How Balance Being A Stay at home Parent While Building a Home Based Business

A lot of people think that stay at home parents have a lot more time to run a business and their household, however, we all have 24 hrs. in a day and with being a stay at home parent myself, I realize that that time is split up between cooking, cleaning, taking care of the kids, being a chauffer and so much more. That is why I have included several keys that have helped and can help you to spend your 24hrs more efficiently.

1.) Create a Schedule

Because there is a lot of work that needs to get done on a daily basis, creating a schedule can help you sort out and prioritize so you don’t get overwhelmed. You can set a schedule and prioritize your tasks based on the level of importance of each task. That way, you won’t forget anything and you’ll feel like you have accomplished what you needed to accomplish for the day. For example, if you know that you have to do the laundry, go to a play date, make follow up calls and send out an email blast, you can set your set a time frame for each thing based on its level of importance. So, you might schedule the play date in the morning, do the laundry after that, make your follow up calls in the afternoon and then send out your email blast.

2.) Delegate Responsibility – It’s ok. Don’t feel guilty 

Sometimes as parents, we feel like we can do it all and don’t feel right with passing some of that responsibility on to others. But one of the great things about having a home based business is the fact that most (if it’s a business that is focused on the success of it’s members) have the tools and a team in place so you don’t have to do it all yourself. The fact is, also, that there are some things that you are just good at and some things its going to be someone else’s expertise. Why not get the people who can thrive in that area of your business to do those tasks. As a result, your business will be more successful because you don’t have to split yourself in so many directions. One great tool to have is a simple to use system that helps you by doing a good percentage of the work. The business I have currently, for example, has a phenomenal system in place that does about 95% of the work. This as you may already suspect frees up a lot of my time and I pretty much spend the time I have doing follow up. This has helped me tremendously and allows me to spend a lot more time with my kids.

3.) Set your own hours

Building a business can take up a lot of your time and in the initial stages, it can be tempting to spend your days, nights and weekends making sure your business is getting off to a great start and be successful in the long run. However, that is also a quick way to burn out fast. That is why it’s important to set your own hours. Just because you work from home doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t have some structure when it comes to when you do business. For example, I set my hours around my kids schedule so I make sure that my work gets done between certain hours and the rest of the time I spend with my kids or doing something that recharges my batteries because there is no greater gift you can give to your kids and your prospects than someone who is physically and emotionally recharged. Now one of the great things about these hours I set for myself is that they are flexible so I need to take an important phone call or go on an important web casts, then I make arrangements. The important thing is that you set boundaries so that your family and business life don’t interfere with each other.

4.) Record important calls

Most businesses have daily or weekly conference calls in order to train people on how to effectively make money with the business and/or to update people on the progress the company is making. However, because of just the everyday demands of the household, it can be difficult to make some of those important meetings. You can resolve this by recording these calls. Some businesses provide previous recordings that you can access on the company website or training website. If this is not made available to you, you can also record the calls yourself. There are several low cost software and tools you can use to record these calls yourself. You can find more by putting in a search online.

Being a stay at home parent and running your own business are both tough jobs and can be hard to manage. However, with the right business and the ability to create a balance in your business and family life, you can achieve success in both these areas. I am fortunate enough to have a business that helps in creating that balance. You can find out more about it at: http://wewillpayyourwayin.com