WAHM

There are many pros and cons to being a work at home mom. Deciding whether it is right for you will require looking at some of the situations, and determining if you can make them work for your benefit.

Pro: When you work at home, you have the ability to be more accessible to the people who need you most. If a situation arises, your children (or spouse or neighbors) know that you are just a room away.

Con: Unfortunately, many of the people closest to you will not understand that when you are working you are actually working. Emergencies may include things like not being able to find a favorite baseball. Almost always, you will be the first person that family and neighbors think of when they need someone to do something during the work day – after all you are at home.

The key is to find creative ways to make yourself available but not TOO available. Put up a sign on the door of when you will be taking a break, make a list of actual emergency situations and turn off the phone (or send your calls straight to the answering machine). No matter what you do, people will still see more of the home than they will of the work.

Pro: One of the best things about the work at home scenario is that you can work anytime that you want (depending on what you are doing at home). You aren’t locked in to the 9 to 5 hours that many people are forced to squeeze into. If you are up at 2 am then you can work at 2 am. Your schedule is usually completely up to you.

Con: It is easy to fall into the procrastination habit when you don’t have someone behind you telling you what to do and when to do it. Being able to work at home at anytime of the day or night often means you put off work until later.

There are plenty of ways to help you stay on track with your work at home. Create detailed schedules or fill a calendar with your activities and jobs and due dates. Make yourself commit a certain number of hours to work each day (preferably at the same time each day) and you will be able to keep procrastination at bay.

Having the ability to work at home often requires a balancing act. Many of the pros that are associated with people who work at home are also the cons. If you can find ways to flip the cons into positive situations, then you will find that being able to work at home is one of the greatest gifts you can give yourself.

Many people assume that work at home moms have it easy; however, if any of those people have ever lived a day as a WAHM they would know it isn’t so simple. There are children to take care of, a house to clean, a dog to walk, groceries to buy, dinner to cook and dishes to wash. Oh, and then there’s that business to work!

It may not be easy, but it isn’t impossible, either. By using some simple time management tricks, a WAHM can find time to “get it all done!” One thing every WAHM should have is a planner. Schedule your family time first! Then schedule in the time you are going to work your business. Once you have your “work time” scheduled, make it a priority to stay focused on your business during those hours. It is very easy to procrastinate when you are a WAHM.

If your work requires you to do lots of different tasks, try to group similar tasks together. For instance, if you are in a direct sales business and you have a team under you, designate one day to be your “training day”. Instead of helping various team members throughout the week, schedule all of your mentoring sessions for one day. Set aside an hour in the morning and an hour in the late afternoon to respond to email and/or return phone calls. By scheduling that time in, you will find that you are able to get more work done and feel less scattered.

You might also consider outsourcing some of your activities. If you find that you are spending too much time on responding to email, returning phone calls, or updating your website, hire a virtual assistant to do those tasks for you. This will free your time up to work on your business, and by spending more time on the parts of your business that actually bring in money, you will be able to increase your profits.

You can also save time by setting aside a block of time each week to do your “regular” errands, such as grocery shopping. If you plan your meals for the week and go to the grocery store once, you will save lots of time during the week by not taking those daily “quick trips to the market”. And while you are planning your meals, try to schedule a few “cook once, eat twice” days. For instance, you can plan on having spaghetti on Monday and tacos on Tuesday. So, on Monday, brown the hamburger you will need for both days. On Tuesday, half of your work will already be done. And if you are making a meatloaf or lasagna, make two and freeze one for later.

Most importantly, do not feel as if you have to do it all by yourself. You are not a super hero. If you have a spouse or significant other, ask them to chip in on household chores. Children love to help out, and depending on their ages, there are multiple things they can do. And when it is all said and done, don’t forget to take out some time for yourself. Everyone needs a break– WAHMs included!