Are you a mom at home or a mom working? Are you wondering how you can effectively organize your day to achieve something?
I was there once, mama! Before I became a working-from-home mom, I was a professional nanny. I loved my career. It took me all over the world, it paid well, and I enjoyed being my boss essentially.
It was great, but it wasn’t something I wanted to keep doing while my kids were little.
When my first baby was born, we made a huge number of financial sacrifices. I wanted to work from home to contribute to the family’s income, so we couldn’t afford here and there (as in the occasional dates) that we couldn’t afford otherwise.
At least a year of brainstorming, many attempts to launch various blogs and social media accounts, many attempts in courses, life coaching sessions have ultimately found the right job to be a home mother who suits me, the purpose, direction, and the right place for me.
If you are in the process of searching for the perfect job your soul can do from home, that’s possible! Whether it’s to supplement your family’s income, do fulfilling things, or keeping yourself in your sanity, there’s a job for you.
Once moms find the job, they need to know how to work effectively from home. You can take care of your children, run a household, do paid work, and find time for yourself. It’s a huge job. Working from home requires a lot of self-discipline, structure and motivation.
With children, pursuing my interests and passions and being a good mother was a challenge. I’m working on my freelance writing, and I keep up with my housework duties, reminding me of being a beloved mom and wife, and who I am. That’s a lot.
It’s important to keep everything while maintaining SANE.
This is my number one tip for building your day as a mom at home.
1. Set boundaries
To separate the roles of moms and business, you need to set clear parameters. Set business hours, create defined workspaces, and explain these boundaries to your kids (the kids know more than we trust them). My kids know that my desk is not in the play area and I need to be focused when I’m working.
Boundaries apply when you’re not working either. If you think you’ll check emails and social media every five minutes during family time, keep your phone in a desk or another room.
You also need to eliminate time. You know that. Facebook, phone, texting, TV – turn them off or leave them. Allocate them time so you can focus solely on your work and your family.
2. Please entertain the kids
It makes the kids interesting and you can get some work done. Pinterest scrutinizes for activities that you can simply set up and leave to enjoy with minimal supervision. You may want to set up a small “office” by your side to quietly do some puzzles and crafts. If you have babies, pop on a playmat where you can put them in a baby carrier to snuggle while you’re working or keep an eye on them.
Related Content: 10 Ways to Make Home Moms Enjoy Your Kids Without Using Technology
3. If necessary, ask for additional help
Parenting can be expensive, so if you have family or friends who can take your child to the park for more than an hour, that’s great. You can also trade with another mom’s friend and give her time. See if you can find some free childcare arrangement that will help everyone.
It’s great for kids too, especially if they do a lot of work, to go out and socialize and have some new experiences. When I leave it all to the end, it’s around my deadline!
4. Planning for a suspension
I don’t need to tell you that kids get sick, they grow teeth, sleep regression, developmental leap, growth eruption, separation anxiety. They are kids and they are completely unpredictable! Think about all the time when something comes up, a sleep-deprived coma, or a sick toddler wants to be in his arms 24 hours a day, so he has to cancel his plans!
This is life with kids, so you need to prepare for it, go with it and plan it.
Maybe it means you have to leave your work until the evening when your partner is at home, or until the weekend when you can hug them while you come and sneak up to keep up with work.
The bottom line is to create a backup plan rather than being a child. It’s important to be flexible.
5. Capitalize your nap
Naps are like money for moms who work from home. If I don’t take a nap, my business won’t exist (unfortunately, not for me, but for a little person!). I wrote an article about getting your child to take a consistent nap. If you’re fighting naps, go here and check it out.
If your child is past the nap stage (nooooo!), and if you haven’t done it yet, it’s the perfect time to encourage quiet time. My preschooler plays with his LEGOs and cars in his bedroom, or maybe this is when he can watch the movie in the afternoon while my toddler takes a nap.
6. Make time for yourself
Life isn’t just about every child, housework and work. If you don’t make time for downtime, you’ll burn out quickly. I wake up early in front of my kids, or relax and spend time when I get to bed.
Do you remember when you had more time for yourself? What did you do? Find what you’re having fun or you missed and do it! I read a lot for work, so reading novels for fun is my joy. Or go to a movie with my husband and friends.
My business brings me so much joy and fulfillment.
7. Prioritize productive times
Are you an owl at night or an early bird? Recently I tend to be both. If you have a huge workload, choose to wake up at 5am or 6am to get a head start before your kids get up, and then watch TV and do more work if you hide in bed at night.
But that certainly isn’t every day. There’s a night to zone out on the couch, watch a movie with bad words and eat all the hidden snacks!
Related content: How to prioritize… Today, next month, and next year
8. Create a system that works for you
So, how about the house? I’m going to say something you might not like. The standard needs to be lowered! Anyway, at least at first, it’s true. Caring for the children and the house is in itself two enormous tasks, and they are almost easy to manage on their own. You have to throw a few hours of work and get something to be given. I say home is better than you and your kids!
If you don’t have a system in place to manage all your chores, now is definitely the time. Write down your cleaning schedule including grocery shopping days, all cleaning tasks, meal plans, garbage days, laundry days, and more. Determine the time and dates each task can be performed.
Look for ways to streamline things so that they don’t double. Set up automatic invoice payments and grocery shopping online if possible.
The same can be said for your business. Investigate tools that can help you schedule and automate as many tasks as possible, such as social media and invoices. Check out my productivity tips here.
9. Divide and conquer
The important thing to remember here is that you are working now. Therefore, unless you are a single parent, you should not take care of the house alone. This may be a transitional phase for you and your partner (i.e. it can cause a riot), but stand on your ground. You work hard, and equality starts at home. right?
If your child is old enough, it’s the perfect time to teach them to be more helpful at home. Cleaning up yourself, helping you put the table at mealtime and building a bed are small suggestions to get you started. Eventually it pays off and leaves you more time for other things.
If you’re still struggling to complete all the work, you might consider hiring a cleaner or VA to help with trivial work tasks you can’t do or don’t enjoy.
10. Give each task 100% of attention
Make sure you are fully present when you are with your family. It can be difficult to mentally turn off work, but while you think about it, work isn’t paying you. It’s likely that your child is the reason you work from home in the first place. To be with them, to be flexible and to have a better work-life balance?
It’s your attention that your kids want, so focus completely on them. After that, if you transfer to work mode, you will not experience that annoying mommy guilt and you will be able to continue doing what you need to. The same applies to the job. You’ll need to forget about the laundry that was in the washing machine for the past 2 hours (ok, 2 days) and the breakfast dishes that are still sitting at the counter. When it’s finished it’s all there. Trust me!
11. Finding everyday life
Well, you know how to organize your day more effectively, so it’s time to create a work schedule from home. Everyone’s days look different and it depends on the amount of work you need, the number of children you have at home, and how old they are. You also need to consider external activities and other commitments. Start with an overview of your day and improve it when you work to bring a balance of all aspects of your life and needs.
This is my own home schedule.
- I wake up to work early at 5:06am.
- Have breakfast with the kids at 7am, rest and play. Everyone prepares for the day, cleans up, make beds, do lots of laundry.
- At 9am, children play and take naps while they do not concentrate much. For example, check email, join Facebook groups, manage social media or do research.
- 11:30am Take lunch break with your kids, get outside for exercise or fresh air or run errands.
- Quiet or nap time at 2pm. Use this time to use more important tasks such as writing.
- 4pm, it was time to clean up and play with the kids.
- Dinner and family time at 5pm.
- At 7pm, I put my kids to bed, quickly clean them, and do more work if necessary.
Looking for a planner to keep up with your tasks? Get free daily work from your home schedule planner.
12. Stick to your schedule
Print out your work-from-home schedule and paste it into the fridge. Within a few weeks, it becomes a habit and you don’t need to see it anymore. Update as needed. Because you discover what works and what doesn’t work along the way. But mom, you’re doing it! It’s certainly not an easy option to work from home, but it’s definitely exciting and rewarding.
How do you structure your work-from-home routine? Please drop a note. We look forward to hearing from you! If you enjoyed this post, please share it on your favorite social media sites.