Working at Home on the Internet » Management

Working From Home with Kids: How to Manage

Joe Hauckes — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 09:30:00 +0000

This is a Guest post by Anna Bailey of CreditDonkey.

Deadlines looming and it’s almost dinner time, how do you manage? After commuting hours a day to and from the office, working from home may seem like the answer to your prayers. It can be, with a lot of planning and dedication on your part.

When first deciding to work from home with young kids, jumping in feet first, full of excitement requires planning! Finding a successful balance will depend on how well you manage both work and family life. Follow these tips I found useful in my career at home.

A publication by the Utah Department of Workforce Services, cites one of the top ten mistakes when starting to work from home are neglecting to set a schedule. Another common mistake mentioned is not getting the support of your family.

Here are some tips that will help:

Make a work schedule and stick to it. Set out a calendar and decide which hours of the day you can reasonably dedicate to work time. Then let your employer and family know that these are your hours that you are available to them.

Be proactive! After everyone goes to bed, plan for the next day. Make lunches ahead of time and set out school clothes. Before everyone wakes up in the morning, take 10 minutes to go over your workload for the day to plan out your most efficient day.

Alert the masses… Let your family and friends know you are working from home. Put out a do not disturb sign. Have an age appropriate talk with your family about working from the home office and Mom should not be interrupted while she is working.

In a recent WAHM.com (working at home mom) article titled “How to Find Balance as a Telecommuting Mom”, finding balance is the key to a successful career working from home. “…it’s important to remember that you’re working at home so you can spend more time with your family”.

It’s surprisingly easy to spend the whole day staring at your computer and not realize that Junior has been watching Cartoon Network all day in his pajamas.

Step away from your work and have lunch with him. Take breaks, communicate and become the master scheduler.

Ensure they have something to occupy their time. This is important when your kids are out for summer break. Set aside coloring books and crayons for them within your office to spend time while you work. It helps them feel like they are still spending time with Mommy.

Beware of video games!

Kids can spend hours staring at the TV playing Playstation. It does free you from the “Mom, I’m bored” complaint factory. However, too much time spent on the couch and not outside playing is not healthy. Have a schedule set for video games and outside play.

A healthy balance between work and family is best achieved by time management. Make a schedule that works for everyone and communicate your expectations. Managing the demands of work and family can be a fulltime job. Plan your days and make efficient use of idle time.

Anna Bailey is a blogger at CreditDonkey. She helps readers answer the common question, what are the best credit cards… and she does this from home! She hopes this article helps you balance deadlines and dinner time.

Wholesale or Home Parties?

Brooke Long — Wed, 08 Dec 2010 11:00:14 +0000

My business partner and I are coming up on a year of making beaded hair accessories and jewelry. We are doing okay – in the black – but all of our money is pretty much just going back in the business.

We have our pieces in quite a few stores – many of them are not doing great – but a few are doing really well. So with those stores we are setting our sites on other things to do.

There are two different things that we are considering:

1. Wholesale

2. Home Parties

Wholesale could be good. All we would have to do is sit and bead. And we could potentially make some good money. We spend a lot of time driving around and managing the stores that we are in – including online sales. (Not good.) But the main problem that I see is the work load and the money that we will (will not) make. The store will take a big percentage – and there are just two of us that each have two kids. It will be quite the challenge to get some of these pieces done in large amounts.

The other option is home parties. This could be good money. We get 100% of the money and we may only need to do 2 parties per month. The nice thing is that we don’t have to manage stores! I would love that. But there are two major downsides that we see. 1. What if we don’t get people to have parties? 2. It’s really hard for us to ask friends.

The thing is I think that we both have different ways that we are leaning. That makes it really hard. Maybe we should both persue our own ways and then see what actually works.

So…what do you think about this? What are your opinions and why?

Brooke has been a part of the WAHI family since March 2009 writing articles for the WAHM Wisdom section. She has had her own business since 1997, – Cataluña – web sites redesigned from scratch. Her newest business venture is Cataluña Designs – unique beaded hair accessories and jewelry for girls.

Getting Things Your Way

Brooke Long — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 11:17:03 +0000

I spend a lot of time listening to other people. My husband, my kids, my friends and my clients. I listen to what they want and need.

My husband talks to me and discusses things.
My kids whine, scream, cry, ask nicely – but constantly need things from me.
My friends – well, we just talk.
And then there are my clients/customers. I think they are most like my kids!!

Sometimes I need to do things the way that they want. But sometimes I need to do things my way. They might need to be my way because it is the best decision, it’s the way that I want it, or just for my sanity.

Whatever the reason is, I need to get it my way. Yeah I can beg and plead or I could just ask nicely. But I found that the best way is usually to pick the option and have a lot of support and reasoning. That way there is not a dispute.

How do you get your way?

Brooke has been a part of the WAHI family since March 2009 writing articles for the WAHM Wisdom section. She has had her own business since 1997, – Cataluña – web sites redesigned from scratch. Her newest business venture is Cataluña Designs – unique beaded hair accessories and jewelry for girls.

Keep Going and Going and Going….

Brooke Long — Wed, 05 May 2010 11:32:36 +0000

We have been very busy with Cataluña Designs. We are trying to set up our partnership, get a bank account, create new pieces and target an older group.

Oh I forgot, SELL!

On top of all that our lives have been really busy. First communion, soccer, swimming, karate, scouts, dance and more!

Oh, I forgot, SCHOOL!

I don’t know if it’s the end of the year, but things are just crazier than usual. With all of this craziness we are trying to get the boost in sales again on the internet. They have been a little stagnant and we really want more.

The good thing is that we are trying to continually sell wholesale. It seem like every week we are able to contact a store or more and even get in to a few! Now we just have to keep that going and see if we can increase our online sales.

Brooke has been a part of the WAHI family since March 2009 writing articles for the WAHM Wisdom section. She has had her own business since 1997, – Cataluña – web sites redesigned from scratch. Her newest business venture is Cataluña Designs – unique beaded hair accessories and jewelry for girls.

Working Makes Me Ti…..red!

Brooke Long — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 11:08:53 +0000

My partner and I have put in a LOT of hours the past few months. For two women that are supposed to be Stay At Home Moms (SAHM’s) we are certainly working a lot. Yeah, sure, some days we just put in an hour or two…but we can certainly put in eight hours pretty easily.

I LOVE doing this work! It is fun and different. It allows me to use my creativity, sales and see and talk to other people. That is my FAVORITE part.

The other great part is being able to have my kids around. Yes, they can be in the way when there is something that I HAVE to get done right then, but if I don’t I can have them help. They bead, they glue, they get things when I need them… it’s a really great learning experience for them and fun for us to do something different together.

All of this work comes at a price. When I worked before I definitely felt that being home with the kids was way harder. I still believe that. But being so engaged with them and doing so much work with our new business is leaving me EXHAUSTED!

I am still loving this and opportunities are appearing all of the time, but it is tiring. Hopefully that will get better soon!

Brooke has been a part of the WAHI family since March 2009 writing articles for the WAHM Wisdom section. She has had her own business since 1997, – Cataluña – web sites redesigned from scratch. Her newest business venture is Cataluña Designs – unique beaded hair accessories and jewelry for little girls.