Time management tips for the busy work at home mom
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I do a little bit of everything from my home. I do marketing, YouTube, blogging and lots of different things. I started out as a virtual assistant and have been amazed by how that jobs has changed.
One of the question I get is: How do you work with kids in your house? The short answer is: You have to develop a routine around the chaos that is raising children.
Today I wanted to offer you some tips on working at home when you have small children in your house. For those of you who don't know, I have three little boys -- 5, 3, and then we have a newborn, he is 3 months old.
I don't have regular child care. My kids don't go to day care or preschool or Mother's Day Out. So I have just learned to work around their little schedules daily.
(I just want to pause here to say that I think that putting your child in a Mother's Day Out program or preschool is a wonderful idea. It's just not something that our family does. But if it's something you want to do, go for it.)
And everyday is different when you have a newborn and two preschoolers. Everyday is different.
1. Make a good list
One of the things that I have found is to just keep a good, concise To-Do list.
I have a running list of projects that I need to complete. Now when you work for yourself and you're your own boss, you have flexibility on when those schedules are due. But if I'm working with a client, I don't. And one the things that I do is I make sure that 1) those client projects get top priorities, so there -- the top of the To-Do list, and they're scheduled out far enough in advance.
So go ahead and write down a list of, like, every business idea and projects that you want to accomplish over the next month and get it into your notebook.
2. Find pockets of time to work.
Those pockets of time aren't going to be uninterrupted if you have kids at home. And I know that's very disheartening for some of you, but you kind of just get used to it.
Sometimes that pocket of time maybe in the morning before your kids get up. Right now, I'm not in a season of life where I'm getting up before my kids because I'm nursing several times a night.
That pocket of time maybe nap time. That pocket of time maybe after your kids go to bed, or it might be while they're busy doing something else -- while they're playing quietly or maybe playing loudly (my kids play loudly all the time) and I've got the baby in the baby carrier -- and I'm working away because that's just my reality.
So find some pockets of time, about 30 minutes where you can get some work done off of that list.
3. Be realistic about deadlines.
If a client came to me with a big project they needed next week, I would have to say no, or I would have to refer them to someone else, or I would have to outsource large chunks of it to get it done on time.
I give myself two or three weeks to get a larger project done. That way I'm able to give it plenty of time to do a good job and get repeat business. But, also, I'm not frantic and trying to get things done at the last minute, which is my next tip and that's --
4. Don't procrastinate. Just don't.
The temptation is there if something is due in, like, a week from now or a month from now to wait until the last minute -- but don't. You're going to do a horrible job, it's going to be rushed, it's not going to be as good. But, also, you're going to feel frantic and motherhood is stressful enough. Being a mom to small children is stressful enough without adding that on top of it. So give yourself lots of time.
If you're looking for more great tips on becoming a work at home mom, Don't forget about the Ultimate Work at Home Bundle. But today is the LAST day. So head over to check it out.
