Work at Home Moms - How to Stay on Track

I know a few people who work from home successfully. The one wakes at 4, the other works at night, after putting the kids to sleep.

the only time i was able to effectively work at home was when my kids were in school. it's HARD!
khairete
S.

I don't work from home unless I have to. When I do I don't care if the house is burning down around me beyond do I still have my internet connection to my workstation and are my kids in the part of the house burning down.

When you are working you are at work it is just you are at home so you kind of notice your kids beating the stuffing out of each other.

Why not get up at five and work before they get up? My kids are young teens, they sleep till 11. So I go into work at five and leave at one. I still get most of the day with them. If I could work from home that would be easy as pie, but I can't because I am too lazy to bring home what I need and they think it is cool that they stay home by themselves.

Rambling...sorry

My point is while you are clocked in so to speak it is work. If your kids need your attention tend to them but beyond that your housework can wait. Oh, housework is the other reason I don't like to work from home. I am ADHD, on meds I can ignore the chatter in the office, I cannot block out an unclean home and it effects my work product.

I work full time from home, and you probably don't want to hear this... but the only way I can do it is to pay someone else to watch my kids. It's just impossible to do two very important tasks -- work AND be with my children -- at the same time. One always loses, and I don't want to teach my kids that they are the ones who will lose out to my job. Sounds like you miss the time you expected to spend with your children.

If you want to keep the job during the school year, you've got to buckle down and make it work for the next 4 - 6 weeks until they go back to school. Get up at 5am and get your work done while they're not awake. Sure, it's awful to get up that early, but you'll have everything done and you'll still have a full day with your kids. Put off the household chores as much as you can. A happy mom and kids are way more important than a dust-free house.

Sorry. I know you don't want to hear it but getting up at 5 am is your best choice. If you want to get work done, getting up before your kids or staying up later than they do is your best choice. When you can focus on your work with out interruption you will get your best concentration. Many a mom has done the same. You won't be the first or last.

It takes a lot of self discipline to work from home.

At this time... My child is self sufficient and moving into her own place in a few weeks. Still, I have my work for my company that must be 100% spot on correct and I'm still assisting daughter with college tuition, setting up her (our) new condo.

It's not easy and when she was you get I had to find time to work when she was asleep, at day camp, etc.

It sounds like you need a sitter. Most employers require it... As an employer, I would require a sitter and a proven record of disciplined work before I'd pay you to work from home.

Some ppl equate working from home as getting paid to be with their children which is a total crock and I'd you slack at all the employer recognizes it... Believe me!!

Don't slack on your job if you are fortunate enough to have an employer who will actually allow you to be him on flex time with children.

This is your time to shine so you prove yourself for possibly working at home in the future. It takes a lot of effort, work ethic, and discipline to make it happen .

Maybe getting up at 4-5 am makes you more productive for the office for now. Think long term ! That long term includes your children needing you to be there for them as well.

It takes a huge balance.

Good luck

If I were you I would do everything in my power to find a creative childcare solution. Is there another mom in your area who is perhaps in the same situation? See if you can trade off - perhaps she has the kids for a couple of hours in the morning, and you take hers in the afternoon. Otherwise, is there a kid in the neighborhood who is old enough to be a mother's helper? You can pay a MH a lot less than you have to pay a sitter.

Some other tips:

1) Get dressed for work each day. When you are done with your work, change into something more casual.

2) Do not answer your personal phone or check personal e-mail when working

3) Make a standing appointment to check in with your boss or a colleague when you start your day. Just connecting with someone in the office can help to mentally put you in your office.

4) You don't do housework or errands in the office so there is no need to do them when you're in your home office. If you have to clear the breakfast dishes or run a load of laundry and don't do it before your work time (9 AM) then it waits until the afternoon.

Establish beginning of day and end of day routines. For example:

Start of day:
- Visualize your work day - what are you going to accomplish?
- Don't get sidetracked - focus on your goals
- Check your calendar and prepare for any meetings
- Make any phone calls you need to return, prepare the rest of your to-do list
- Check e-mail, and then only check hourly after that if you can

End of day:
- Clear your desk and straghten up your workspace
- Start a to-do list for tomorrow
- List the calls you need to make
- Turn off your computer
- Pick up things like your coffee mug etc. to return to the kitchen
- Shut off your light
- Leave yourself a pretty desk to return to in the morning

Reward yourself for not getting sidetracked. If you finish your work by a certain time, allow yourself to do something fun later that's just for you - play a stupid Facebook game, read for a while, watch a TV show that you like, etc. Give yourself an extra incentive to stay on track.

You need to have a Sitter, mind your kids.
Because, you are working.
At home.
It is still, working.
You are on your Employer's clock.

Working from home, is not easy.
I have done that.
Being home working, is not Mommy time with the kids.
It is working.

And even if your kids keep out of your shut door, then, what are they doing?
And even if they are older and can mind themselves, well, it must be boring for them. Being cooped up with no Mom, at home. Even if you are home. Because you are working.

I was recently taking a class. And my kids were home. I told them I have to study. It was crucial. My kids are 6 and 10. They were fine and could entertain themselves, but how boring for them. So, I had friends who would take them out and what not. And no, I did not, do housework and all that stuff. Because, I HAD to study and pass an exam. I focused. Entirely on my studying. Had to.

You just have to tell yourself, to do your work. That is work, time. Not household time. Not kid time. It is WORK, time.
And think... if you cannot focus and be efficient with your work at home job... then how is that for your Employer?

I honestly can't work during the day. Work is work, and my son needs things. I work before he gets up, or after he goes to bed. That's the only way I get anything done. I am too distracted and give too little to my son.

I get it that you can't afford a daycare. What about finding a local teenager as a mother's helper for a few hours to get the kids outside?

The most important thing for your kids is to have a routine and know what to expect and when to expect it. So, you cannot have random wake times and eating times. You have to treat it like you are going to work.

Get the kids up, feed them, and let them watch a couple of educational videos, while you work a couple of morning hours. Then break for lunch, and recess and outside time, then down for a planned activity / craft for them. While you again work for another hour or two of uninterupted time from them. Be very clear when you can have time with them and when you can't. But you must spend time with them when your work is up, otherwise, this system will go down hill.

It takes discipline and not everyone has it.
You either get up before the kids do and get it done, or you stay up after they are asleep and get it done.
If you can make a checklist of work tasks and use that to keep your focus, you should be able to whip through it - and then you are free to enjoy the rest of the day with the kids.

How old are they? I would do things like get up earlier than they do and get something done - be it the dishes, the laundry, or move some email. Then get them fed and ready. Let them do x thing that doesn't need you - maybe that's the time they can do their chores, watch a little TV, chill...I would take frequent breaks. I find that DD is less likely to interrupt me if I stop for her. Bear in mind that you can't do it all. Have the kids pitch in where appropriate (we can't go to the park until x is done) and don't try to treat the summer like you would with no job to do. You can also enlist others - let them to go to a friend's house or to a short term event or camp. Park and Rec programs are often inexpensive and there may be a PT program that can help you and them out.

If they do bother you when they've been told it's your work time, have a consequence for that. It can be as simple as, "I need to do these things. If I don't, we don't go to the pool. The more you interrupt, the less likely it is that we go."

I'd also revisit adult chores with DH. How can he help?

Before they get up and after they go to bed. Institute quiet time in the afternoon with everyone in their own rooms for an hour. That's 3 hours a day.

You have to just "do it". The laundry can wait.

I work from home too. Get up as you would for work, get dressed, shut the door as you have been. Get yourself thinking that you are at WORK, not that you are working FROM HOME. At WORK, there is no laundry and no housework. So while you are home, those chores do not exist. You cannot just throw in a load of wash or run a dust cloth while thinking about work. You do that stuff after 11 AM. You can also NOT do it on work days. Really.

Do not get up from your desk and make the beds or do the breakfast dishes. Beds don't get made every day in a lot of homes - this does not make you a bad person. Put on headphones so you can't hear any distracting noises, assuming the kids are old enough to come in if there's an emergency. Make a list of what you have to accomplish tomorrow at the end of today's work period. Face it and stare at it first thing tomorrow when you go to work. You are not leaving the room for a cup of coffee or a bathroom break until you do half of it, then you can go to the bathroom, and then you come back and finish it and don't join the kids until every item is checked off. If you can work in a home office or a separate room from your bedroom so you aren't stopping to arrange stuff on the dresser or hang up the clean stuff in the closet, that helps. But it's not the only way.

Set a timer for the kids. They cannot bother you unless someone is bleeding or on fire. No exceptions. If they come in, there's no afternoon activity. I'm not sure how old they are, but in most cases, they can entertain themselves for that amount of time since you say they respect the closed door. Why can't they help a little? Even little kids can sit with you and match clean socks or fold their own underwear (who cares if it's not completely flat and has a wrinkle?). Kids can put their dishes on the counter if not in the sink or dishwasher. If they don't do it exactly as you would, so what? They can sort their dirty clothes into the light pile and dark pile. Scale back your expectations of yourself - do more laundry in the evening and sort/fold while watching TV. Don't clean every day. It's summer vacation.

This is a new job and you want to show your boss that you can be a focused professional, or you will lose the job or at least not get a raise. Kids can learn that they don't come first every second of the day, and that the money you make is to make their lives better. Kids can learn to entertain themselves as well - it's important for the development of creativity and free thinking. If they give you the time, then you go to the pool in the afternoon. If you don't get the work done, then you don't go. But you can apply those same standards to yourself and force yourself to "earn" the fun activities. If you don't focus, then you don't quit at 11, you quit at 12 or 1. Your choice.

Another option cheaper than a sitter is to hire a local 10 year old for a lot less money than a real sitter - that person plays with the kids or takes them outside, but you are right there in the house. Of course, if your kids are 6 and 8, you maybe can't hire a 10 year old! But you get the idea!

I have a little of both, I work at home 3x a week, and report to the office 2x a week. My boss's attitude about this is those who worked at the office will work at home, and those who didn't work at the office won't work at home.

Our workstations have us click an acknowledgement daily which reminds that our work can and may be remotely monitored. If your job is important to you, stay focused. create a makeshift seatbelt and buckle into your seat and stay until the shift is over.

F. B.

How old are the kids? If they are both in school full-time they should be able to entertain themselves for a couple of hours a day, right? Maybe even if it's one movie a day, or reading time, quiet time in their rooms. You can get up before them and get a couple of hours in.

Make work time, WORK time. Do not allow yourself to do housework. If you need to do the housework first, do that.

I used to work from home and my kids still went to daycare most days. I think they stayed home maybe 4 or 5 days total that summer. I did take 5-10 minute breaks and sweep, do some laundry, start dinner, whatever...same amount of time I would have taken at the office chit chatting or taking breaks here.

The other option is to find a young sitter. My sitters are happy with $50 per day. Can you afford $200 a month and have someone once a week?

You need to go to your state offices where parents fill out paperwork for food stamps, temporary financial assistance, and ask them if they have any sort of child care options for mom's who work but can't afford to pay full price for it.

In Oklahoma families that need child care get a lot of help. It's pretty easy to get it too. Since you're working from home it would most likely be better if you just took the kiddo's to child care then went to the office to do your work. That way you can get the work done in a timely manner and in good condition.

Mom's who stay at home and try to work a job at the same time often find that it just doesn't work. When the kids are home they are making messes, you have to stop and cook for them then clean up, then you have to deal with tired kids in the afternoon or grumpy bored kids who want to go do something fun. They want to enjoy summer and go do stuff, not sit at home being quiet while mom works.

I suggest you find out how much you'd have to pay for child care with a subsidy and if it would work.

I'd rather take the kids to child care and keep the house clean, the kitchen clean, and work a lot less every day and have a boss that can actually see me working and being productive.