Top 10 Time Management Tips: Keeping Your Children and Business Happy
You decided to join the thousands of women who have started their own business. You'll find out that operating a successful home business with your kids can be like running around in circles.
You can become frustrated and stressed when caring for your children begins to seep into your business time. Traditional time management books miss this point completely.
These 10 tips can help your find a compromise between your children and your business needs and let you keep your sanity.
1. Reality Check
There is a difference with spending all day with your kids and only spending it with them in the evenings and weekends.
Before you started your home business, somebody else took care of your children during the day. The truth is you trade your job for another full time job, staying at home with your kids with the added bonus of running a business.
2. Organize Your Business Hours
Set your business hours to accommodate your children's needs. Keep in mind that the younger the child, the more time they require.You don't need to set your business hours around the usual 9-5. You are the boss; you can set your own hours. You might only be able to work on your business two to three hours a day, but at the end of the week, those hours really add up.
3. Ask the Spouse for Help
Ask your spouse to spend some time with the kids during the evening. This is a great opportunity for him to spend some quality time with them.
Use this time to work on business activates. Once the he is done, stop and spend the rest of the evening with him.
4. Baby sitting Swap
Get into contact with other women business owners and start a kid swap. One day a week, agree to watch each others children. You can devote time to your business without interruptions.
5. Hire a Babysitter
Hire a teenager to look after your children a couple hours in the afternoon. This time can be used for marketing or returning calls.
6. Children Transportation Services
Look for some type of children transportation services in your area. These services provide care transportation that fit your child's schedule. You can use them to pick up your child to and from school and to extracurricular activities.
7. Establish Clock Boundaries
Be sure to set boundaries for your family and personal time. Set hours to spend time with your family and don't let your business slip into those hours.
Children enjoy routine and will honor your business boundaries if they know you'll play with them after hours.
8. Involve Your Children
Give your children small jobs to do in your business. It makes them feel very important and teaches them responsibility. You might even be able to deduce their salary on your taxes.
9. Children Live in the House Too
Even children can do household chores too. They can straighten out their room or put away the dishes. This is another way to teach your children about responsibility.
10. Prepare for the Unexpected
What happens when your child becomes sick and you have a client meeting?
Put together a contact sheet in case of emergencies. Ask friends, family, or neighbors if they can watch your children on short notice.
Ann Rusnak, "The Time Diva", authored Flip Your Time, a simple step-by-step system where busy solo business owner gain control over their life and experience the luxury of time. Sign up for her FREE Results Coaching Package and Discover 3 Time Management Myths that Can Cripple and Even Destroy Your Business... How to Stop Using Them.
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