Balancing your Home Business Priorities
with your Family's Needs
Copyright © Stone Evans, The Home Biz Guy
http://www.Home-Business.com
Operating a home business is seldom easy and interruptions come in
all shapes, sizes and forms.
Between the family, friends and neighbors who call
or come by, and the telemarketers who insist on ringing your number
off the hook, getting through the workday can be a real challenge.
When you introduce children into the home office
environment, your productivity and patience can be seriously tested.
For example, right now my three-year old daughter
is pulling on my shirt and begging me to read her a story. Clearly,
I'm in the middle of something important here, but how can I say no
to those eyes? Ill be right back...
Ok, that wasn't so bad was it? She's happy, I'm happy
(having bonded with my daughter) and now I'm back to continue my conversation
with you What's the lesson here? Flexibility is a major key to balancing
your home business priorities with your family's needs.
I can tell you from first-hand experience that maintaining
a deep level of concentration on work in a home business for long
periods of time is next to impossible. Nap time does offer some reprieve,
but any break from the kids is usually short lived.
Even with older children, summertime introduces new
challenges with kids running in and out of the house all throughout
the day.
I would like to share with you some of the tips I
have discovered to help manage your home office with children in your
midst. Since children of different ages pose different challenges,
I will present my tips in terms of age groups.
Older Children and Teens
We will look at older children first since they pose
the least challenge to our work productivity.
Children, who are old enough to understand the idea
of schedules and chores, are old enough to understand the needs of
your home business. Explain to your children that you do your work
at home so that you can be near them when they need you. But also
be sure they understand that you must do your work so that you will
have the money necessary to keep your house, feed the family and to
provide them with money for entertainment.
Once your children understand the necessity of your
work, then outline a work schedule and explain it to them. Do make
sure they understand that emergencies are definitely an acceptable
reason to interrupt your work. Then make sure they understand that
between hours x and y, you will be doing work --- and then hold them
to respecting your schedule.
Infants
Infants will never understand your needs for work.
But fortunately, babies do well under a schedule or routine. Instead
of expecting your child to work around your schedule, schedule your
work around the needs of your baby.
It is simple. Babies eat, sleep and poop. Sometimes
they play. Fortunately, babies sleep more than they do anything else.
Nap time offers the best advantage for getting your
work done. Get your baby into a routine of eat, sleep and play, and
you will experience unexpected levels of productivity.
Toddlers
If you have a toddler running around the house while
you are operating your home business, then you may find that your
hair turning gray or disappearing altogether. But, gray hair is a
sign of character, right.
I am venturing to guess that the person who devised
the door lock for the inside of the house did so because he had toddlers
in his own home. Inside door locks should only be utilized when you
are making that important phone call and your toddler is screaming
for your attention. At all other times, your door should remain unlocked
with your door open.
Develop a routine with your children for meal times,
nap times, and play times. Work these times into your work schedule
and adhere to them. If you fail to keep appointments with your children,
your children will have less respect for your work and do more to
prevent you from the completion of your work.
Don't be afraid to let your children sit in your
lap while you are working. It helps them to feel wanted and it helps
them to be a part of your daily life. There are times when it is okay
for them to be sitting in your lap while you work, and at other times
you need them out of your lap. Don't be afraid to tell them to get
down and go play or read a book so that you can resume your work.
Permit your children to have their toys in your office.
Often they will sit contently and play while you work. Just knowing
you are near is enough to keep them happy.
Be prepared to take an hourly break to deal with
your toddler. Try to do potty breaks at your hourly break and to do
drink refills. This can help your child grow into a routine that will
work well with your home business. At each break, spend a few minutes
with your child giving hugs and kisses and talking with your child
about what he or she wants to talk about.
Toddlers don't always do well with the routine, so
be prepared to take a few minutes when needed to give the attention
that your child so desperately needs in the moment.
In Conclusion
I hope these tips serve to help you in the challenge
of operating a successful home business.
My home business permits me to fulfill my financial
obligations *AND* see my children grow up. I would never contemplate
trading my home business for another kind of business. Even with the
added challenges of dealing with toddlers in my home office, the upsides
far outweigh the downsides.
Growing my own home business with children around
has definitely given me a new respect for all people who successfully
run a home business with kids in the work environment. I tip my hat
to you... You deserve it!
Stone Evans owns the Home Business Resource Directory where
you can find everything you`ll ever need to start, run and grow
a home based business at: http://www.Home-Business.com
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