This is a topic I am struggling with lately. I want so badly to work all day and all night but I also want to be a Mommy who laughs and plays with the munchkins. Next year will be different as I will have two children in school, but while I still have two children at home with me 24/7 I know that I must tend to them first and foremost.
I had thought when we moved into the new house we would set up a new schedule, one that didn’t involve me working til the wee hours of the morning so that I could make money, do my writing {my passion} and also be a Mom who is well rested. Do you know that we have yet to truly set a schedule in place? Granted okay it’s only been a week that I’ve been back online ready to work but seriously I am ready to make a schedule.
Here is what must be taken into consideration when creating a work at home schedule:
- Hours that your spouse work, if a spouse is in the picture.
- Hours of extra-curricular activities for the children, if applicable.
- Holiday, vacation time, etc that you want to plan to have off from work.
- Hours that your children are napping or sleeping.
- Can you afford to pay for an in home babysitter so that you can work during children awake hours?
- Will your hours not only benefit you as an entrepreneur but benefit the family as a whole?
After you have taken into consideration all of the pros and cons as well as the family activities, school events, etc then you are able to determine a schedule that will suit your busy lifestyle. I would love to see a camera inside of every work at home parents home, why? Because then they would see that they probably ignore their children, the reason they stay at home, more often than they think. I am not in the minority here, I’ve been guilty of this …. the television is not a babysitter as much as that would totally work for a work at home parent.
So what do you do to determine a work at home schedule that suits your family’s needs/wants and so forth? I am curious to see what works for you, and if you say you have an in-law or mother/father that helps, I am totally jealous!
I won’t use the kids nap time as a marker as it can be very erratic as they may nap at different times for different lengths. I would rather schedule it around how high my energy levels are and how fast it takes for it to be depleted.
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I have done all of the above. I tried to juggle around having 2 kids at home. I hired a Mother’s helper. I just worked at night when my husband was home.
This is the first year both of my kids are at school. I wish I could say I have found balance… but it’s only a little better. I do try to step away from work after school until the kids are asleep… Most nights.
Good luck 🙂
I’m self-employed but I don’t have children yet, so my situation is different. I think one of the big challenges with working for yourself is prioritizing and not trying to do everything all the time. It’s hard, because I love what I do, so I tend to be a workaholic and take on too much. You have to build in time to rest and get enough sleep, otherwise it’s counter-productive. I try to put time limits on my work hours so I have a routine – that way I can build in time to deal with other things, rest, and sleep so that I can think clearly and work better the next day, not to mention feel less stressed and sick, haha! Easier said than done though – I’ve been working non-stop the last week or two on a bunch of projects, LOL.
I still haven’t found a good routine. What has helped is sending my toddler to daycare two days a week. Fortunately, my sitter charges me very little, and I’m so thankful to be able to swing it. I still find myself staying up late or waking up early, but it’s so worth it. Hope you’re settling in to your new house nicely, Brandy. Can’t wait to see pics!
Great questions. I get up early – 5:30 early – to get in an hour or so of work before I get up the kids at 7:15 for school. I work as much as I can when they’re in school. I TRY to get off the computer when they get off the bus so I’m around to help with homework, get snacks, talk, etc. I leave household chores for that time b/c I feel like I can be more engaged with them when I’m cooking dinner or doing laundry than when I’m at the computer. Then I do some work at night after dinner while my husband puts them to bed, but I often veg in front of the TV or with a book for an hour between their bedtime and mine. It’s a constant struggle not to be too involved in my work that I miss out on being an at-home mommy. 🙂
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RT @brandyellen – What's the best way to determine a work at home schedule? For parents mostly … #wahm #wahd #wahp http://ow.ly/35Atr
I used to work outside of the house so knowing that I work approximately 8 hours a day on stuff that I do in home now and realize as well that I do not have to do that all in a block pattern like work outside of the hours