How to Balance Housework when Working from Home

There are many unique challenges that come from working from home. While there are also many benefits, it's important to learn how to address the challenges that you have when you work at home so you can be more productive in all areas of your life. One of these challenges is how to work cleaning and household chores into your work day and still be productive in both.

Here are some ideas on how to balance housework when working from home:

Hire Someone to Do It

If the option is available to you, it can be helpful to hire help with your cleaning and housework. Cleaning services are often very affordable compared to the salary you could make from productive work. There are daily, weekly and bi-weekly options to consider based on your needs and budget. Having someone come in even once a week to help with housework can be a relief and allow you to focus on your home based business and stress less about the mess.

I do have a cleaning service but they don't do daily things like laundry, dishes and spills. These are more of the tasks a maid service would do. So for this type of daily cleaning, I schedule it into my work day, allowing me to get the tasks done while also taking breaks from my writing work.

Schedule It In Your Day

Since I have a big family still at home, we have an "everyone-picks-up-after-themselves" rule but still there are daily tasks that I need to help with. I schedule my cleaning time spread out throughout my work day. I find it breaks monotony in the writing day, keeps me physically active and I do a lot of great brainstorming while I clean.

So my schedule on a typical day might be...

1. Write 2 articles.

2. Dust and vacuum the dining room.

3. Research for a new project.

4. Update my blog.

5. Make lunch. Clean up after lunch.

...and so on with cleaning/chores mixed in with the writing. I have heard other people say that is distracting and they prefer doing all the writing in one go and the cleaning at one time. For me, I spread it out and pencil it in my planner. I think taking the breaks in between helps clear my head between writing projects, too.

Delegate Responsibilities

When possible, consider where and how you can delegate some of the responsibilities of cleaning. Are there other people who live with you? How can they help out with the housework? Consider creating a chore chart for the tasks that need to be done on a regular basis.

My kids are also an enormous help. They do everything anyone else in the house has to do- yes, even cleaning toilets. My opinion is that they learn valuable life lessons they will take with them into adulthood. When they do more than their share, I often pay them because I believe there should be reward for going above and beyond.

Finally, reconsider how important certain cleaning tasks are. If you are a "neat freak" who cannot concentrate on work until everything is in its place, you may have a difficult time learning to let go of the little things and leave them for later. While few people truly want to live in a mess, a "lived in" look is not that bad. If you obsess too much over cleaning, it may be time to relax a little and let your house be a home.