I’ve shared with you my time management tips 1-3 for work at home moms. Now let’s take a look at tips 4 – 6.
Tip #4
Have a “safety net” built into your schedule.
Remember when you were back in college and you’d put off studying for that final exam or writing that term paper until the night before it was due. Back then, all you needed was a pot of coffee and a lot of midnight oil to burn.
But times have changed!
Now that you’re a work at home mom, you definitely have more on your plate than you did back during your college days. And, let’s face it; staying up all night to get needed work done when you have an impending deadline just isn’t practical.
That’s why it’s important to build a safety net into your schedule. If your client is expecting his report from you by Friday at 10am, why not make yourself get it done by Wednesday evening? By building a safety net into your schedule, you are able to better balance your work and family lives, particularly when you’re thrown a curve ball – like a sick child or a snow day.
Tip #5
Have a backup plan…or two…or three.
Line up a couple of backup plans you can go to when you’re having trouble balancing work and home. Can your husband help out with evening chores and tasks so you can spend a few extra hours working if you’re hit with a deadline? Perhaps you can have an agreement with a couple of other work at home moms you know to swap child-sitting duties in return for a few extra hours to work uninterrupted.
Just remember – crises are an unscheduled part of life for work at home moms…so plan for one before it hits.
Tip #6
Hold yourself accountable.
If you were working in an office, your manager would hold you accountable to meeting deadlines. You need to do the same for yourself. As a work at home mom, it’s important that you hold yourself accountable the same way a boss would in the outside world. Having a checklist of things you need to accomplish would be one great way to hold yourself accountable.
This helps you better balance work and home life by too by scheduling an end time to each work day.
Join me as I continue to share with you some great time management tips to help you perform the working woman’s balancing act without falling flat on your back.
You can have it all – and I’ll show you how!
Remember, if you shoot for the moon and miss, you are still among the stars!
Valerie Fitzgerald
