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Avoiding The Work At Home Mom Blues

by: JessicaFranks
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Word Count: 755

As the fax machine noisily went off, I ran to silence it. After all, the baby had just gotten to sleep after a fussy morning due to teething, and I didn't want him to be disturbed. I'd have to call the client in a few minutes so that he could resend his papers, but not until after I turned the volume down on the fax machine, of course. Talking on the phone, however, could end up taking a lot of time, as this client tended to like to talk for a while. I, on the other hand, would much rather be getting some quality work time in during the baby's nap time.

What are the pitfalls of working from home and being a mother? It seemed like the best of both worlds. I could attend \"Mommy and Me\" playgroups, then spend significant time with my computer while my baby slept. All the baby books assured me that babies slept at some point, and I am a focused worker. Everything seemed to be on target except for two things: my baby was fussy and slept poorly unless I held him. Also, my primary client was fussier than my baby and required extensive time with me on the phone.

What makes it hard to be a work at home mom? Figuring out what's the most important and what your limits need to be. Although I sometimes had trouble trying to decide whether the baby or the client should take precedence, I soon figured out what was more important. I had just gotten off the phone with my client, and I was tending to the baby, who wasn't feeling well, when the phone rang. It was my client ??" again ??" and that's when I knew I had to draw a line.

That was when I had to toughen up and set some ground rules for myself. The client couldn't be blamed for taking up my time ??" after all, I was letting him. If I didn't set some limits now, all my clients would behave the same way. Everything started to run smoother when I let my customers know that work for me was set for after 10:00 pm. They could fax or email me during the day, but my work day would officially start after the baby was either in bed for the night or being attended by my husband. That would allow me to more fully concentrate on my job. It would also help me to avoid marathon phone calls with clients who just needed someone to talk to

What makes it hard to be a work at home mom? Finding time for everything. I set up a schedule for returning client's phone calls, one per client per day. It made all of use focus on the important things when we did talk, and the business became more streamlined on both ends, which was a win-win situation. The quality of my work got better, and my customers ended up actually paying less because fewer errors were made due to interruptions.

The clients settled into the new routine. I became more efficient at creating quality work in small amounts of time, and the house actually began to look (and smell) cleaner due to my increased productivity. Then my baby turned into a toddler. He quit napping in the morning altogether, opting for an extended afternoon nap. However, his activity all morning left me wiped out and unfit for anything during his nap time.

That was when I had to make major adjustments to my schedule for the second time. I had to allow time for my boy to play outside, allowing him to play freely and wear himself out a little. That way, I didn't spend all my time picking up and cleaning up behind him as he made a disaster area out of our home.

I have two boys now who are teenagers. I've been working at home for 15 years, but now I mainly write and edit for a few clients. With the newer technology, I even work for people I've never met, which tends to save me a lot of money on gas. While my teenagers are much more self-sufficient, I still tend to work after they go to bed. After all, they still like to have their mother's attention, even if they are a lot bigger now

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About the Author

If you are looking to make extra money from home, then make sure you check out Jessica's free movie about jobs for stay at home moms, and work for stay home moms.