Ironically, most of us entered the world of home business because we wanted to spend more time with family. So how come we sometimes have less time? Let’s take a look and see what can be done about it.
The promise of more time with family is one of the main attractions for a home business, but time must be managed and protected carefully. If you have a regular job working at least 40 hours a week, it can be difficult. One thing to communicate to your family is that there has to be a short-term pain to make a long-term gain.
You have a limited number of hours available, but here are some suggestions. If you have kids at home and it gets messy as soon as you get home, then one possible strategy is to stay at work an hour later. You can return quite a few phone calls in an hour and it probably won’t be interrupted. A home business can have a remote office!
Another strategy is to use public transportation if you normally drive. It can allow you an additional 30-60 minutes per day to organize contacts, return phone calls, or listen to training materials with your mp3 player. If your company has training or motivational phone calls that are at a bad time for you, it is possible to record them (check local laws on this).
I have recorded many calls to a $ 39 digital voice recorder with a $ 15 connector that goes from my phone to the recorder (available from Radio Shack). You can then listen to the calls in your time.
Spending time with my children when they return from school is a priority for me. I work from home full time, so I take a mid-afternoon break to see how her school day was and enjoy a snack together. Then I head to my home office until dinner time.
I also have less need for sleep than the rest of my family, which is why I often take an hour or two at night or early in the morning. This can be an extremely productive time for a home business, but unfortunately it doesn’t allow you to return phone calls. I used my lunch break at my old workplace for that using a cell phone; my investment in the big minute plan paid off.
The exact solution for you must be determined by you for your private home business. However, my advice is to plan ahead and reserve family time. Make sure you communicate clearly with all family members about the time you are blocking for your business. As long as you communicate well, you should be able to devote anxiety-free time to your business.
With good planning, you can be successful in being good to your family and your home business.
Copyright 2005 Ron LeBlanc