Being a mom provides me with blessing and joy every day. I am so thankful for my loving and helpful husband, who takes his role as a father seriously and provides me with lots of emotional support and help in raising our son and daughter. I never realized how much responsibility and effort motherhood entailed until I became a mother myself.
After eight years establishing my career in the business world, my husband and I decided when I was pregnant with our baby boy that I would make the shift to being a work-at-home mom. I love being at home with my husband, son and daughter, so it works out with my personality type to be a stay-at-home home. I am able to be home with my children and earn a good, steady income at the same time. That perfect melding of home and work – it sounds so ideal and is when it works. The key ingredient to becoming a successful work at home mom, however, is to develop effective organizational skills.
Tip One: Organize your Time
If you’re going to essentially do two jobs at a time, you have to be twice as efficient with your time and energy. A good idea is to have a daily planner where you proportion out your time so you get a sense of what time frame you have to work with. The most urgent tasks take priority but it is crucial to schedule in ‘important’ activities as well such as reading to your children, cooking dinner or exercising.
Be careful about those time wasters that ‘eat up’ your day. Set time limits on household jobs such as tidying the kitchen or putting away laundry. Even use a timer and make a game of it. Moms are great multi-taskers. When you are watching TV or talking on the phone, do something else as well such as folding laundry or putting away the children’s toys. Put an actual limit on your internet, phone, and television time.
Setting a fixed time for your ‘at home work’ is essential. Your family must learn to respect that time and try not to put demands on your attention during that time. Before you fall asleep at night, go over in your mind all the things that you’ve accomplished that day and reflect on how you’ve maximized your time.
Tip Two: Organize Your Belongings
One of the biggest time wasters is spending time trying to find something. Setting up a effective organizational system of what goes where so you can access items and information quickly is the best way to avoid getting flustered and frustrated. Use containers and baskets to put similar items. File information regularly in color-coded or label file folders. Maintain a well-organized filing cabinet. Recycle, donate, or throw away what you don’t need. Pack away items that you or your family members have not used in the last year. Consider donating these items to charity or hosting a garage sale.
Attend to mail immediately. Recycle any advertisements, junk mail and envelopes. Better still – go paperless wherever possible. Any billing information can be accessed easily via the internet so why keep unnecessary statements and receipts. De-clutter and organize your things.
