsuspicion that she is gifted. True enough when her test results came back it revealed that she has an IQ of an eight year old. Due to this latest development, my husband and I decided to enroll her in a public school that has an excellent gifted education program. Again, my daily schedule changed and since my daughter spends 6 hours in school, I have more time on my hands to devote to my work.
I shared with you this personal experience because I wanted to illustrate a point - in life there is nothing constant but change. As work at home moms, no two days are alike and though we try our best to draw up a schedule or stay organized, something always happens that makes us reassess our goals and priorities.
The predicament many wahms face nowadays is how to balance work and family. The answer to this will always be relative. It will depend on your current situation whether you only have one child or have more than one, whether you homeschool your children or send them to public school, etc.
Of course, balancing your family with your work doesn't mean that the weight of their importance is the same. I believe most of us value our family more than our career. By balance we mean finding ways to give proper attention to our family and not letting our work suffer and getting our work done without making our family feel neglected.
Here are some tips:
1. Come up with a daily schedule with your family so that each will know what to expect and be aware of their respective responsibilities.
2. Give your children daily chores that are suited for their age. Chores not only teach kids to be responsible and self-sufficient, they also give you extra time to do other important things.
3. Get enough sleep. Proper sleep and regular sleep patterns promotes overall health.
4. Wake up at least 30 minutes before everyone else does.
5. Whether your kids go to school or are homeschooled, prepare everything they need the night before.
6. Come up with a daily menu plan, it will save you lots of time and misery when you know what to cook at any given day.
7. Get showered and dressed before starting your work. Not only will it invigorate you but if a sudden need for you to go out of the house arises or when you have an unexpected guest, you don't have to worry about the way you look.
8. Have a work planner on your desk and write down all the important tasks you have to do that day. Check off each task when you've finished it.
9. Determine when and how much time you can devote to your job each day and try to stick to your schedule.
10. Learn to be more adaptive and flexible. As much as we want to have each day mapped out, unexpected things will always arise.
11. Take advantage of the time when your children are at school or are napping to get some work and chores done.
12. Avoid procrastinating. Consistently do small tasks everyday instead of doing a big task in a single day.
13. Spend quality time with your family, even for 30 minutes a day. Do fun things you all love, like playing board games.
14. Talk to your children often, ask them how their day at school was or if there's anything they want to share with you.
15. Set a daily talk time with your husband before you go to bed. Tell him what's happening in your work, ask him how his day was, talk about anything you want. Keeping the lines of communication open between couples ensures that you always remain supportive of each other.
16. Enlist the support of your husband. Your hubby must be your number one supporter. Let him know early on about your decision to work from home, tell him about possible job leads you're interested in or if you've landed a telecommuting job. Let him in on how your daily schedule goes. Many work at home women feel that their husbands are unsupportive, indifferent or even ambivalent about their decision to work at home. This should not be the case. Let him know that even if you're at home you're still being productive and that you don't exactly have it easy. Work at home moms deserve respect just like any other woman does.
17. Work more during the weekdays but work less during the weekends. Cut down your work hours by half on weekends and devote the rest of the time to attending to your family, home and yourself. Go out on a family field trip, have dinner with your hubby at your favorite restaurant or have a relaxing bubble bath.
18. Don't be embarrassed to ask help from your family and friends. As work at home moms we need to be surrounded with loving, supportive people so that we will continue to be inspired.
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