Support groups for small business mums have grown insurmountably primarily due to the numerous challenges uniting these mums. Often these mums need to have flexible employment options that work around family commitments and they need the support and guidance of other mums and entrepreneurs.
Creating a professional business environment within a home can provide so many challenges that sometimes it can be overwhelming and seem almost impossible. It's an issue I've had to overcome myself going from working in a city building with all the facilities I needed at my finger tips and a terrific spacious office to juggling a child and a home office.
I've discussed the issue of how to successfully work from home with literally hundreds of clients, staff, colleagues, friends and discovered that sometimes it's the little things that make the difference. You might be surprised how simple daily changes in your routine can create a home and lifestyle more conducive to being a work from home mum. So what are they?
10 tips for mum's working from home
1. Set working days and hours and stick to it!
It's important to set expectations for yourself, your customers and clients, your suppliers or the people you deal with via your business and most importantly for yourself and your family. If everyone is clear about what days and times you are working your are going to have far greater success at balancing all your conflicting priorities. Don't be afraid to tell people you are only available between certain hours (after school drop off and prior to kinder pick up). The only way we are going to change attitudes in our business communities to being sensitive to family commitments is if we all adopt this philosophy and promote it.
2. Create areas for working and completing different tasks.
Everybody likes different work spaces. It's important to establish what works for you and what fits within your home. Where you meet with clients might be quite different to where you like to write. Similarly where you do your financial records and administration might be different to where you develop creative products. So clearly identify the differing tasks you need to do then set about evaluating what environment is conductive to conducting those activities efficiently. Consider how comfortable it is, what sort of distractions there are, is it practical (good benches that you can leave things out on). Is it cosy and warm or cool, somewhere you can be creative and design.
3. Find some locations to work locally to get you out.
I can not stress enough how important this is. Women that do freelance work that requires driving around to different clients will be familiar with how important it is to find great little cafes's where you can get a coffee, a bite to eat and quietly get a bit of work done. Over the years I've found so many terrific cafe's that are comfortable and friendly where I can work in between visiting training and development clients and workplace based students. These days I have found 5 or 6 local cafes that either have comfy couches, great light, friendly staff and of course good coffee. When I managed a department at RMIT University, I had a group of mobile trainers whom we went to great lengths to help them establish virtual offices, that included rather smart leather breif cases on wheels, laptops, tablets and Palm Pilots to manage their diaries, in the early 2000's virtual offices were quite a new concept. These days it's essential.
Now that I'm working for myself, I work at least 2 hours 3 times a week at a local cafe, just for the change of scenery. These are great places for you to return emails, do research, design or create products, do writing for your business, anything that is mobile. All you need is a small laptop or iPad and wifi connection. Many cafes will give you an hours or so free wifi, although sometimes these can be a little slow. Using the the Hotspot on your mobile phone for wifi is probably the most reliable. However be aware of charges on your phone, especially if watching videos or downloading videos and images.
4. Get dressed as if you are going to work.
It's really easy when you work for yourself to fall into the trap of not bothering to maintain your routine of dressing professionally. Whether your business requires you to wear overalls, protective wear, sports wear or a suit. Just make sure you're doing it everyday that you are scheduled to work. Sure you can adapt your wardrobe to suit a less formal environment, however try to create a balance between comfortable and professional. Remember everywhere you go you are representing your Brand! If you have a certain level of expectation of your staff or future staff, you also need to practice what you preach. As far as your presentation goes, make sure you are setting the standard for your brand. During my many years of teaching management and business administration an important aspect of training was teaching students how to project themselves, how to promote themselves. Presentation is a critical aspect of this, not just because of the perception it creates but because of the impact it has on your self esteem. Feeling good about how you look carries into your attitude and behaviour.
5. Make your bed
Maintaining a haven where you can rest and switch off is critical. So many people stress when they should be sleeping. So when you get up tidy the room and leave it looking lovely. So when you finally kick off your shoes and flop on the bed at the end of a long day it feels like you're landed in heaven! Additionally, inevitably you will need to go back into your bedroom during your working day. Walking into an unkept messy room truly is not conducive to a professional mindset.
6. Keep the kitchen clean
You wouldn't want to go into the work cafeteria to see dirty dishes piled high and shopping still not put away. So make sure each morning or the night before you get it tidy. Set rules for you family about keeping it clean and tidy. The old 'if you use it put it away, if you dirty it, wash it' rule can make the world of difference.
7. Be ruthless with your expectations of your children to tidy up after themselves.
Ok this is not possible with really little kids, however I know from personal experience even toddlers can be enticed to tidy up after themselves. All too often working from home mums spend the day climbing over mess and toys unnecessarily. Make sure your kids are shown what goes where, incentivise the tidy up, use reward charts and get them to take pride in caring for their belongings. Label the toy boxes with pictures or words depending on their age and make it fun. They can help design and create the storage options and labels. If you are battling with getting your kids to contribute to keeping your home nice you can always break out the trusty old " if you leave mess around the toys go in the washing basket on top the the cupboard and you have to earn them back", or confiscating the iPad, or taking time using it off them is worth a try. "No Minecraft for a week" is a powerful incentive. Both of these have worked quite successfully for me.
However do NOT allow yourself to get into the habit of daily picking up after them, sure you might have to help and guide them....but 'Mummy the Slave' you are not! You will need to be vigilant, but in the long run, it will mean a home based office will be far more manageable if the kids contribute. You might be surprised how good your 4 year old is at vacuuming his playroom. I was!
8. Designate a play area.
When you are trying to work with kids under your feet, toys seem to spread everywhere. Even if your kids are great at tidying up after themselves, they need space to just be kids, whilst you are working. Ensure you designate some space just for them. A playroom or play area can give children a sense of ownership. They will be far better at tidying up their mess if they know they have a set area to play in. So once they have had enough of making dinosaur land and want to do some drawing or crafting, they'll need to pop the dinosaurs away before they get out the craft stuff.
9. When it's family time do it with gusto.
Mummy guilt is universal amongst working mums so when you have designated non-work time with your family make sure it's memorable. That does not mean flying around taking them to sporting activities or feeling that you need to take them to the latest play centre. Instead break out the board games, or do some learning activities or learning activity books with them one on one. Play Go Fish, go for walk in a park, go exploring in the bush land, make a blanket cave, let them teach you their favourite online games or do something creative or crafty with them. When you switch from business owner to mummy the kids need to really feel you are 'present'. It means the time you spend working will give you less of a guilt trip.
10. Don't let health and nutrition suffer
Poor nutrition means low stamina and lack of concentration. Plus you're not doing your business any favours by neglecting your health for the sake of saving time. It's really easy to opt for prepackaged foods when we are in a hurry and yet simple meals and home made frozen left overs can be far more nutritious and just as quick and easy. It may take a little more time in the planning stages but your health and your children's health and improved behaviour will be so beneficial you'll wonder why you thought packaged food or takeaway was an option.
So that I don't find myself having a mealtime breakdown I always plan the menu for the week on a Monday morning, or at least 5 days worth of meals. This means you can do the complete shop, stock the cupboards and fridge and work out which meals are more quick and simple and you can make these on your crazy busy days and the more lavish complex meals can be on your quieter days. Additionally we have such a beautiful abundance of natural, safe and healthy foods in this country it should almost be a crime to feed your family anything less than quality, nutrient filled food.
Making sure your kids are full to the brim with healthy food is going to be more beneficial to your business than you think. So many behavioural issues with children are linked to poor diet, sugar, food toxins and additives and preservatives often found in packaged foods. So make sure they have healthy alternatives with the odd sweet or savoury treat thrown in. Invest the time in desensitising them to a broad variety of healthy food, so at dinner time it might be a lot of nagging and begging to get them to try things at the dinner table and snack time for a while, however each time it will get a little easier once they realise you are relentless. The pay off is that your children's behaviour will be less erratic, meaning the juggle of you kids and a home business won't be such a drama. Too often we suffer through issues with our kids only to find the fix was quite simple.
Most mums find working from home a real challenge, however adopting even of few on these tips I guarantee will make your home/business balance just a little bit easier.
