WORK AT HOME PARENTS

by Terrie Lynn Bittner

Two incomes have become the norm today, but more and more families are trying to figure out how to earn two incomes and still have someone at home with their children during the day. For many parents, that means starting a home business or telecommuting.

When I first began writing professionally, I had three young children, the youngest only two. I looked over my hectic day and couldn’t find an empty space to earn money. Finally, I realized you can’t put something new into a day unless you take something out. Although I had always written for fun, I now needed quiet time to concentrate and write at a higher level. I stopped watching television and started getting up two hours before my children, which meant dragging myself out of bed at 4:00 AM. Those two hours were spent on the critical aspects of my new business, when I needed silence and privacy. Other tasks, such as researching markets, managing record keeping and doing simple editing, were tucked into spare moments as they could be found. I learned to concoct plot lines while doing dishes or watching children play, so that when I sat down to write, I could do so efficiently. A pad of paper kept handy allowed me to jot down notes when I had ideas.

Creativity is the key to success

Parents who want to work from their homes need to be creative and flexible, in order to meet the needs of their children while keeping up with the demands of the business. Following are several tips on working from home:

1. Hire a sitter periodically. Even though you began working from home to avoid sitters, there may be times when one becomes necessary, particularly if you have to meet with, or talk on the telephone with clients. Having a sitter come to your home allows you to be available in an emergency, and to step out to visit with your children periodically.

2. Set aside a few hours for the most demanding work. Whether you get up early or stay up late, utilize nap times or make use of the Sesame Street hour, you need a set amount of time in which to handle any part of your job that requires complete concentration. Teach your children they must read quietly in bed if they wake up early or can’t sleep during nap time. You can promise them that if they play quietly until the alarm goes off, you will give them your full attention for an equal amount of time at the end of the quiet time. If your children are awake, you may need to divide those two hours or so into half hour segments.

3. Break tasks into subtasks and know how long they take. Learn to make use of small moments when your children are playing together well, and grab a smaller task to complete during that time. Those quick moments add up over the course of the day.

4. Give your children office supplies and let them play office while you work. These days you can find everything from toy computers to toy cell phones, and small desks are a good investment.

5. Put your children to work. Even a toddler can help with simple household chores and business tasks—picking up a few toys, playing with a baby, or putting stamps on an envelope. You can even offer preschoolers and school-aged children a small “salary” for their efforts. This gives them a sense of partnership and makes them more interested in the success of your business. Make sure they know of at least one fun thing that comes from your earnings, so they want you to succeed.

6. Create and enforce strict rules about your child’s behavior during business calls and other critical moments. Be consistent.

7. Prioritize your work. While this is important in any job, it is especially important in jobs done at home. Make sure that if the world falls apart, you have done the most important tasks first.

8. Build in play time. Make sure your day includes time for your children, your spouse, and yourself. Otherwise, you defeat the purpose of staying home. Some of the spaces on your schedule should have the names of those you care about.

9. Plan meals ahead, and prepare them ahead when you can. Ordering in is expensive. If you are making a meatloaf, it doesn’t take any longer to make it twice as large and freeze half. Keep a number of those emergency meals in the freezer for days that are unexpectedly hectic or tiring. They’re healthier than the instant food you can buy at the store. Even knowing what is for dinner will often keep you from grabbing fast food, especially if you make some of it in the morning.

10. Go home when the day is over. There is a temptation to work around the clock when you work from home. Set hours and stop when you’re finished. Let a machine answer the telephone. If you need to work after the children are asleep, schedule those hours, but stop soon enough to spend time with your spouse. Don’t let work matter more than home.