Working online is a fantastic way for mums wanting to stay at home, spend more time with the family plus earn an extra income. Although working online from your own home office can give you a sense of independence and make you feel like you’re contributing to the household finances, it does come with it’s setbacks.

What do you do when you have a task that is close to it’s deadline and you’re child is unwell and craving your attention. Do you have rules set into place for your kids to follow whilst you’re working. How do you mix your online work with your household responsibilities? How do you get your work life and family life to gel together and create the right balance?

Families are every bit diverse as the people that make them. This makes parenting and running the family household vary in so many ways. That being said, mums working online should put into place a set of rules which allows for the productivity needed to make your online business a success.

I have a set of 4 Tips below which you can use as a guide to get you started:

1. Always discuss your plans and how you are going to set your business up with the family. You partner should be the first person you discuss this with, then the kids. It is important for your children to know what mum is doing. If you have young children you will need to decide if you are going to put them into any type of child care. Even though you are working from home, it is good to have a break every now and then from your young ones, so child care might be something you do need to think about.
2. Specify your work schedule. Now this of course does depend on your family responsibilities, household chores etc. Whatever type of schedule you put into place, ensure that your family knows. This makes for lesser interruptions and distractions. By putting into place set working hours, can work well with your kids. Doing this lets them know when it is mums work time and when it is their time with mum. They are then less likely to disrupt you when you are being productive. There will be times when you are not able to stick to your schedule but always try to unless your attention is urgently required elsewhere.
3. Determine if you will have a closed door or open door policy. A closed door policy works better if you have someone at home, whether it is an in home carer or other family member, looking after your children. This enables you to be able to work with minimal or no distractions at all. If you don’t have anyone at home looking after your children, then I would advise on the open door policy. This way you are able to check up on your children as needed. Even though this can bring on some distractions, you can always close the door a little as you require – e.g. important phone call etc.
4. Present your expectations to the family. Your children need to know how you expect them to behave when you are working. Work you the time you are able to spend on household chores and determine how other family members can help. Once this has all been decided upon then draw up a plan that everyone can go by. If you have older children then you may want to set them certain responsibilities to lessen your load. Chores such as keeping their rooms clean, doing dishes, hanging out the washing etc are all little things that you could delegate to other family members so that everyone is doing their bit to help.

Working online it great and it does have many benefits. Do remember that there will be adjustments that need to be made. Discuss these with your family and come up with a plan that enables you to stay productive while working online.

About the Author

Kellie Simon is a Full Time Internet Marketer, who also provides support to Online Business. Kellie loves sharing her knowledge to encourage and assist others to get started in their online business. Visit Kellie’s Blog to get her free report revealing the top 9 methods you can use to get started online and making money today. Go To Kellie’s Blog – http://www.kelliesimon.com.au

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