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How To Work From Home and Raise Your Family

It's not always easy, but with some thought, organising and planning, it's run relatively smoothly and is very rewarding for all the family.

Sometimes trying to complete work when you have young children hanging around being disruptive and always saying that word Mum, just seems to go on forever, don't you think! Well I find that if my children have my full attention for a solid hour or so through different times of the day, they are then happy to toddle off for a little while and amuse themselves.

What works for me

I break my hours up into chunk times; this makes my day very efficient and I manage to get tasks complete. I will give you an example below:

Chunk Times

6.00am - 7.00am Quiet time, mediation and focus time

7.00am - 8.00 am Children's breakfast, and get them organised

8.00am - 10.00am Work time

10.00am - 11.00am Morning tea and playtime with the children

11.00am - 12.00pm Work time

12.00pm - 1.00pm Lunch and play time with the children

1.00pm - 4.00pm Work time

4.00pm - 7.30pm Dinner and time with children

8.30pm - 10.30pm If needed is business time and meeting with hubby

On my website there is the Platinum Mover Sheet, which is very helpful for keeping a balance and prioritising tasks.

Here is an example of a Timetable. You can always print these types of timetables and calendars off from the Template section of the Word program. There are mail organisers that also have calendars attached to them or use the portable Tablets (Ipads etc), theses great to use as you can be take them with you.

I have one day a week that I set up to do all my running around like the groceries, inspect properties, pick up deliveries, meetings etc.

I finish work at 4.00pm as my eldest child arrives home from school at this time, and we have family time from 4.00pm until 7.00pm, once the children have all gone to bed, I head back to the office for a couple of uninterrupted work hours, which gives me a head start for the next day. Keep an eye on the time and set aside some for relaxing, watching television or chatting to your partner.

If you have young babies and toddlers you can also get a lot of work done when they have their naptimes.

Of course there will be times and weeks when this all does not go to plan, eg. unwell children, end of year reporting and other engagements, when this does happen put this routine into a smaller scale, break it down, do the priorities. The main thing is to be flexible and focused on your end goal for each day and then each week.

Work at meetings and schedules for work time with your partner. Sometimes if he does his work load in the morning then he can come home in the afternoon and help with the children while I get my work done.

Fridays are planned days to have off as well as weekends.

Working from home can have it's positive and negatives, and interruptions can sometimes be a challenge to manage, like friends popping in, friends ringing up, then there's your children with their interruptions. This can be very testing of your patience. Be firm with friends, just let them know that at certain times, you are at work, so they can't visit.

Make Your Office Their Office

My Office is at the end of my house, I have created one half as my work area and the other half the children's play room, we have Toys, Books, TV and all kinds of fun stuff for them to play with. I find that when I am working I am also interacting with the children and supervising them at the same time, I set some rules of what they can and can't do, and encourage them to play quietly, obviously children will not have complete silence so, hopefully you can handle a little bit of noise, I also set times where I get the total silence I need for some tasks.

Involve your Children In Your Work

Try to include your children with your work, Let them help you put letters into envelopes, staple documents (just watch they don't staple their fingers), give them an old computer keyboard and phone so they can set up their own little office. You will be surprised as to how much your children will enjoy this, actually it's quiet funny to watch them pretend to be me and talk on the phone.

For Example, my little 20 month old is trying to grab at my mouse and is interrupting me here now, this is important, but I'll be right back.

Everyone is happy again, I gave her some food and milk and now she is sleeping beautifully and I can concentrate on what I was doing and that's writing this article for you. Be flexible, the major key is to balance your work priorities with your family needs.

Be open with your children in what you are doing and why. For older children, this is a lot easier because they understand what you are doing and they understand rules better. Give them some tasks to do to help you. Explain to your children what is needed when you are in meetings or on the telephone. Having a quiet room with a lock is good for these occasions. My 11 year old is already learning how to run her own internet business and has been for a while now, managing her own money. For the younger infants and babies, they do better with routines, you need to set your work around your childs, time frame, eating, sleeping and playing etc.

Keep Your Home and Office Kid Safe

How to child proof your home and office without having to barricade the whole place off.

Get down on your hands and knees to get a child's perspective of your office. Look for sharp corners, drawers that can be pulled out, heavy files or furniture that may fall on your children, outlets and cords that beg to be pulled and poked.

Shield power points with plastic safety plugs or cover them with locking devices that screw into the outlet plate. Put protective foam-rubber strips over sharp edges and corners. Make sure electrical cords don't dangle from your workstation, children might be tempted to tug on them and end up pulling a heavy piece of equipment onto themselves. Be especially careful of cords hanging from vertical blinds or curtains. Bundle them up with a special cord divider (most hardware and baby stores sell them).

Timetables and Priorities

Set your next day the day before
Get organised
Work out what you are doing: Busy Time or Money Time

What is Busy Time? All the tasks that don't actually Make you Money. Think about how much actual time you spend on these tasks and what you can out source to others.

Answering emails
Chatting on the phone
Opening mail
Meeting

What is Money Time? Ask yourself what can I do to Make Money today

Sales and marketing
Face to face with clients
Offer specials and discounts etc to ongoing clients
Copywriting for a product

Set your time table tasks, then put numbers against them from 1 to 10.

1 - Urgent

10 - Not so Important

If you don't complete all your tasks, ask yourself what could I have done better.

Work out what you are doing during the day, are you using your time efficiently? Should you be out sourcing some of your work? Manage your team well so everyone understands your priorities so all tasks can be completed, and everyone is productive.

Get the right attitude ask yourself, What am I thankful for, What am I grateful for, and What do I need to ask for.

Get positive, get some courage, you are in business to Make Money. What is your goal, once you have set your goal, Take Action!

Again, this is where the Platinum Mover Sheet will come in handy. Download it now.

The Main Priority

Just remember that your children are your number one priority, their needs come first before work, you will find that if you ignore your children the situation comes very tense and stressful.

So keep your children happy and safe and get your routine into place.

I hope you find my information helpful, it can be a real struggle sometimes, don't give up because you have the best of both worlds.

I love the flexibility in working at home and having children, it also gives us the flexibility to travel more often.

Clarissa runs the Successful Rich Affiliates Now Business. Her expertise is Online Businesses and Affiliates, she shows you from her own experience, which affiliates sites work, gives online training, free website and free products. You can sign up to Clarissa's FREE Newsletter, You receive Ebooks, ideas, opportunities and lots more, you can start your own Internet Business right now at http://www.richaffiliatesnow.com

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