Switching over to home-based jobs can solve many of your work-life balance issues. You’ll be able to pick up your children from school and spend quality time with your family. But you must realise, your schedule is not just about you and your work.
Five years ago, Linda Horsley started a marketing and communications business from her home with her partner, Jim, and his daughter, a high school senior. “The difficult part was having her respect my office hours,” says Horsley.
So Horsley set rules. “Basically, it became a matter of the house being off limits from 9 am to 5:30 pm, unless she was in her room doing homework,” describes Horsley. “She couldn’t be hanging out, watching TV.”
Setting rules can help your family understand you need time and space. Rules, however, aren’t the magic solution, especially for small children. When a two-year-old wants her mommy, the fact that you are on an important phone call isn’t going to change her needs.
Having reliable childcare is one way to carve out the quiet hours. You can arrange for the kids to go to the library when you have a conference call, or for a light workload while breaking in a new babysitter. And even young children can understand that you have work time when they cannot interrupt you.
If you work from home, you can also be up-front with clients, letting them know that your kids are with a baby-sitter in the house. That way, you don’t have to panic that your client might hear their voices in the background.
Barbara Grinnell started her own business four years ago when her two children were three and almost one. “I squeezed it in then and rarely used baby-sitters,” she remembers.
Grinnell explains that her job as a unit leader for Creative Memories, a Minnesota-based company that sells photo preservation products, is geared for stay-at-home moms. “People know it’s a stay-at-home business that happens to go alongside family responsibilities,” she says. “For me, the kids come first.”
Now she has a third child and does much of her work while the older two are in school. “I work during naptime, and I have a cell phone in the car,” says Grinnell.
Both Grinnell and Horsley agree that their partners’ support is essential to their success. “My husband is very supportive,” says Grinnell. “He turned to me once and said, ‘My gosh, look at you. I’m so proud of you.’ That made me feel so good.”
Two years ago, Horsley put her marketing business on the backburner to take over Personal Comforts, a business offering exercise, playgroups and overnight care for pets. “I had back surgery right after buying the business,” she says. “Jim was fantastic. He worked full-time and was out walking the dogs, cleaning kitty litter and bringing in more staff. He still does payroll and accounting.”
Both business owners also agree that separating business from home lives can be difficult, but it’s important to preserve balance. “For the first year, I was putting in 12 to 14-hour days, six days a week, and by Sunday, I was a wreck,” explains Horsley. “But I am getting better and better at compartmentalisation ? better at turning away business.”
“I could use more downtime hanging on the couch with (my husband) watching football,” admits Grinnell. “If he’s home, I tend to sneak away into my office. But the positive side is that last year, I earned a trip ? all expenses paid.”
Every family is different, and you may need creative solutions to accommodate your family’s schedule while maintaining your work time. But you must work with your family, not against it, to strike the right balance for everyone.
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