Home work

It’s still a constant struggle to balance career and family even if the office is in the house
theSun, Tue, 12 Oct 2010

ONE OF the challenges a work-at-home-mother (WAHM) faces is balancing work and family. We want to do well in our work, yet we must fulfil our responsibilities to our family. After all, our children are the main reason we left the rat race to work from home.

While we all have our good and bad days, we tell ourselves that it is a good, or for some, the best, decision we’ve made in our lives.

That, however, doesn’t remove the fact that it’s a constant struggle to spend our time effectively to achieve all we set out to do.

When organising our time to care for our children as a WAHM, we need to be realistic. Bringing up children without having to work is already a huge task in itself. Once you throw in a work-from-home job, tell yourself that there’s no such thing as perfection all the time.

The picture of a neat and tidy home with a woman sitting in front of her computer working calmly, while her children are quietly doing their homework is usually just that – a picture. That seldom happens in reality, so don’t tear your hair out to make that happen.

Don’t expect to be able to keep your house in tip-top condition, especially when you do not have hired help who can dust and tidy for you all day long.

You can however enlist your children to help. Give them age-appropriate chores. They need to learn to be responsible for their own room, books and toys.

Cultivate the spirit of teamwork within the family.

With cooking, don’t try to be the Iron Chef. Opt for nutritious yet convenient recipes. Use your steamer, crockpot and helpful utensils that reduce cooking and preparation time such as a food processor or pressure cooker.

Cook in bulk and freeze, and plan ahead your menu and grocery shopping for the week. Make a list to avoid wasting time and money having to make a last-minute dash to get a bunch of stuff.

Know your priorities and if your work has reached your eyeballs, it’s time to slow down. Re-schedule, re-prioritise or take on fewer assignments if possible.

Find out the best time of day when you can work uninterrupted – in the mornings when everyone is at work and school, at night when they are asleep, or when they are napping or watching television during the day.

Take time off for yourself, even if it is just for half an hour. Better yet, schedule ‘me’ time once a week where you can get out of the house and do as you please.

You may need to learn to let go and trust others to man the fort at home. You need to have the support of your spouse or learn to be ‘thick-skinned’ enough to ask others for help in babysitting.

When you are working, be disciplined. Avoid distractions and procrastination by making a to-do list. Stay focused, work on one thing at a time.

Sometimes you may make more mistakes when you overdo it with multitasking.

Having shared all these, I must admit that I have not been the most exemplary WAHM when it comes to following my own tips.

I am human after all, and if you are in the same boat, remember that it is the means, and not the end that matters all the time.