How to Solve Common Work-at-Home Problems when You Have Children at Home

When you're a mom with a home based business, one of the biggest work at home problems you might face is how to be productive with young children around. Here are some work at home solutions to help you get organized and stay on task so you can reach your business goals, while still being a great mom.

In an ideal world, every work at home mom would have an office with a door she could close during her working hours... and every child would play quietly in the next room until Mom's workday was over.

In reality, most moms turn their kitchen or dining room, or other common room, into their workspace, and their children play at their feet.

When you work in a common area of your home, it's important to develop an organizational system so your documents and office supplies don't get mixed in with the kids' crafts or coloring pages.

Consider purchasing containers or boxes for your projects, and telling the rest of the family these are off limits. Then you'll always be able to find a pen or paper when you need it. Knowing that certain items are exclusively for Mom's work can also send your kids the message that your work is important, and they will respect the time you spend working.

To keep your important papers in order, you could set up a filing cabinet in another part of the house. Then keep a few current files in a protective folder on a corner of the kitchen counter. This way, you'll always have the information you need handy, but safe from orange juice spills or cookie crumbs.

Organizing your time is just as important as organizing your work space. Working from home is appealing to moms because your hours can be flexible. It's easy to fit in a trip to the zoo or the library, or take time out to care for a sick child.

For some moms, though, being able to work "whenever they want," becomes "working all of the time." They don't set limits on the time they spend working, so they don't know when to stop. They can always find one more thing to do, and end up working all day, evenings and weekends too. When this happens, working at home is no longer fun and the whole family suffers.

The reverse can happen too - some moms don't make the time they need to focus on their work. There's always something important to do before they start work for the day: another dish to wash, another load of laundry to put in, another story to read to your child.

The solution to both of these situations is to organize your time and set a work at home schedule. Decide how many hours a day you will work, and when those hours will be.

When it's time for you to work, let your children know that you need them to play quietly for a few minutes. You may want to have some special toys available for them to play with while you're working. Then reward then with some quality time when you're done.

If you have to make phone calls, or do another activity that requires the house to be quiet, consider hiring a babysitter during your work hours, or scheduling your work hours while the children are sleeping.

It is possible to work from home successfully with young children at home. If you learn to organize your work space and your time, you will create opportunities to be a thriving business owner and an even better mom.