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Subject: |
Juggling Work and Family When You Work at Home |
| Date: |
2009-05-25
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Juggling Work and
Family When You Work at Home
By Jill Hart
http://AskJill.cwahm.com
Q: I have been having my home
based business for three years now and I still am struggling with how
to juggle business and being a mom, wife and housekeeper. How do you
juggle these? I want to make this a success, but so far it's only been
frustration.
My children are four and two years old and they are more challenging
than most (not as in spoiled, but as in needing more time than the
average kid). Your thoughts would be greatly appreciated!
A: GREAT question. My kids are
now seven and four, so I now have a little bit of help in my
seven-year-old. But, I found something that I had written a few years
ago. In it, I listed my kids' ages as four and one. I could tell when
reading it that I had been very frazzled. I think I lived in a state of
frazzled during those years when they were both so small.
My main advice would be to cut yourself some slack. Things will get
easier and more manageable as your kids get older.
My practical advice is this:
1. Plan out menus each week.
I literally spend about two minutes on this. I have a small magnetic
dry-erase board that I keep on my refrigerator. Each Sunday, I write
out the days of the week and what we'll have for supper that day.
(Lunches almost always consist of sandwiches or something easy like
that since it's just me and the kids.)
This makes grocery shopping a breeze because I know just what
ingredients I need. It also alleviates the nagging thoughts of "what
are we going to eat tonight?" If possible, have one or both of your
kids help you decide what to put. You'll be surprised at how much they
like having a say in what goes on that board!
2. Set a day for everything.
My days look something like this with children taking precedent:
- Mondays - Housework and
laundry (and business tasks as time allows)
- Tuesdays - Grocery shopping
and business tasks (this used to be during naptime, but is now during
school time)
- Wednesdays - Bible study and
lunch with hubby (and business tasks as time allows)
- Thursdays - Business tasks
as much as possible with playtime in between
- Friday - Take it Easy Day
(and business tasks as time allows)
- Saturdays - Laundry
- Sunday - Church and a good,
long nap
It seems a little boring on paper,
but I can't tell you how much this little schedule has saved my sanity.
I know when I get up in the morning what I have ahead of me and it is
broken into manageable segments. You'll find that scheduling things
amongst these "main" schedule items will get easier and easier as you
get used to the schedule.
About the Author:
Jill Hart is the founder of
Christian Work at Home Moms, CWAHM.com. Jill is a co-author of the
upcoming book So You Want To Be a Work-at-Home Mom (Beacon Hill, Sept.
2009). Jill welcomes work-at-home questions at http://AskJill.cwahm.com. Permission granted for use on DrLaura.com.
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