Seems like a simple question right? Unfortunately, life isn't that simple most of the time. No matter how secure you are in your decision to be a stay at home mom or dad, you will most likely have a hint of doubt about your decision at some point.There is an idea shared among some obtuse professionals which implies that somehow, you are less of an asset of society if you choose to stay at home with your children. When, in fact, I can't think of a more valuable contribution to make than to raise the future of mankind. (LOL, sort of. ;) Regardless of how peers may tease you a bit about "sitting at home watching talk shows and eating bonbons," we all know how far this is from the truth.
Your Life Up Till Now
The typical working adult in America works from 8-5 Monday through Friday. The average commute time is 25 minutes to work then of course you have to have 25 minutes to get back home. We try to get our 6 to 8 hours of sleep every night. We have a lot of responsibilities to take care of in our 24 hours.
This leaves very little time left over to spend with our families. No wonder we are chronically fatigued, the divorce rate is high, and supposedly working parents only spend 19 minutes with their children every day. We barely have enough time to floss let alone fit in any down time!
5 quick tips for time management
* First, understand how much you can handle. (Work during nap time, when they color, you schedule, etc.)
* Second, be careful what you promise (To kids or clients!). Say what you mean and mean what you say. If you say in a minute, that means 60 seconds, not 10 minutes.
* Three, automate everything you can.
* Four, learn your optimum time periods throughout the day to get the most done. It's different for everyone!
* Five, limit your time on the computer – I strongly recommend 2 hours a day max for the first few months. You will be more productive if you limit your time on projects. It's worth the effort to make sure your life stays balanced. The main point in working at home is to maximize your time with your children (quality, not just quantity). No kid wants to be raised by Nick Jr. You know the difference in just being there and being present there with your kids. Your clients deserve your best as well. It is very possible to do this right, so start off having the right habits!
Great Expectations
When you begin the process of fitting in a work schedule in your home work schedule, you must take small steps. You are probably not going to start out making $100,000 a year. However, I believe you should establish challenging goals. As long as you leave room in your plans for adjustments.
According Google’s neat little insights page, the number of people searching for “real online jobs” has risen +90% in the past 12 months! And many of those people will be bombarded with garbage and get rich quick scams. This is sad. But it will only get better if real information becomes available before the false information. That is the goal of this blog. We have the technology to do it right, we just need to share the “know how”.
If you have anything to add to this information, please do we give full credit to resources.
Two Links Work at Home Mom sites that have interesting articles for becoming a Virtual Assistant.
How to become a Virtual Assistant
A Story of How She Became a Virtual Assistant and got it all together
