Managing Your Time

One of the most difficult things about working from home is managing your time so that you have a suitable amount of time to get your work done. Unlike a regular job outside of the house where you are away from the home for 8 or more hours a day and can concentrate purely on getting your work done, working from home can proof to be more difficult. When you work from home, you have a plethora of distractions such as children, spouses, pets, laundry, housecleaning, phone calls, and unexpected visitors. Working from home takes a lot of self motivation and you really have to be able to push yourself to stick to what needs done to make that money.

First thing to do is figure out how many hours a day you would like to dedicate to work. Four hours a day? Maybe a full 8? It all depends on you and what you can squeeze into your lifestyle. Once you have figured out how many hours a day you wish to work, then you look at your daily routine. If your kids are at home, what time do they take naps? What time will your spouse or another family member be there to help out with the kids? If your kids are older, what times are they in school? Are they old enough to keep themselves occupied while you work? What about cooking meals?

Most work at home jobs allow you to pick and choose your own hours. You may be able to work as many hours as you wish depending on the job. Some jobs make you work a certain number of hours a day or a week and others might force you to make up a dedicated schedule where you can dedicate all of your attention to your work. Everyone is different, so there really is not one set schedule that is best for everyone.

All of us live differently. Figure out what hours would work the best for you and when you would have the least distractions and use those hours wisely. Don't neglect your housework but always make sure that you set aside some time each week or day for that.

If you don't think that you have time to work from home, you are probably wrong, unless you are like the Duggars and have 24508345 kids (of course, they have the older kids to take care of the younger ones, though!). I had 3 kids within a year and started working from home when my oldest was only 2 and my twins were still babies. You can figure it out! If you have young children, think of activities that they can sit down and enjoy doing while you get some work time in or while they are taking a nap. Ask relatives and friends to help out even if it means just hanging out at your house while you work. It's not impossible!