To those of you who work outside of the home....

[Dugsmom]

How do you make time for your business? I have been trying to get something started but I never have enough time to work on it. I work during the day and by 3 my child is home . My husband is home by 4ish so we work on HW, study, and then have dinner. After dinner I clean up and get ready for bed (I am an early bird not night owl so I go to bed early). Also, we spend some days during the week going to lessons.
I would really like to get something started but I never have the time...

[Amy Jacobs]

I only had 1 kiddo though back in 2004. What about working on your lunch break? Doing calls on your commute. Try to fit at least 2 hours in everyday. I know your a early bird I would try to work at least a extra hour a night before bed. What about weekends?

I know its going to be rough in the beginning but you can do it! It will absolutely pay off in the end. Good luck to you! Sending you positive vibes!

~Amy

[fong47]

Can you work after you put your kids to bed? That's what I do, I put my kids to bed like 9:15pm and I do all my work until 11:30 then hit the sack. Its better to do work without your kids so you can focus. Hope it helps!

[avonlady916]

I do my business wherever I happen to be at the moment.
Picking up Grandkids at school, grocery shopping, wherever... it just folds into where I happen to be at the time.

Bonnie

[nicematters]

I hear you! It is a huge challenge- one that I still have not mastered and why I have 'quit' many biz's before.

I get up real early and try to post a little in the morning. I can make a few calls during the day and then nothing gets done until it's quiet at night. Some nights I have an hour and other nights nothing gets done.

I have realized I am on the slower route to financial success due to time constraints!

[MsFit]

I don't work outside the home but I do go to school full time.
I'm working on getting my Master's Degree so with the tough classes I have and my kids its tough trying to make time for my online work.
But I manage. Usually in between studying or especially on weekends. It's not as much time as I would like but it works for me..for now.

[rhpearson1]

I've worked from home and had an outside job for six years. There have to be sacrifices if you're going to do both. Skip some of that housecleaning time. Give up your television shows. Get up at 4 in the morning and work before everyone else is up. Working is a lot like exercising. Most of the time you just have to make yourself get started and it gets easier after time.

[malea]

I know it doesnt seem like much..but even if you can fit in a few minutes "here and there" for advertising and a few minutes for phone calls,it helps ...yesterday I had to pick my dh up ..he was floating our local river and I had to pick him up and take him to his truck..anyway I had a few minutes from the time I got there till the time he was ready to go with me..and I was on the phone those few mintues setting appts. ..Another thing to remember ...if you do have just a few mins to work..make sure you are spending it actually working..and not surfing or checking emails that really don't need to be read right then.try to keep your "why" in your mind at all times and you will get where you want to go -)

[EstherL]

My key is scheduling my time. I look at my calendar for the upcoming week and block of the essentials - church, regular job, family night, etc. Then I look at the rest of the time and determine how much can be allotted to my business. You will need to get your husband's involvement. If you are serious about working your business, then perhaps he can deal with dinner clean up and putting the kids to bed 2 nights a week. That way you can spend 1-2 hours focused on your business with no distractions. It takes a family commitment sometimes. Also, what about working on a Saturday morning?

The thing that often happens is that we want to make money without really sacrificing anything. Well, if you want to work from home and you want to make a decent income, you need to determine what you can sacrifice. I don't mean sacrificing the most important things, but I believe we all can make something happen if we want it bad enough. But it takes planning. You will not grow a business in your spare time - it needs to be treated like a second job.

[badmammajdollar]

I absolutely understand where you are coming from. Yet, like the others have said there will be sacrifices you will have to make to succeed. Think of it like this...most people who work high end business job, rarely have time for family because they sacrifice that time for work. Yet they rack in big bucks. Unfortunately, the same goes for any business, especially when you are first starting out. However, that doesn't have to be the case for the interim. Make your important sacrifices in the beginning and it will smooth out as you go. You can do it, but you have to be willing to put in the work.