There are many work from home opportunities for moms – you can be a part of it!
If you’re a working parent, you’re in good company. A recent study looked at American married couples with kids under 18. In 61.9% of those surveyed, both parents worked. The good news: it’s possible to hold down a job while parenting! This is even when parenting very young children. The even better news: you can be a working parent and not miss out on your kids’ lives. Just work from home!
Here are five simple tips to build your business while parenting:
1. Focus on the task at hand
One of the most important aspects for a work-from-home parent is the ability to focus your attention on the task at hand. The goal is to avoid having your attention pulled in multiple directions at once. As mentioned here, setting up an office in your house or apartment can help prepare your mind for a different mode in the home. Other ways to help prepare your mind for work mode are dressing up when you’re on the job and setting a clear work-play schedule for yourself and your kids.
2. Quality time
Make a quality time rule. If your kids are too young to grasp how long a half an hour is, now’s the time to start teaching them. Set up an exchange policy: I’ll play with you for thirty minutes, and then I need you to play on your own for an hour. Even vocalizing this to young children will help you frame it for yourself. As a result, you’ll be sure to treat your time with your children as quality time, where your mind is undivided. Designating time as quality time keeps you from feeling harried and distracted. You’ll avoid having this time with your kids start to feel frustrating because you have a sense that you should be working. Making time with your children focused will make you feel better about taking time away from them to work.
3. Boredom no more
Set up a boredom bowl or boredom board. As a weekend project, brainstorm with your kid to come up with a list of activities, games, and tasks that can be done when your child is feeling “bored.” Cut colorful scraps of paper and use them to write every idea down–no matter how silly. One idea per scrap of paper. These scraps can either go into a large mixing bowl (make sure you’re willing to part with it for a while) or they can be glued onto a large piece of paper, decorated, and hung in your child’s bedroom. Now, when you’re busy at work and your child is feeling bored, you can say “Go check your boredom bowl/board” and they have a clear way to problem-solve on their own.
4. Collaborate
Collaborate with other parents. If you know that one of your child’s friends has a parent that works from home or works part-time, offer to do a trade. You’ll take their children for a few hours a week to play with your kids, and they’ll do the same for you. This not only helps establish a nice camaraderie between you and another parent but allows your kids to have play dates.
5. Naptime for everyone (or not!)
Use naptime to your advantage. When you’re working hard at parenting and at your job, naptime can sometimes beckon as a chance to relax while your child is resting. This is perfectly fine to do. Alternatively, you can choose to use your child’s nap as an opportunity to pop back online and work for a few hours. Either way, decide ahead of time that you are going to take a nap to reset too, or get yourself a coffee and get down to business during this uninterrupted time.
Click here start your work-from-home journey as in independent contractor within the NexRep Marketplace.
