How to Work From Home Without Losing Your Mind

Remember when you thought working from home would be the easiest thing in the world? Ha! There is nothing harder than building your dreams and raising your little’s at the same time.

Oh, have I been there! I got my college degree, started multiple companies from home, with little ones underfoot. Let me tell you how I survived those early years of mommy hood and Entrepreneurship without losing my mind.

#1- Office Hours

Rule #1 to working from home and not losing your mind is to set office hours. You need office hours, so you can tell everyone that you are WORKING… including yourself. And once you set them you guard them! No doing laundry during that time. No answering personal phone calls. Only work should be happening during office hours.

Obviously, the smaller your kiddos are the more time you will spend working when they are napping or sleeping. As they get older and more able to entertain themselves you can work more daytime hours.

#2- Timers

Want to know the secret to keeping your kids away from you while you are working? TIMERS! Yes, timers! Kitchen timers are the ultimate weapon to working from home without losing your mind. It gives those kiddos a start and end time to mom’s workday. Start with 30 minutes of quiet and reward them every time they stay away and entertain themselves while you are working. Eventually you will have oodles of time (well it will feel like oodles, compared to now) to yourself while they play.

#3- Technology

Sorry, not sorry, I used whatever technology I could to keep those kiddos busy for 90 minutes while I got some work done. Their grades are amazing, they are artistic and kind, and they are off the charts for growth. So, no guilt here for letting them use technology while I worked it. You, just need to make it work Momma.

#4- Home Office Space

You should have a workspace to call your own. It could be as simple as a desk in the corner of the living room. Or, you could be lucky enough to transfer a spare bedroom into your ultimate home office! Either way you NEED to have a place to call your own.

A home office space creates easy boundaries of “Mommy is working” and “Mommy is not working.” The littles know that when mommy is in that space she is not to be disturbed. It is one of the best ways to work from home without losing your mind.

#5- Rest Time for All

Nap time is glorious for working mommies! Until they out-grow nap time. If your cherubs are anything like mine, they stopped napping early. Enter rest time! Keep using the time you used to put them down for naps for quiet time.

The rule in my house is you don’t have to sleep but you must do something quiet until the timer goes off.  This is a great tip too if you have kids at different ages. When the baby is sleeping everyone else is resting in their rooms and playing quietly.

I promise this time is much shorter than you realize.

Before long, you will wave to those precious kiddos as they get on the bus and you will head to your home office and have HOURS to spend working. Don’t feel guilty that you can’t say yes to every business opportunity, mixer, or mastermind that comes your way right now. Your priority is to be home right now. Slow growth is still growth. With these tips in place, You really can work from home without losing your mind.

With Grace & Grit,

~Raychel

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