7 Tips for Mothers Who Work From Home

If you work from home, you may find it difficult keeping your family and work life separate. Here are some recommendations that will help make things a bit more bearable and productive.

Balancing work and motherhood is no easy task, especially when you work from home. That’s why we’ve put together this list of tips for mothers who work from home in this article.

Having the opportunity to work from home has its undeniable benefits, but it also has some disadvantages. When you’re a mother, combining your parenting duties with your workload can become rather complicated at times.

The demands at home and work constantly overlap. There never seems to be enough time and, after a while, mental exhaustion begins to set in.

In these cases, it may be useful to follow a few recommendations on how to work from home when you have children. Hopefully these tips will make it easier for you to find balance and organization.

Tips on how to work from home for mothers

1. Hire a babysitter

By no means should you let yourself believe that just because “you’re at home all day” you can take care of your children by yourself.

While there may be exceptions, generally, you’ll need a clear mind to dedicate yourself to your obligations. Otherwise, you’ll do everything half-heartedly.

Seeking assistance from your partner or a nanny isn’t at all a bad idea. After all, working from home is the same as working in an office, with the advantage that you’ll be there when it’s vital.

2. Organization and determination

You may be in the middle of working on something when you suddenly remember that you need to make a purchase or finish a homework assignment. To avoid these distractions, try establishing an agenda with fixed and specific working hours.

Now, once you have it, try to stick with it. Otherwise, you’ll always feel rushed. You’ll be easily distracted and, even worse, you may not meet your intended work objectives.

3. Choose a workplace

Like time, space plays a key role in all work-related environments.  So, if you have a chance to turn some space into a workplace, don’t hesitate to do so.

It’s essential that your family members know how to respect your workplace when you’re there. You could also consider adding a work telephone line, exclusively for your office. That way you’re always available to your customers.

4. Use extracurricular activities to your advantage

Once children enter school, things become more comfortable. During school hours – be it morning or afternoon – they’ll be occupied. And in their out-of-school hours, you can sign them up for some sports or artistic activities. Of course, they should have a say in which extracurricular activities they take part in.

Now that you have more time for yourself, you can finally plan that visit to the grandparents’ house, for example. Or even, with careful planning, you take an afternoon off and spend quality time with your partner.

Then, babysitting will be for specific times, and you’ll be able to save some money.

5. Be smart and flexible

This is, precisely, one of the most significant advantages of working from home. There are no schedules.

If you stay out late one night or if you have to stay up late to take care of one of your children, you can adjust your work schedule.

Of course, you shouldn’t overdo yourself since excessive working isn’t justified in any way. However, it can be useful knowing that you won’t have to wake up early the next morning when you know you won’t be able to fall asleep immediately.

6. Take advantage of the extra time

As with the previous point, you should also take advantage of those few moments in which you know that your children won’t demand your attention.

For example, if they’re watching television or playing video games, they probably don’t need your help. Moreover, they might not even notice you’re gone.

When you have extra time, you can finish off whatever is pending or get ahead in your work. Be careful though. You shouldn’t take this time to focus on your main project, consider it as extra time.

7. Find a balance

Although the previous recommendations are mainly aimed at maximizing time availability, this doesn’t mean that you should take all of your time away from your children. Much less should you consider them a nuisance or avoid them.

You and your children need to spend time together, so don’t be too strict on the “don’t bother me during work hours” policy. Be open and receptive to their needs.

You could even assign them simple tasks – such as stacking papers, for example – for you to spend time together and make them feel useful.

Beware that in the beginning, it won’t be an easy task. However, with organization and willpower (and also patience) you’ll get through it perfectly.

If you have kids, being able to work from home isn’t only viable, it’s also a significant advantage that many would like to enjoy.