Chapter Blogs
Communities
About Us
Being a work at home mom (WAHM) has its rewards and its challenges.
The rewards are the easy part for everyone to see. No long commutes in rush hour traffic, no alarm clocks at 5am to get yourself and all your little people ready for the day, you can work in your jammies all day and no one would know and best of all you get to be home with your kids and watch them grow up!
The part people don't see as easily are the challenges. Excuse me, "don't touch the tv." The challenges are sometimes bigger than the reward. "leave your brother alone", "no you can't have cookies." The challenges are time management and staying focused.
Staying focused. Sometimes I think its a myth when working from home with young children, something that just isn't possible.
The temptation to do a million things other than work are is inevitable. Play with the kids, clean, do laundry, go for a walk, watch tv, play with the kids, bake cupcakes, take a nap... you get the picture, so. many. things.
I started my WAHM life 6 years ago with a simple job that didnt require too much attention and was pretty easy to do any time of day. 3 years ago I became a momstown mama and took on a whole new role as a WAHM. Last year I became THE momstown Barrie mama.... This is where I learned what it truly meant to be a WAHM!!!
We chose to be WAHM's because we love the rewards and the benefits. We didn't think about the chaos and the temptations and how difficult it is to focus. At least, I didn't think about it.
To stay focused it's a good idea to make the infamous "TO DO LIST" your best friend. I find this to be a great way to make myself accountable for what I need to do, what I need to focus on. And sometimes it's a great reminder of the days I lost focus.
I try to put deadlines to those tasks as well. I am not perfect though. Sometimes my to do list seems to grow faster than I can knock the tasks off. When the list grows, this is when I stop and remind myself to focus.
Some tips I have been given and have found useful in finding my focus:
1. Find my most productive time of day and make sure that I use it. My more productive time is first thing in the morning and after the kids have gone to bed.
2. Take advantage of any quiet time you might have. If the kids take nap, I use that time to turn off the tv, not look at the messy kitchen and tie myself to my desk and work. This is the best time to make phone calls. Your window of opportunity while the little people nap is slim. Use it to its fullest.
3. Don't set goals that you know you will fail at. It's easier to focus on a few small tasks or one big task than trying to do it all in one day.
4. Don't stress.
Being a work at home mom takes a lot of dedication, hard work and love. Oh yeah, and focus.
It's not easy, but it's oh so worth it!
Thanks to Karrie, our momstown Barrie owner, for guest blogging about her experience as a mom entrepreneur!
