One of the toughest things about being a work at home mom or dad is working around the needs of your children. Naturally, depending on how old they are, these needs can be quite time consuming. It can literally be next to impossible to get any work done. Well, being a former work at home dad with small child, this advice is coming from years of experience. I think you will find it helpful.

Let’s start with the child who’s still in the crib or playpen, or both for that matter. These small toddlers or infants do a lot of sleeping. And they also do a lot of crying and need a lot of attention when they’re awake. There is just no way around this fact. So what you need to do is plan your work day accordingly. When the kids are up, you take care of them…plain and simple. When the kids are asleep, or sufficiently taken care of, you get to work. My advice is not to waste a moment of that time. This requires a lot of discipline. If you can get a feel for when your child is sleeping, make a schedule around it. That way you’ll know when you can get your work done each day. Once you get into a routine, you will find that you get a lot more done.

What if your children are older and essentially able to take care of themselves, but for whatever reason, seem to need you for something or another. You know how kids can be. It seems like every minute of the day there’s a crisis. This is especially true with kids who have homework from school. Seems that they can’t get it done unless they have you hovering over them to give them the answers. In this case, you need to make it perfectly clear to your child that during these hours of he day (you set the hours) you are working. They are to pretend that you are out of the house and in an office. When you “get home” you will help them with their homework or whatever problem they are having.

One way to make sure that kids don’t become a distraction, especially the older ones, is to set your office up downstairs in the basement or in a room that they wouldn’t normally go into. This way, you’re not distracted by the usual things like the TV or stereo blasting. And if it’s so loud that you can hear it from where you are, then it’s time to lay down the law and have the darn thing turned down. Remember, YOU are the boss of the house.

Finally, and this is the most important thing, especially with the older children, because THEY will get it. Explain to them under no uncertain terms that if you DON’T get your work done, you don’t make money and thus, won’t be able to pay the bills and keep a roof over their head and food in their stomach. That will certainly strike a chord with them, especially if you tell them that it also means no more cable TV or video games. Watch and see how quickly they leave you alone when they realize their own quality of life is going to be severely affected.

Try the above with your kids and see how it works. If it doesn’t, you can always consider moving to Siberia.

To YOUR Success,

Steven Wagenheim

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