How to Balance Working at Home with Children

As a work at home entrepreneur it can be difficult to find balance between work and raising a child, especially if you are accustomed to commuting outside to work. However, if you are going to attain success it is extremely important to create guidelines or rules to make the transition easier for you and your son/daughter. Here are some tips that should be followed to achieve balance.

Find a Babysitter

To balance working at home with family time hire a babysitter to watch your children as you would if you were commuting to work. One suggestion, if you would like to save money, is to set up a schedule with a friend, family or anyone whom you are familiar with to take turns babysitting each other’s children. For example, you babysit their children at given days of the week and then they return the favor by watching yours.

Having someone watch your kids will help you to set aside a scheduled time to work. This method allows you to be able to spend time with your kids without interference.  This tip will be very helpful in helping you to balance working at home with children.

Teach Independent Play

The first few weeks of working at home were difficult because my son would always insist on my attention. I finally decided to implement a plan so that I could balance working at home with spending time with him. I wanted to put in eight hours of work time per day so I scheduled my time by spending one hour working and then one hour participating in an activity with him. I continued this throughout the day until I put in my eight hours of work.

Of course, this meant that my son would have to learn to play independently for the hour that I was working. It was difficult for both of us. There were several times when I would give in to his demands for my attention but I am happy to say that I finally learned to balance my time. At a very young age he learned that there were times that mommy would not be able to play, therefore he learned to entertain himself. I felt proud that I learned to balance working at home with spending time with my child.You can try this with your children or create a method that suites you.

Finding balance between working at home with children can be difficult but with much persistence it can be achieved.