Making the "Impossible" Happen: How to Work From Home and Earn Money
As I consider how it feels to be a working mom during this turbulent time, I realise I'm not alone. Like so many of you, I have adapted to "impossible" circumstances. My tiny house has been converted into a business, a school, and a daycare facility. I've observed how life's natural rhythms degrade and wriggle before giving birth to a new pattern as a result of the discomfort.
With my first-grader, each day of freelance writing and online classes feels like a mix of triumphs and burdens, some carefully chosen battles, and some "wow, look at us" moments. We're also pulling a young child.
How do I do it now? How can I 'do it all'?
In actuality, I don't. I can't. And if I attempted to sustain omni-productivity at full throttle, my entire system would break down. Oddly enough, this is the best advice I can provide to anyone trying to keep this ship afloat. Make a plan to keep things running as smoothly as you can, but don't try to handle everything yourself. When necessary, get help. What I do is as follows.
Be ready for difficult days.
It's a running joke that I always have a bag of Michelina's nuggets in the freezer. The amusing part is that I usually bake them for the kids about once a week.
This is an illustration of a contingency plan I have prepared for a difficult day.
Always plan for the day when everything goes wrong because you'll need a break. Everything appears to balance itself out during lockdown season, and if you try to accomplish too much on a day when your petrol tank is low, things just become worse. This is what I discovered throughout this lockdown season. On the bad days, take a breath, choose your battles, and stop aiming for perfection.
Schedule firmly any unpaid job that must be done.
The misery of the at-home working parent is unpaid labour. Dishes utter my name and laundry appears to mock me.
But I've come to realise that there is a proper place and time for these duties, and that time isn't during my busiest working hours. My top priority is getting paid job done after the kids are in order. After supper, when my mind is foggy, I use the time spent folding laundry or doing dishes to spend time with my family. We create these group exercises. We've even taken the step of referring to ourselves as the "family team." Despite being cheesy, I enjoy it.
My favourite acquisition is a robotic vacuum. The trivial argument of "Who's going to sleep/vacuum the floors today" is eliminated. We simply turn on the vacuum and take advantage of the 40 minutes we get daily from controlling a robot.
I enjoy typing automatically as well. As a writer, dictation software helps me save a tonne of time. Utilize any tools that can benefit your company, such as customer management software.
Speaking of time-consuming tasks, there are instances when it makes sense to employ help so you can devote more time to important tasks. There are other duties involved in the freelancing industry that don't directly result in payment, including tax preparation, contract drafting, proposal mailing, email marketing, and more. These can consume a significant amount of your valuable time, which a freelancer can return to you. In reality, this year I chose to handle my own taxes, which took a full week in between jobs.
In order to coincide with my toddler's nap time, I intentionally scheduled her for the afternoon lesson.
It's amazing, especially if you're all at home all the time, to know that there is a specific time of day when you can ensure some work or self-care. I can still clearly recall how much this calm period depended on my ability to meet urgent writing deadlines. Additionally, if you're in charge of a one-parent show, don't feel bad if you need to open Pocoyo on a tablet to obtain the final 30 minutes you need to concentrate without the kids.
Remain arranged.
You can keep (some of) your sanity when your house is divided into many functional zones. The desk in our master bedroom serves as my daughter's learning space. She doesn't have to enter the hallway and trick my young son into thinking it's playing because it has its own bathroom. In order to work from anywhere in the house, I also purchased a laptop, which is useful
To ensure that my kid has access to anything she might need for school, I organised all of her supplies in a single large storage ottoman. In the past, we frequently encountered situations where a worksheet went missing, and I would have to spend her valuable naptime looking for them. Now, school runs more smoothly.
If feasible, work during non-conventional hours.
I had to fit my freelancing into my regular daytime activities when I first started out because I didn't have any support.
I was up early and up late, staying up after my husband and children had gone to bed. There will be time after bedtime if nothing else works out for me during the day, and that's okay. I'm aware that in the future, things will be different and I'll have a better routine, but for now, I must do everything in my power to keep doing the job I love.
Hire some trustworthy help, even occasionally.
These days, it might be challenging to ask family for assistance, especially if you have family members who are in danger. Paid assistance is a crucial boost for me.
A babysitter enables you to complete crucial activities without interruptions if your job requires conference calls and tight 9–5 hours.
I am aware that there is some danger involved in hiring aid, but I was willing to take it. I check in with my sitter to make sure we're both doing well. Finding a caregiver who meets your needs is achievable if you feel comfortable choosing this choice.
Help may also be available online. When you have important goals to achieve, a virtual assistant
There are freelancers on Fiverr who can assist you when you need it with anything from social media updates to UX design, and they even don't need to enter your home.
I am aware that working from home while homeschooling is a challenging juggling act where you worry that something will inevitably go wrong. However, you can keep your ship sailing stably even in choppy waters if you install some safety nets in your professional life. Check out the Fiverr marketplace right now if you need additional assistance.
