Momz World - Ideas And Advice For Work At Home Moms

Archive for the ‘Work At Home Advice’ Category

If you’re thinking about taking the plunge and becoming an official work at home mom, chances are you’ve already thought of all the wonderful benefits like making money in your pajamas, flexible hours, and more. However, like every great idea, this one too has drawbacks that you should consider before you jump in with both feet.

The Transition
The first thing to consider is how hard the transition will be from your current job. For instance, you may be working a job that allows you to continue doing the exact same thing from home (i.e.; data entry, design, writing). However, it is an entirely different scenario if you have to quit your current job to pursue your new venture.

The Costs
Costs can vary a great deal when starting a new business, depending on what it is,  but regardless what you decide to, there will be expenses at the beginning that you will have to endure.  Also, if you do have to quit your job in order to begin your work at home career, then the costs become an even more serious aspect to look at since your current income will discontinue and you will have to wait until your new business gets off the ground to get ahead.  You will be paying your own income tax, purchasing software and office accessories to track profits, etc.  Make a detailed list of what you will need to get started and then make sure it is feasible before you begin.

Working At Home With Your Children
Although it’s definitely a benefit to work at home with your children in the house, it’s not always as easy as it may sound.  Small children (as you probably know) can be quite demanding, and if you are still in charge of them during the day, then you might have to do your work while they are sleeping. This can be tricky as it’s because it’s sometimes hard to start your work shift after a long day of energetic child care, especially when you’re at home with your big comfy couch a few feet away.

Isolation
Even if your whole family is at home while you’re in your office, you are technically isolated and it’s much different from the majority of jobs as an employee at a bigger company. At the very least you typically see a few co-workers in the morning and chat beside the water cooler every now and then. You have to be prepared to be comfortable working alone for hours at a time.

Ultimately, it boils down to commitment, dedication, and discipline. If you are passionate about being a work at home mom, then you can do it as long as you stick to it and treat it like a real business from the start.

As if you there wasn’t enough to deal with when you are beginning to make the transition of housewife to work at home mom, there’s going to also be the unfortunate obstacle of dealing with the stereotype. There will be those who undermine what you are doing, friends that expect you to be available 24/7, and even family members who may not understand the work and energy it takes to run a home business.

The best thing you can do from the start is have a clear cut work schedule and share it with everyone from the get go. Be firm when it comes to your availability and work privacy.  Just as you wouldn’t show up unannounced at someone’s work place and start chatting with them unexpectedly or drag them out of their desk without notice, you should be given the same courtesy and respect. If this is to be a real business, then it has to be treated as such.

If you happen to have a spouse or demanding children that don’t quite understand why you’re not able to do everything as quickly as you used to do before you were a work at home mom, then explain it to them over a coffee. Show them a visual of what has to be done for your work on a daily basis so they can grasp what it is you actually do. They may even be impressed and offer to help out more!

The important thing is to be patient and know that it is a very common obstacle that new work at home moms have to go through. It’s an unfortunate fact that some people simply won’t understand (including family members and friends), but if it’s something you’re passionate about then you must stick with it and stand your ground. Many times, the same people who give you a hard time with the change at first, will come around once they see how serious you are about your home business.

Are you a control freak? That’s ok. There a lot of moms who are, and it’s now necessarily a bad thing. However, if you’re a mom that takes care of the household duties, the kids, and now you are a work at home mom as well, it might be a good idea for you to let go of a bit of the control in order to relieve a little stress and be able to concentrate on your business.

If you still have all the same responsibilities as a mom, but now have a business to focus on, one of them is going to suffer unless you have some clear cut organization.

One thing that has helped a lot of work at home mos with this transition in the beginning is setting daily goals. The trick is to set goals not only for your business, but for the family side of things as well. This will greatly reduce the stress and pressure of having too many things that need to be done, because you will know when they are scheduled to be finished.

Here are a few tips to help you out:

• Every Mom Has Limits
  It is mandatory that you do not let yourself get exhausted. Your business will take a bit of time to grow and you will be more productive with your time if you are awake and alert when you get to work.  Allow yourself the time to get things done right, even if it takes a bit longer than you’d hoped. It’s still faster than doing it twice.
• Don’t Forget Free Time
  This may sound obvious, but some new work at home moms actually forget to schedule in free time. Moms need time to themselves to do absolutely nothing at all, work on a hobby, or simply read a good book in a comfy chair alone for a few hours.  Whatever it is that fulfills your soul and rejuvenates you, be sure to schedule in that time to refuel.
• Separate Mom From Businesswoman
  Set goals and schedules that separate your work and family duties completely, even by alternating the days if you can. That way, you have a few days of work that has no laundry, and you have a day of family tie that is a break from your business. Also, keep testing to see what works best.

Procrastination is fun, isn’t it? A stroll out on to the deck with a fresh cup of coffee. A “quick” stop into the playroom to see the kids as you pass down the hallway on the way to the bathroom. Those seemingly short breaks might actually do you good if that’s all they were; short breaks. However, when the your procrastinator side kicks in, a 5 to 10 minute break can turn into an hour and twenty minutes of play time.

When you have an unlimited number of tasks to do (being a work at home mom doens’t really ever come to a stop), it’s understandable that stopping to play with the kids is enticing. However, in order to make your business flourish, you will have to learn to recognize when your slip into procrastination mode and figure out ways to quickly get back to work mode.

Here are a couple examples of signs to look for and what to do to counter any  temptations.

• Heavy Sighs
  If you get into the habit of looking at your desk, or task list and follow up with a heavy sigh, then chances are that you are slipping into procrastination mode and are only one or two breaths away. Downtime is definitely a part of success, but you need to clearly define work and play time. A good thing to do is take a solid break in between bigger tasks or projects. So, when one is finished, go for a walk with the kids to the park for an hour or two. Not only will you be separating work from play, but you will actually enjoy the break more knowing that you are not scrambling to get porject number 1 finished when you get back.  You need balance.
• Noisy Distractions Lure You Away
  If your work space is in an area of the home that is close enough to the main living area, you may often hear laughter, bangs, or several other family noises that make you feel compelled to leave your work to investigate.  You’ll have to do whatever you can to discipline yourself from this as not only does it physically take you away from work, but mentally it’s hard to be productive while you’re working. If you can’t block the noise with a door, or move your office, then try other solutions like playing classical music at a very low volume.  Whatever you do, find a way to stay separated while you need to be productive.

The wonderful thing about the Internet is that it’s a level playing field for business owners. You’re probably used to seeing big companies moving a lot of their jobs overseas to save time and money, but as a work at home mom, you have those same opportunities available to you as well. All you need is an Inernet connection.

As your business begins to grow, you may very well decide that you’d like to expand and delegate many of your tasks to others so that you can get ore done in the same amount of time.

Many small businesses and even one-woman-shows outsource their tasks either online or locally. Also, don’t forget that you don’t have to limit your outsourcing to any particular tasks. You can literally outsource any task that you are willing to pay someone else to do. It may even be something non-business realted that gives you more time to work on your business.

Here are a few ideas to get the ball rolling.

• A Virtual Assistant
  Also known affectionately as your “VA”, a virtual assistant can often help with a number of the small time-wasters that remove you from your bigger tasks. Aside from the typical administrative work, you can also find virtual assistants that specialize in all types of specialties. Try typing “virtual assistant” into Google and you see how popular it’s becoming.
• Maid/Cleaning Service
  As a work at home mom, it’s likely that you are also doing the vacuuming, the laundry, and several other house cleaning tasks. Even though it may cost you a bit of money to get a cleaning company in now and then, you may well find that your business is able to make many times more by freeing up the time.
• Online Freelancers
  You can also find people online that specialize in a lot of online tasks that fall under Internet Marketing that simply may not fit into your job description. As with the virtual assistants, there are freelancers available online who can do one-time tasks for you, such as writing articles, graphic design, etc.,  that will help you focus on other things.
• What About The Family?
  Why not “hire” your husband and kids to chip in on Mom’s home business? Even by cooking meals, or keeping the house clean can go a long way for a work at home mom trying to get a new business off the ground.

Working from home has so many advantages, but sometimes those same benefits can become the obstacles to your productivity. All the great thing like your kids being in the next room, your favorite couch being 3 feet away, your availability to watch your favorite show midday, and more, can be temptations that are easy for anyone to give into at first. But, that’s ok. It only takes a few minor changes and a tiny bit of discipline to get in the habit of being productive daily without giving in to temptation.

Define Your Workspace

The first thing you have to do is realize that you’re running a real business and it needs an office. Now, that doesn’t mean that you even need your own room at first if there’s not enough space in your house, but you will need a spot to call your own that is specifically for work. If that’s the corner of your kitchen, or the back of the garage, that’s fine. The point is that your workspace is defined.

Filing System

A filing system is the core of your business organization, especially when it comes to the finances.
Create a detailed file system in a cabinet with folders and sub folders just like you would on a computer. Save all your receipts and make sure you have a folder for every type of cost/expense that exists in your business. This way, you can get into the habit of dropping it from your pocket into the appropriate folder as soon as you get it.

Be sure to limit those that you print out manually though. Emails often don’t need to be printed and you’ll have enough space filling up with contracts, receipts, etc. as it is.

Speaking of your computer, a filing system for your computer can be done manually with today’s amazing operating systems, but you may want to check out some third party applications for to-do lists and tasks. There are som great ones out there and some are been based online like ToodleDo.com (but private of course).

Keep Your Desk Clear Too!

If your business has a lot of in and out documents that can’t be condensed by doing it all electronically, then be sure to have a clear tray on your desk that is specifically for those tasks and files.

An office can get disorganized easily in general, but in the comfort of your own home, sometimes you get a little too at ease and settle into a mess by mistake. Enjoy the fact that you’re working at home, but still remember that it’s a business that needs to be guided with a clear vision and organization

When you walk through any aisle at  your local office supply store, you’re likely to be quickly overwhelmed by an enormous amount of gadgets, gizmos, software, and other tools that promise to help keep your business organized. Unfortunately, many of them produce the opposite effect once you get home and start trying to figure out how to actually put them into practice.  Keeping your home office easy to manage often takes nothing more than the simple tried and true basic methods of organization. The great thing about that is that they’re also inexpensive in comparison.

When you’re a work at home mom, you get the benefit of saving money of child care but you also have to spend money on your business if you want to run it properly and prepare it to grow and be successful. So, although you don’t need every new gadget under the sun, you will need a couple basic requirements to keep things running smoothly.

What you’re going to need is calendars and planners.

Ideally, you’re going to grab two calendars. One is going to be a calendar on steroids that you can use for the whole family, and not the one quarter page size that comes free in your mailbox with your local real estate agent’s face on every page.

The family style calendar will come with a section for every family member to update their appointments and activities. The kitchen is a perfect place for this one, since it’s the hub of the whole family in the sense that everyone goes through there at least a few times a day.

The second calendar will be for your own work schedule (which you should also sync with your family calendar as far as your time schedule for working hours) and you will keep this in your office. You can always choose to use an online or desktop calendar as well for tasks, but writing things down still seems to work well for most humans and helps to remember tasks.

Sounds good so far, right? Now add a planner to the mix, and you’ll be all-powerful.

When you’re choosing a planner, it’s important to take your time and choose one with features you actually need. many will have a lot of extras that may not apply to your business. If that’s the case those features can actually get in the way and work against your organization.

If you’re just starting your business from home, be sure to get these items and make it a priority to organize. It really can make the difference of success or failure. Your kids may think you’re old fashioned for using calendars and planners, but there’s a good reason they still sell like hot cakes to Moms and Dads.