Balancing Your Job and Your Life as a Work-At-Home Mom

With the children in school, you feel like you should be able to accomplish more than you are with your home-based business. So why isn't it working? Before you start beating your head against the wall, realize that you aren't alone. Many work-at-home moms struggle daily to find a balance between family and work. In today's action-packed world, time management is a struggle no matter which way you look at it or how old you are. Because you rely on your home both as a shelter and a means of living, it's doubly important that you manage your time with care. Here are some tips on successfully running both a household and a job:

First, get your priorities in order. It's important for you to figure out what needs to be done during the time that you have each day and to prioritize those duties according to importance. Write a list of everything that needs to be, and then grade them according to when they need to be finished. The more you get done while the kids are at school, the more time you can spend with them when school lets out; this is especially important if your children are young and need constant supervision at home. Ideally, you want to focus your attention on the time you have with your spouse and children, and try to work around that. After all, isn't family the most important part of your life at the end of the day?

Now that you're more aware of your time schedule and know how you've prioritized your list, sit down and make out a schedule detailing exactly how and when you will complete each "to-do" on the list. This way you have a visual reference as you go about your day and physical evidence of your progress. It doesn't have to be concrete; you'll benefit the most from a schedule that's flexible enough to deal with surprises during the day while still maintaining its structure. A game plan will assist you in avoiding distraction and getting more done during the time you've created for yourself.

Whenever possible, delegate tasks that can be farmed out to other members of the family. Maybe your children would enjoy stuffing envelopes and putting stamps on them, and you can convince your spouse to print some business cards for you. If you happen to have a virtual assistant, have them perform the online work or phone calls you would otherwise have to do yourself. The money you spend on a virtual assistant will pay you back tenfold with the extra time you're given to complete other tasks.

Obviously, customer service is an essential part of running a home-based business. After all, the availability you can show your customers and the hands-on approach of tackling a problem is what makes small businesses more appealing to clients than larger ones. That being said, if you find yourself working on something that's more important than taking a customer's phone call, don't feel guilty about just letting the answering machine or voicemail handle the call. This doesn't mean you should ignore your customers in any way, but that's what voicemail is for-a mailbox for voice messages. This way you can find out who called and why, and you can return their call at a time that's more convenient for you. It's also a good way to figure out what they need in advance, so when you can call them back you already have a solution, thus saving you both time on the phone.

Lastly, realize that it's okay to take a break. Too many WAHMs think that, because their work is at home, they must always be working. You may get stressed out because you feel like you're somehow failing either your business or your family by not working, or thinking about work all the time. The truth is actually the opposite: you'd be failing your family and business by letting it control your life. The best thing you can do, both for your business and your sanity, is to just step back once in a while to make sure you're taking care of yourself. If you don't take breaks every now and then you'll find yourself quickly burning out, and then how will you help your family?

It may not be easy to run a home-based business with the children in school, but it is possible. You just need to be organized and efficient in your approach. You need to prioritize your daily tasks to attain a maximum level of flexibility in a way that lets you get the most done in your available time. Don't feel disheartened if there are days you don't achieve this; sometimes things just don't turn out the way we intended. Just remember that, in all things, balance creates the best possibilities.