Time Management Tips For Work-At-Home Parents

How Stay-at-Home Parents Can Balance Work and Parenting

Sep 21, 2008

Tips for work-at-home parents on how to manage time, have more energy for work, gain support and work around household chores.

Due to the difficulty of supporting a family with only one income, many stay-at-home parents do some work from home. Finding time for this work is a challenge and requires some planning, creativity and flexibility.

Create Structure in Your Day

Some parents thrive on structure, while others are more free-flowing. If structure makes you feel more productive, then create some key points in your day and work around them. For example, if there is a playgroup at twelve p.m. and walking the dog occurs around four p.m., then it's easier to know when to fit in some work and be prepared for that.

Grab Spontaneous Moments

If, on the other hand, routine is difficult, or you have a baby who does not yet have much routine, you may like to grab moments spontaneously -- while waiting in the car for your child to come out of school, or when the baby takes a nap. Tasks can include mind-mapping some ideas for a project on a piece of paper, or making a quick work-related phone call.

Manage Household Chores

Christina Katz, in Writer Mama [Writer's Digest Books, 2007], a guide for stay-at-home mothers on developing a writing career, advises saving chores for times when children are awake and it is less possible to work. Get children involved from as young an age as possible so that everyone in the family helps keep the household running efficiently. Try to clean up soon after mess occurs so as to avoid a build-up of stressful clutter and large cleaning jobs.

Use Exercise for More Energy

If childcare is not an option, evenings are often the only time a stay-at-home parent of young children can devote to work. Before tackling a project in the evening after the children have gone to sleep, a quick walk around the block, a dance to some energizing music, or a few stretches can give parents the energy they need to continue.

Network With Others

It can be difficult to stay focused when being a stay-at-home parent is such a demanding job, and the lure of relaxing in front of the TV is strong. Network with other work-at-home parents - internet forums, for example, Storknet, are a great resource for this. Swapping childcare with a friend can be a good solution even for parents of young children and babies.

Set boundaries with friends and family, who may not always fully appreciate the work-at-home role, or understand the need for time for interests and hobbies. This can be difficult at first, as other work-at-home parents describe. But be persistent, and guard your time carefully.

Being a work-at-home parent can be exciting and rewarding and can allow parents to keep their commitment to being a home for their children, while still pursuing their own interests and making money. For more information on working from home as a parent, see "The Work From Home Parent".

The copyright of the article Time Management Tips For Work-At-Home Parents in Stay-at-Home Parents is owned by Hayley Nichols. Permission to republish Time Management Tips For Work-At-Home Parents in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

Sep 21, 2008 2:43 PM

Guest :

While not a single parent, there is always a list of things to do at home. What I have found most helpful is to give tasks to be done at home the same importance as work tasks by including them in my GTD system. I don't mean the tasks that need doing every day like washing dishes or taking out the trash, but those that would be easily put aside if not staring me in the face as something waiting to be done. I've written several posts about my experiences with GTD on my blog at http://johnkendrick.wordpress.com/how-to-gtd/ John