If you know me in real life, then you know that I always do some kind of work to help with the family budget. All of this work in done from home (mostly) so that I can be home with my kids. Because if you know me, then you also know that I have spent the last 4,000 years in baby land (not complaining just stating) and childcare prices, am I right?
Also I love being home with my kids. I wouldn't want to be anywhere or do anything else.
These jobs have changed over the years for sure. Some have been great and others have been less than great but all have served the purpose of supplementing a teacher's salary.
But what is working from home really like for a big family?
Or a family with small children?
Are there office hours?
Do you literally do double duty ALL day?
How do you compartmentalize work and family?
I'm so glad you asked!
There has been trial and error over the last 10 years of this journey. Some missteps were the result of immaturity, lack of experience or poor planning. But all of these experiences taught me something.
Here is a run down of the different things I have tried.
*Etsy Shop to Sell my Knitted Items ( I learned that knitting is a hobby, not a job)
*Cleaning ( I still do this from time to time when someone calls me)
*Babysitting/Nanny (I would probably do this again, maybe)
*A mostly work from home job for my Church (I work on site a few hours a week)
*Teaching English online (I really enjoyed this but the early hours with a newborn became too much for this season)
*Usborne Book Boss(Current Gig. Love it because I love books and literacy)
*Newest effort is freelance writing (writing is my second favorite thing next to reading)
I love being able to be home with my kids and make money too but the challenge for me has always been balance. How can I get my work done, play with and teach the kids, keep the house up, etc, etc? I tend to the be the "Work all the time and am never fully present with my family" kind of work at home mom. I didn't want to be that mom anymore and with this in mind I made my goals for 2020.
After many years of different things, none of which proved effective at providing balance, I decided to try office hours this year. So I sat down and mapped out a typical day. Hour by Hour. This showed me the spaces in my day that could support 2 hours of work. I chose Mon-Thur 12-2.
This had a lot to do with nap time.
Definitely a learning curve but the idea is that I do NOTHING work related in any capacity until my office hours.
No checking email
No answering or sending messages
No posting or scheduling posts on my social media pages
No phone calls related to work
No writing
No Planning
NOTHING
While I LOVE having focused time, my two youngest kids have been bucking the system ( get the memo kids). The almost 3 year old is now allergic to naps and the almost 10 month old decided now was the perfect time to try and get her FIRST tooth. Really?
But I'm loving the freedom of laying the work down when I'm done and being completely present with my family.
Whatever work can wait until the next days office hours and if it is a true emergency then it will get handled but very rarely do these lines of work have emergencies.
Do you work from home? Do you have office hours? What are your obstacles and how do you overcome them?
I would LOVE to hear about your experiences and hacks in the comments.
Also I love being home with my kids. I wouldn't want to be anywhere or do anything else.
These jobs have changed over the years for sure. Some have been great and others have been less than great but all have served the purpose of supplementing a teacher's salary.
But what is working from home really like for a big family?
Or a family with small children?
Are there office hours?
Do you literally do double duty ALL day?
How do you compartmentalize work and family?
I'm so glad you asked!
There has been trial and error over the last 10 years of this journey. Some missteps were the result of immaturity, lack of experience or poor planning. But all of these experiences taught me something.
Here is a run down of the different things I have tried.
*Etsy Shop to Sell my Knitted Items ( I learned that knitting is a hobby, not a job)
*Cleaning ( I still do this from time to time when someone calls me)
*Babysitting/Nanny (I would probably do this again, maybe)
*A mostly work from home job for my Church (I work on site a few hours a week)
*Teaching English online (I really enjoyed this but the early hours with a newborn became too much for this season)
*Usborne Book Boss(Current Gig. Love it because I love books and literacy)
*Newest effort is freelance writing (writing is my second favorite thing next to reading)
I love being able to be home with my kids and make money too but the challenge for me has always been balance. How can I get my work done, play with and teach the kids, keep the house up, etc, etc? I tend to the be the "Work all the time and am never fully present with my family" kind of work at home mom. I didn't want to be that mom anymore and with this in mind I made my goals for 2020.
After many years of different things, none of which proved effective at providing balance, I decided to try office hours this year. So I sat down and mapped out a typical day. Hour by Hour. This showed me the spaces in my day that could support 2 hours of work. I chose Mon-Thur 12-2.
This had a lot to do with nap time.
Definitely a learning curve but the idea is that I do NOTHING work related in any capacity until my office hours.
No checking email
No answering or sending messages
No posting or scheduling posts on my social media pages
No phone calls related to work
No writing
No Planning
NOTHING
While I LOVE having focused time, my two youngest kids have been bucking the system ( get the memo kids). The almost 3 year old is now allergic to naps and the almost 10 month old decided now was the perfect time to try and get her FIRST tooth. Really?
But I'm loving the freedom of laying the work down when I'm done and being completely present with my family.
Whatever work can wait until the next days office hours and if it is a true emergency then it will get handled but very rarely do these lines of work have emergencies.
Do you work from home? Do you have office hours? What are your obstacles and how do you overcome them?
I would LOVE to hear about your experiences and hacks in the comments.
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