Operating a home business is seldom easy and interruptions come in all shapes, sizes and forms. Between
family, friends and neighbors who call or come by, and telemarketers who insist on ringing your number off hook, getting through workday can be a real challenge.
When you introduce children into home office environment, your productivity and patience can be seriously tested.
For example, right now my three-year old daughter is pulling on my shirt and begging me to read her a story. Clearly, Im in middle of something important here, but how can I say no to those eyes? Ill be right back...
Ok, that wasnt so bad was it? Shes happy, Im happy (having bonded with my daughter) and now Im back to continue my conversation with you :-) Whats lesson here? Flexibility is a major key to balancing your home business priorities with your familys needs.
I can tell you from first-hand experience that maintaining a deep level of concentration on work in a home business for long periods of time is next to impossible. Naptime does offer some reprieve, but any break from kids is usually short lived.
Even with older children, summertime introduces new challenges with kids running in and out of house all throughout day.
I would like to share with you some of tips I have discovered to help manage your home office with children in your midst. Since children of different ages pose different challenges, I will present my tips in terms of age groups.
OLDER CHILDREN AND TEENS
We will look at older children first since they pose least challenge to our work productivity.
Children, who are old enough to understand idea of schedules and chores, are old enough to understand needs of your home business. Explain to your children that you do your work at home so that you can be near them when they need you. But also be sure they understand that you must do your work so that you will have money necessary to keep your house, feed family and to provide them with money for entertainment.
Once your children understand necessity of your work, then outline a work schedule and explain it to them. Do make sure they understand that emergencies are definitely an acceptable reason to interrupt your work. Then make sure they understand that between hours x and y, you will be doing work --- and then hold them to respecting your schedule.
INFANTS
Infants will never understand your needs for work. But fortunately, babies do well under a schedule or routine. Instead of expecting your child to work around your schedule, schedule your work around needs of your baby.
It is simple. Babies eat, sleep and poop. Sometimes they play. Fortunately, babies sleep more than they do anything else.
Naptime offers best advantage for getting your work done. Get your baby into a routine of eat, sleep and play, and you will experience unexpected levels of productivity.
