Work at home parents face challenges that are rather unique. We have made the choice to work from home in order to have more time with our families. This is sometimes a decision that is at times wonderful and at other times monumentally bad. We wanted to work at home so we wouldnt have to leave our children in the care of others while we trudged off to the trenches each and every day wasting precious moments not only working outside the home but during the commute each way as well.
Now that youve made the move to work from home, Im guessing that youve noticed that the reality isnt quite as rosey as the mental image was. The first weeks will be challenging but are also very important in establishing a routine with you and your family in regards to your workday. You must separate your business from your family and you must make them understand that while you are home, you must also work. This is sometimes hard for spouses to understand but establishing this early will save major problems later on.
Here are a few things you can do that will help you keep your business and your family separate.
1) Set business hours. This is as much for you as it is
for other family members. A wise person once told
me that until I treated my business like a
business and took it seriously I could not expect
anyone else to do so either. Take frequent breaks
and be flexible with your children, but be adamant
about keeping your business hours as sacred as
possible. At the same time, when its quitting
time, its time to quit for the day. Your family will
resent your business if it constantly cuts into their
time with you.
2) Dont do housework during business hours. I plan
my business hours after 10:00 in the morning so
that I can get some housework done and a meal
thrown into the crock-pot before beginning my
workday. Whatever you need to do in order to
keep from vacuuming, dusting, sweeping, etc.
during your business hours is highly
recommended. Making one exception is an open
invitation for more to follow. Try as hard as
possible to make this a rule and keep it one.
3) Dont take personal phone calls during your
business hours. This is a huge no-no. If its an
emergency they will leave a message. Im not
talking about not answering the kids school or
something like that, but do you really need to talk
to your sister-in-law about the family reunion or
should that wait until family time?
4) Be sure that you are working during your
business hours. The more you actually get
accomplished during your business hours, the less
you will be distracted by during family time.
5) Delegate housework during your family time. If
everyone works together on the unpleasant
tasks, there is more time for family fun. That, more
than anything else will be what your children
remember about you working from home and
what it means to them.
6) Dont get so caught up in work that you cant
make time for your family when you need to. Its a
fine line sometimes between what we feel we
need to be doing for them and what they really
need us to do. Sometimes, it helps to take 20
minutes just to devote time to them and ignore
the computer. Our family (at least for a vast
majority of us) is the reason we work from home;
dont forget that as you work to build your
business.
Keeping your family and business separate will bring great rewards. You will find that your family doesnt resent your office time because you are making sure that you have plenty of time for them and that you are still able to get a great deal of work accomplished because they dont feel the constant need to interrupt. And also remember that there is no reason you cant put your older children to work for you. This will give you good quality time together and still get office tasks accomplished. Those are memories that will be treasured by both of you. |
