Balancing working from home, kids and time for myself

amother

Tue, Aug 10 2010, 9:04 pm

I just had baby #3 (and the oldest one just turned 4) - up until now I was working 9-5 with an hour commute each way. The commute is not going anywhere, and cutting my hours is not an option right now. So I thought that I would want to work 9-3 in the office, get home around 4, prepare dinner/catch my breath a little then around 430-445 I would pick up my kids from the daycare, come home do dinner (my dh is home 530 - 7 for dinner) etc with bedtime at 8. Realistically, I would then work 830-1030, get ready for the next day etc and *hopefully* be in bed by 11-1115. Is this crazy? SHould I just stick to my old schedule? THe reason I originally wanted to change was because I wanted to spend more time with the kids, since I used to get home close to 6, and rush to get them to bed by 8. But now I am worried that I won't have ANY downtime in the evenings to myself.

Those of you who work from home part time, how do you find time to just chill a little? Shmooze on the phone, etc?

interestedbrooklyn

Tue, Aug 10 2010, 9:23 pm

I sometimes have to bring work home with me and I find it VERY difficult to pick it back up after doing dinner/dishes/baths/straightening up/etc. I prefer to do my work at the office and then forget it there. Everyone is different though.

Good Luck!

BusyBeeMommy

Tue, Aug 10 2010, 9:26 pm

Is there any way you could start your day in the office at 8, thereby getting home at 4:30 or so and spending time with your kids until bedtime? I would rather do that and prepare supper in the evening after the kids are asleep. You could get your me time then as well. I'm also a big proponent of getting some household cleaning help so that time with children can be maximized, instead of spending that time washing dishes and folding laundry.

amother

Tue, Aug 10 2010, 10:01 pm

amother wrote:

Those of you who work from home part time, how do you find time to just chill a little? Shmooze on the phone, etc?

I work from home part time - but by that, I mean that I work about 20 hours a week, purely from home. I do work for a couple of hours at night after the kids are asleep though (in addition to the couple of hours during the day when the kids are napping or occupied), and I've worked 9-5 before, so I feel that I can answer this question at lesat from my perspective.

You shmooze on the phone on your commute to and from work. That's it. Chilling is relegated to Shabbos and Sunday. There's no free time.

With all that said...you spend quality time with your kids, feel like you're truly there for them, and get to know them in a wonderful way. I wouldn't give it up for anything.

One other thing to think of - I find this a very hard schedule to think to when I have a newborn in the house. Will your newborn really sleep the whole time you're working from 8:30 to 10:30? Even if your husband is around then, if you're nursing, the baby could very well need you then. And you obviously want to get to bed "on time," especially if your baby is waking you up several times a night.

Hatzlacha with whatever you decide. I have a newborn right now, and it's tough. But SO worth it, if you can make it work for you.

TwinsMommy

Wed, Aug 11 2010, 9:53 pm

I work from home and have 2 little kids.... these days I try to get my work hours in while they're in daycamp or preschool and then after they go to bed at night. My preference is for their afternoon down time (nap for her, quiet time for him) to be my time to chat on the phone or throw in a load of laundry or sometimes grab a nap. So I pretty much work mornings and evenings. Some afternoons but my clients and team members know that if they try to call me at 4:30 or 5:00 or 5:30 I'll probably have a very loud preschooler in the background and my preference is for voice mail to catch and let me call back after bedtime. Early afternoon is their downtime and then late afternoon is my time with them. I prep QUICK dinners, and I pretty much don't clean. I do laundry and my husband does dishes-- everything else just kind of waits for a free moment and my priorities are my kids and my work, not floor mopping. Smile

So yes, I DO work after my kids go to bed at night. With that said, I had 4 people over last night and in the middle of my teaching a class with a team member recording my technique, my son was running into his wall BANGING it as loud as he could. While my team member closed the guests I brought out mr fussy pants and gave him a sippy cup.

leowald

Wed, Oct 13 2010, 5:58 pm

I am a mother of four b"ah,
When I first got married, I worked out of the house 9 hours a day for 2.5 years and since then
I have been working from home (7.5 years)
The truth is that until recently I was doing fine working from home but as my children get older, it is getting harder. (I work from around 9-2 and then in the evenings so I can be home with my children in the afternoon.)
The problems that I find with working at home are that whenever my children are sick or on vacation or need to go to the doctor/therapy I feel that I have to work it in my schedule and still manage all my work hours. If I worked out of the house, I would just take off the time from work. I also have a problem that people call me at home from work all the time so I never feel that I have left work or get a break.

This is where I decided to start my own online business selling unique Jewish greeting cards my hope is that I can stay at home with my kids and not have to work a set number of hours/day so when they need me, I can be there for them.

Good luck with your decision,

Leora