What Are The Pitfalls of Working At Home And Being A Mother?

The fax machine's shrill tone broke into the still silent room. I leaped to grab the receiver and terminate the transmission; having just managed to put my fussy teething baby down for his nap, I was determined that nothing would disturb his rest. Unfortunately, that fax had been from my client. Now I'd have to call him back and ask him to re-send after I'd turned the ringer off. That would entail some over-the-phone \"face time\", where he'd pick my brain for several minutes, or just shoot the breeze while I itched to get some work done while the baby slept.

Being a full-time mother and working from home has many challenges. Originally, it seemed like the best idea ever. I could still be bringing in money while at the same time being able to attend "Mommy and Me" groups. I am a dedicated worker, and I knew the baby had to sleep sometime. It sounded like a great idea, but there were two major problems. My new baby was really fussy, and I had to hold him for a long time for him to get to sleep. Besides that, my best customer required even more coddling than the baby, and I had to talk to him on the phone for long periods of time.

It's hard when you're a work from home mom. You never know who comes first ??" the baby or the client. I finally had to put my foot down one day. The client and I had just had a long conversation, so I went to take care of the baby. He seemed a little feverish, and right when I was taking his temperature, the phone rang and the answering machine called out, "Hello? Are you still there? Did you go somewhere? Hello?" That was the last straw.

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.

Article by Jessica Franks

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