Being a parent is hard work at the best of times, but being a parent that works from home is even harder. Trying to concentrate on work, when the ironing pile is staring you in the face can make it hard to ignore the housework and focus on your paid work.
Working from home running your own business does offer many benefits — one of the main advantages being that you have more flexibility over your work life. However, working from a home office certainly has its drawbacks too. It can be hard to switch off when you are always surrounded by your work.
If you are able to achieve a balance, then working from home can be incredibly rewarding, and allow you more control over your life.
Childcare
One of the reasons that some people like to run their businesses from home is so that they aren’t reliant on childcare. The problem is that it can be seriously challenging to concentrate on work with Peppa Pig playing in the background. Trying to juggle looking after the kids while working at the same time can leave you feeling frazzled and like you are being pulled in all directions.
Booking in some childcare can be a big help even if it is just a small amount each week. This will allow you to talk on the phone to clients and entirely focus on your work without interruptions. Contact Toddle to find child care centres near you.
Money Matters
One of the biggest drains on your time when you are self-employed, or a contractor can be all the admin work that is involved. Finding the time to do your accounts, can be particularly tricky, as it is easy to fall behind, and then struggle to submit them on time. Enlisting the help of professional accountants, such as QAccounting can take a significant weight off of your mind, and ease some of that pressure. Not needing to worry about your accounts will free up your time to focus on your work.
Set Boundaries
Setting yourself boundaries is vitally important as a work from home parent. If you find it hard to switch off from work and enjoy your home life, you will need to create a degree of separation between the two areas.
If you have space, physically separating work from home can be a useful way of doing this. Setting up your home office in an area of the house, such as a spare bedroom can be more helpful than working from your kitchen table. If you can’t see your work, you may be able to think about it less when you are relaxing.
Stay Organised
Feeling stressed about meeting a deadline can be a big headache for work from home parents. Try to allocate your time to specific tasks so that you can make steady progress, rather than feeling rushed to get it completed when the deadline is looming. Working on one project at a time for a specific length of time can help you give it your full attention.