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Tips for Dealing with Children in your Home Office
Copyright © Stone Evans,
The Home Biz Guy
Operating a home business is
seldom easy and interruptions come in all shapes, sizes and forms. Between the
family, friends and neighbors who call or come by, and the telemarketers who
insist on ringing your number off the hook, getting through the workday can be a
real challenge.
When you introduce children into the home office environment,
your productivity and patience can be seriously tested. For example, right now
my three-year old daughter is pulling on my shirt and begging me to read her a
story. Clearly, I'm in the middle of something important here, but how can I say
no to those eyes? Ill be right back... Ok, that wasn't so bad was it? She's
happy, I'm happy (having bonded with my daughter) and now I'm back to continue my
conversation with you.
What's the lesson here? Flexibility is a major key to
balancing your home business priorities with your family's needs. I can tell you
from first-hand experience that maintaining a deep level of concentration on
work in a home business for long periods of time is next to impossible. Naptime
does offer some reprieve, but any break from the kids is usually short lived.
Even with older children, summertime introduces new challenges with kids running
in and out of the house all throughout the day.
I would like to share with you
some of the tips I have discovered to help manage your home office with children
in your midst. Since children of different ages pose different challenges, I
will present my tips in terms of age groups.
OLDER CHILDREN AND TEENS
We will
look at older children first since they pose the least challenge to our work
productivity. Children, who are old enough to understand the idea of schedules
and chores, are old enough to understand the needs of your home business.
Explain to your children that you do your work at home so that you can be near
them when they need you. But also be sure they understand that you must do your
work so that you will have the money necessary to keep your house, feed the
family and to provide them with money for entertainment.
Once your children
understand the necessity of your work, then outline a work schedule and explain
it to them. Do make sure they understand that emergencies are definitely an
acceptable reason to interrupt your work. Then make sure they understand that
between hours x and y, you will be doing work --- and then hold them to
respecting your schedule.
INFANTS
Infants will never understand your needs for
work. But fortunately, babies do well under a schedule or routine. Instead of
expecting your child to work around your schedule, schedule your work around the
needs of your baby. It is simple. Babies eat, sleep and poop. Sometimes they
play. Fortunately, babies sleep more than they do anything else. Naptime offers
the best advantage for getting your work done. Get your baby into a routine of
eat, sleep and play, and you will experience unexpected levels of productivity.
TODDLERS
If you have a toddler running around the house while you are operating
your home business, then you may find that your hair turning gray or
disappearing altogether. But, gray hair is a sign of character, right. I am
venturing to guess that the person who devised the door lock for the inside of
the house did so because he had toddlers in his own home. Inside door locks
should only be utilized when you are making that important phone call and your
toddler is screaming for your attention. At all other times, your door should
remain unlocked with your door open.
Develop a routine with your children for
meal times, naptimes, and play times. Work these times into your work schedule
and adhere to them. If you fail to keep appointments with your children, your
children will have less respect for your work and do more to prevent you from
the completion of your work. Don't be afraid to let your children sit in your
lap while you are working. It helps them to feel wanted and it helps them to be
a part of your daily life. There are times when it is okay for them to be
sitting in your lap while you work, and at other times you need them out of your
lap. Don't be afraid to tell them to get down and go play or read a book so that
you can resume your work.
Permit your children to have their toys in your
office. Often they will sit contently and play while you work. Just knowing you
are near is enough to keep them happy. Be prepared to take an hourly break to
deal with your toddler. Try to do potty breaks at your hourly break and to do
drink refills. This can help your child grow into a routine that will work well
with your home business. At each break, spend a few minutes with your child
giving hugs and kisses and talking with your child about what he or she wants to
talk about. Toddlers don't always do well with the routine, so be prepared to
take a few minutes when needed to give the attention that your child so
desperately needs in the moment.
IN CONCLUSION
I hope these tips serve to help
you in the challenge of operating a successful home business. My home business
permits me to fulfill my financial obligations *AND* see my children grow up. I
would never contemplate trading my home business for another kind of business.
Even with the added challenges of dealing with toddlers in my home office, the
upsides far outweigh the downsides. Growing my own home business with children
around has definitely given me a new respect for all people who successfully run
a home business with kids in the work environment. I tip my hat to you... You
deserve it!
About the author: Stone Evans
owns the Home Business Resource Directory where you can find everything you'll
ever need to start, run and grow a home based business at:
http://www.Home-Business.com. To read more
articles by Stone Evans, The Home Biz Guy:
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