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5 Tips for Working at Home Moms
Being a mother is indeed one of the greatest bliss of womanhood. But following child birth, most of us often find ourselves caught in a dilemma where we need to make a choice between our career or to stay at home to address our children’s / family’s responsibilities. If one decides to continue working, it often comes at the cost of being away from children for long hours.
While if we decide to stay at home then we loose out on the money factor and also the stimulation of challenges at the workplace. Its driven by this complexity of the situation that many women are now considering work-at-home options and pursuing more family-friendly careers. But exercising this option as well, has its own joys and challenges.
Once you decide to be a working at home Mom, then comes the bigger challenge of identifying your skills and deciding what to do – there’s a wide range of options available such as, freelance writing, data entry jobs, telemarketing, sales promotion executive roles and so on. Choose a profile that goes in sync with your educational qualifications, professional skill sets and interests.
Many mothers who have tried working from home find that their concentration levels and work productivity often suffers as they often get wrapped up in household duties. Here are a few solutions to common working-at-home problems:
1. Time management – This is the most pertinent thing that can contribute to your success as a mother, working from home. Create a schedule for yourself that allocates the required time to your household chores and children and also leaves sufficient time to pursue your work commitments. Most important is to have the right motivation and self discipline to stick to this schedule.
2. Minimize distractions – Mothers working from home are much susceptible to distractions due to small children around. To check these distractions, set boundaries for yourself and the kids. Tell children to play quietly in a certain part of the house for a specific period of time. Limit their mobility with child gates and install a baby monitor so that you can hear them without having to get up from your desk and check on them every few minutes.
3. Create a home office – To get the right motivation to work, its very essential that you should have a dedicated working space at home. Create a small work station exclusively for your use and try to keep this home office well organized. If you have space constraints then seek professional advice as many furniture stores offer creative solutions to your small-space woes.
4. Install a separate phone line – Avoid using your home telephone line as your office number, rather install a separate line for official use. Get an answering machine for your work number and record a professional greeting for colleagues or clients. Try to personally answer all calls to this number during regular business hours.
5. Obey a dress code for yourself – Each morning, prepare yourself for the day as though you were going to office. Dress up in a professional manner and keep yourself well groomed. This will help you follow a time routine and will keep you in an official mindset throughout the day.
This post was contributed by Holly McCarthy, who writes on the subject of the distance learning top universities. She invites your feedback at hollymccarthy12 at gmail dot com