Many people think that making the jump to working from home will alleviate all of the guilt that comes with parenting. Id like to tell you this is true, however, it is not. Some time ago when I first started my business, my two-year daughter was playing with her dollhouse. She was role-playing with the parents and making them say to the daughter, No, because I am working. If that wasnt enough to open the floodgates of guilt, I dont know what is.

When working from home, one of the biggest challenges is simply to know when to stop working. This is especially true if you are trying to build your own business. The sole purpose for doing this is for your family but sometimes, if you are not careful, you can end up neglecting them in the process. The irony is, you chose to work from home in order to spend MORE time with your family, not to spend all of your waking moments at your computer.

So what is the solution? Not sleeping? No! Although I was in tears after seeing myself reflected in my daughters role play, I knew I could not go on any less sleep than I already was. I also knew that I could not abandon my efforts either. Not making an income is simply not an option for many of us. Although I would like to put my business ventures on hold until my daughter is in school, I cannot. So, I came up with a schedule.

Schedules are important because they help you to establish a routine. This routine will help you to get what you need to get done as well as ensure that your children are getting the attention and love that they need. It also helps the kids because once you establish a routine, they will know that Mommy is coming back to play with them again as she does every day like clockwork.

I am going to share my schedule. This routine may not work for you but perhaps you can tweak it to meet you personal agenda.

*8am As soon as you wake up get showered and dressed. This may be obvious and strange to read for some. However, there are many of us that end up putting this off until later in the day. I personally find that if I get this done right off the bat my day goes much smoother. Not to mention, I am presentable should someone come to the door!

*9:00am After breakfast do something active! Walk, dance, or go to the park. This will give you the exercise you need to keep your body healthy and it will tucker out your little ones as well. You may be tempted to get on the computer before doing this but dont! You may never end up logging off!

*10:30am Now that your child is fulfilled for the moment, fix them a mid morning snack and throw in a load of laundry. Dont fold or put away, but just switch your loads. Now at least you have that done.
While your children are enjoying their snack and relaxing spend about an hour working. They will be content to play quietly for a bit now. It helps if you have a timer set for yourself so you know when to stop. This is difficult but when the timer goes off you must wrap it up!!

*11:30am Spend an hour or so doing your household chores. You may really need to vacuum or change sheets. Do this now but let your children participate so you are still spending quality time with them.

*12:30pm Fix your children lunch. As they eat sneak in about 20 minutes or so of work.

*1:00pm After lunch do a quiet activity with your children. Read to them or color. Better, yet start them on a craft or Color forms. Spend about a half hour with them doing this. Again, afterwards they will be content to continue on their own for a while.

*1:30pm You can now devote another hour or so to your work.

*2:30pm When this hour is up, complete any household chores that need doing like dishes, bill paying, appointment making, or starting dinner. Again, let your children participate and make it fun. If you are paying bills, give them some envelopes to color or some junk mail to sort through. If you are doing dishes let them help. It is always tempting to just get these tasks done as quickly as possible by ourselves. We get more done that way. However, we then miss out on precious moments with our babies. Soon enough, theyll have no interest in taking part in these activities. Soon enough, the house will be spotless again.

*3:30pm Give your children a light snack such as carrot sticks or rice cakes and allow them to watch a half hour of TV. You can now wrap up whatever you have been working on all day business wise.

*4:00pm Wrap up the housework- fold the clothes, clean up toys, or wash the windows in one room- whatever needs doing that day. Then move on to making dinner. Remember to let your little ones help!
If possible while dinner is cooking, take your children out in the yard for a bit. Blow some bubbles, collect leaves, whatever suits their fancy. Try and see the world through their eyes, as magical, and let yourself decompress a bit.

*5:30pm- Now its the dinner rush. Serve the meal, eat, clean up, and do bath times.

*7:30pm- Cuddle up and read some stories as a family or watch a movie. Even though you have a million things going on in your mind that must be done, just let it go for now and enjoy.

*9:00pm- Once the children are in bed, you can get back to working, if you like, uninterrupted for a few hours. Or, you can give yourself the night off and just relax. You do deserve it! After all, you have accomplished about 3 hours of business, 3 hours of housework, and at least 3 and a half hours of undivided attention given to your children- not to mention the three hours they also “helped” you with your tasks.

I have actually made similar schedules now for each day of the week. For example, Mondays may include grocery shopping. Tuesdays I might do the bill paying. Wednesdays might be craft day with the kids while Thursdays are park outings. Business wise, I may concentrate on promotion on certain days and writing on others. I find that in following this schedule, I get much more done than when I go about my day without a plan. Do I always adhere to it? No! Being a mom requires flexibility. Things change at the drop of a hat. If a little one gets sick, there goes the work for that day. Still, it is good to have a schedule to fall back on and refer to especially when you feel lost and dont know where to start. I know it is difficult to submit a routine especially when you are focused and wanting to work uninterrupted.

What helps me with this is constantly writing things down and keeping a list of what I need to do. If a brainstorm hits me when I am playing with my daughter, Ill run over to my notebook and jot it down for later. It is also frustrating, if you are a perfectionist, to never really be done with anything, to not be able to start a task and just see it through to the end. Instead, with this routine, we jump from task to task to task. However, I find this works better for my daughter and, truthfully, for me too. There were many weeks where I got tons of work accomplished but the house was falling apart. Or sadly, where I was not spending enough quality time with my little girl. This routine helps to create a balance. Instead of playing only role fully, we play all of our roles as much as possible. With only 24 hours in the day and at least 3 full time jobs (work, parent, and housekeeper, if not more) this may be the best we can hope for!

Christen Pyle is a personal coach and work at home mother. Her education is in transpersonal psychology and before retreating to her home office after having her daughter she worked as a mental health counselor, employment coach, recruiter, and office manager. She now runs several home based businesses and the website The Untrodden Road http://www.untroddenroad.com, that offers free listings of work at home opportunties and businesses for others who want to telecommute in order to spend more time with their children, because of a disability, or simply feel the need to live by their own clock. She also offers personal and employment coaching both online through Kasamba.com http://www.kasamba.com/Advice/VirtualOffice/ViewExpert.aspx?conMemID=336179&Catid=1055&banID=2100 and over e-mail untroddenroad@yahoo.com.