Work at Home Mums – Tips on Being Organised
Whether you are already a mum working from home or a mum thinking about starting your own home-based business, you are probably asking yourself this question: How can I improve the harmony between my roles as a mum and as a business owner? Knowing how to bring together the many tasks of each job and being efficient at both can be a challenge, but the answer for work at home mums lies in developing organisational skills.
I thought I was busy just being a mum to my two young children. Then I added a home business to the equation. This is when I realised what ‘being really busy’ meant! But I wasn’t just busy, I was disorganised, and now I have realised something quite significant to how overwhelmed I felt: I realised that being disorganised really increases your workload! Organised work at home mums already have a reduced workload.
I focus on a few things to make sure that I have the right balance between being a mum and working at home, and that I am successful in both roles. Work at home mums can follow these simple rules to being organised:
1. Have a Comprehensive Schedule.
This has to be the foundation of organisation for work at home mums! It is not enough to just determine ‘working hours’. In my weekly schedule, I have divided my working hours into categories so that I know what type of task I will do in each time slot (e.g. making calls, marketing activities, writing articles, education, checking emails, website updates, etc). This helps me ensure that all my tasks are done by the end of the week. It also means that I don’t choose my tasks spontaneously based on what I feel like working on (tasks that I don’t particularly enjoy also need doing!). I allocate mentally demanding tasks to the time of the day when I am most alert and not getting disrupted. I also prefer to work harder on earlier days in the week to have smaller working days towards the end of the week when I am more tired. I like to be more spontaneous with the house chores, shopping, activities with the kids and family time, but if you are having trouble juggling it all you may want to incorporate these tasks into your schedule as well. Finally, check that you have accomplished your goals and that the schedule is adequate at the end of every week.
2. When You Work, Work!
Working around their children can make it hard for work at home mums to focus on their work. I find however that if I try to give attention to my work and my children at the same time, neither job gets done well. My children are more difficult to manage when I am trying to work, and my work doesn’t get done properly or takes twice as long. Sometimes however the need for multi-tasking cannot be avoided. During those times, try to set up your children with music, a snack, special toys and maybe a video for a little while, and try to choose tasks which require less mental focus. If your children are old enough, let them know how long you will work for. Why not promise them a special treat or game after you finished working if they have played nicely?
3. Keep It Tidy.
It is frustrating to waste time and patience on looking for your things all around the house. No more piling up and scattering! Work at home mums should keep all work-related items in the same area, organised, filed and tidy. Your time is valuable, and you want to access your resources quickly to get the task at hand done efficiently. Take the time to build the filing and tracking systems you need. I include a time slot for tidying my office in my weekly schedule to make sure that it gets done.
4. Make Time For You.
Being a working mum is hard work, and can easily take up all your time (even sleeping time!). Your home, your family and your business are all organised, but have you thought about scheduling a time slot just for you and your well-being? Work at home mums should allocate time in their weekly schedule for activities that help their well-being (meditation, exercising, having a bath, reading, cooking, going out, etc). Make sure you make time for you every week to do the things you enjoy and help you relax and re-fuel.
5. Get Some Help.
Can you get some help from your partner or other family members with the housework and minding your children? Perhaps the grandparents would like to visit once a week for a few hours and look after the kids, or your partner could make dinner on some nights so that you can get some work done early in the evening? Needless to say, work at home mums who can afford some paid help with the house chores (e.g. cleaning, ironing), could see significant benefits in using it.
Here is a summary of my 5 tips for work at home mums: make a comprehensive weekly schedule and follow it as much as you can, focus on your work during working hours, keep an organised and tidy office, make time for your well-being, and get help from family members.
