WAHM Forums

Question for those of you with more experience than me. How do you structure your time during the week? I have not done a job before where the schedule was quite so flexible as this. I have either done jobs where there was a limited amount of work to complete OR a fixed schedule. I kind of feel like I'm glued to the computer every possible moment right now.

Any suggestions? I want to get in quite few hours weekly but I'm not sure the best way to handle this.

I have very limited time to work because I have a 1-year-old to take care of. I try to do 2 hours every night after dinner. When I first started, I kind of went crazy just trying to do some work every time I found a spare moment. With a set work time, it's easier to focus. I could definitely use the extra money I could get by working at little intervals throughout the day, but my sanity is more important :)

If I were you, I would first determine a monetary goal per month, and then figure out the hours you would need to work to accomplish that goal. Then, set aside a chunk of time when you can "go to work". My hubby takes care of the baby for me at night, so it really is my time. It's really tempting to want to just go crazy and earn as much as you can, but money isn't everything. Good luck!

I have a 1 year old and a 2 1/2 year old so I can understand! My husband works from home 1-2 days per week, so I try to work more on those days, but I have another job too. I'm trying to find a way to balance everything!

When I was rating I found it difficult due to a small one at home as well. I ended up getting my minimum in during the weekends usually, but that was a risk, as there were times that there weren't enough tasks left. This is the time of year when raters gobble up as much as possible, so there is limited work. I agree that you must dedicate a certain number of hours a day and hope the work is available during those times. I always found there to be a lot of work late at night and would sometimes sacrifice sleep.

Good luck.

Thanks Avery's Mom. I'm an Ads Rater and so far there has been no shortage of work, but maybe I've been lucky!

I have a monthly hourly and monetary goal. I have another job and so I only have certain times available when I can rate. I set an hourly goal for myself every day, and especially try to make or exceed that daily goal at the beginning of the week, so if there's that dreaded NTA notice, I won't be set back too badly. I take Sundays off completely so I don't burn myself out, and so far, even with those weeks when there was a shortage, I have not gone below 10 hours a week. Works for me!

I started with LF on June 1 - I have worked 40 hours per week since the beginning. I stay home - I am 43 and my youngest is almost 13. During the summer I worked early mornings for my first 4 hours and then did my other 4 off and on and mostly at night so I didn't take time from them. Now when they are in school I work it like I would work a job outside of the house. Takes discipline but it works for me. It's much easier for me as my kids are 18 and 12 (daughter will be 13 in February). I don't homeschool so I work my 8 during the day during school months. I love to work a couple of hours at night while everyone is in bed. I also (don't think this is weird) have 8 hours worth of songs on a playlist in iTunes. I start at the top and pause them every time I pause and I know when it gets to the last song I've worked my 8 - LOL works great for me. :)

Rita

That's amazing that you're able to do 8 hours per day! As much as I appreciate having this job, it really gets tedious for me very quickly. Sometimes just meeting my 2 hour per day goal is a struggle. I like your music idea though...maybe I should try that and see if it helps.

I work a lot less now than I did when I first started. First two months or so I was able to do from 2 - 6 hrs a day (with a 9 month-old baby back then). Then I got pregnant (intentionally :-) ) and was so exhausted and sick that I hardly did anything. I did do the minimum required but far less than what we need. Hubby is a trucker on the road all the time and I'm home alone with now 14-month old, while 4 months pregnant, so you get the picture :-). I'm feeling a lot better now that I'm in my second trimester but this is my last month on the contract and I'm really REALLY worried they will not renew my contract since I didn't work much the last 3 months. And we will need the money more then ever before as my husband will be out of work in just a few weeks ... which also means I'll be able to work more hours.

As to the work "schedule" ... when I did work the "big hours", I started as soon as my little one went to bed around 8:00pm and worked till 1:00am or 2:00am pretty much every night. But now he has a lot of sleep problems and is up almost every 30 minutes so I'm trying to do 20 minute intervals whenever I can so it adds up to something decent. I'm so worried they won't renew my contract ... you can't even imagine :-(

DesignChick ... not sure if you remember me from when we were going through the testing and exams back in the spring. Can you believe it's been that long? (I had to get a new long in ID because I couldn't get in with the old one ... it was MK13 back then) I remember us talking about our little ones being the same age :-)

Yes, I remember now! Seems like forever ago back when we were worrying about getting hired :-)

Rumor has it that contract renewal is automatic. I think as long as you have been doing the minimum and meeting the standards, you will probably be fine.