Avoiding The Work At Home Mom Blues

I ran across the room as soon as the fax machine started making that piercing sound. After all, I had just put my cranky teething baby for a nap, so I rushed to turn off the machine. I wasn’t going to let anything wake him up. I would, unfortunately have to call the client who had just been trying to reach me. I’d have to tell him to resend his fax after I remembered to turn the ringer off. This would cut into my work time a little, having to brainstorm with the client for a while, rather than taking advantage of the baby sleeping to get some work done.

What are the pitfalls of working from home and being a mother? It seemed like the best of both worlds. I could attend \”Mommy and Me\” playgroups, then spend significant time with my computer while my baby slept. All the baby books assured me that babies slept at some point, and I am a focused worker. Everything seemed to be on target except for two things: my baby was fussy and slept poorly unless I held him. Also, my primary client was fussier than my baby and required extensive time with me on the phone.

What are the pitfalls of working at home and being a mother? Not knowing who to put first, the client or the baby. The final straw came when he called me right after an extended conversation. I really had thought he was done and attended to my baby, who seemed to be feverish. Right in the middle of taking my baby’s rectal temperature I heard the phone ring and the answering machine click on it was The Client, calling out, \”Hello? Are you there? We just spoke… did you go out? Hello?\” That’s when I got tough.

I was to blame for allowing the customer to take up all my time. Therefore, I had to fix the problem by forcing myself to become more efficient or else I would continue this problem. Everything became easier once I told my clients that I would only be working after 10:00 p.m. They could email or fax me during the day, but I would actually only be working at night. That way, I could take care of my baby while he was awake and totally focus on their projects when I was working. It also helped cure my clients of keeping me on the phone with marathon calls.

What makes it hard to be a work at home mom? Finding time for everything. I set up a schedule for returning client’s phone calls, one per client per day. It made all of use focus on the important things when we did talk, and the business became more streamlined on both ends, which was a win-win situation. The quality of my work got better, and my customers ended up actually paying less because fewer errors were made due to interruptions.

My clients soon got used to the new schedule, and I became much more productive. I had learned to manage my time in small increments, which even let me get the house cleaned up on a regular basis. My baby, however, soon became a toddler. His naps changed from the morning to the afternoon, and just trying to keep up with him would wear me out, leaving me unable to get anything done while he was sleeping.

That was when I had to make major adjustments to my schedule for the second time. I had to allow time for my boy to play outside, allowing him to play freely and wear himself out a little. That way, I didn’t spend all my time picking up and cleaning up behind him as he made a disaster area out of our home.

Now my teenagers (yes, I have more than one) are easier to handle. After 15 years of working at home, I now mainly handle a few writing and editing jobs. With all the technological advances in those 15 years, I can now service clients whom I’ve never even met, which certainly saves me wear and tear on my car as well as gas money. And although my children can take of themselves now, I still prefer to do most of my work at night. That way, I can still work while my little ones sleep.