Dreams make the soul, without the soul, the body is nothing. So, live your dreams
Drawing The Line Between Work And Home For Work@home Mothers
March 14th, 2008
by Marsha Maung
A positive attitude can take you very far and this is particularly true for mothers, whether you’re single or married, who are keen on working from their homes. When you have a positive outlook on the future and the way things can potentially work out, you will achieve whatever it is that you want to achieve in the shortest period of time. But let’s get real for a moment here.
You’re talking about ONE person trying to do a FEW people’s work. Some of you are a mother and father at the same time, you’re trying to be a maid, you’re also the chef, a babysitter and you’re also a business woman! And the worst thing is that you’ve got the same number of hours as any other one person out there in the world! How do you suppose it’s possible for you to cram so many people’s work into one schedule? Let’s take a reality check – pushing yourself is good but you have to know where your threshold is and when to stop pushing!
This is something I am telling all you work at home people out of honest-to-goodness concern and experience.
The invisible line between your personal and professional life
When you work from home, it’s YOUR BUSINESS and we all know how energy-zapping that can be. A work at home business becomes personal too instead of staying outside of your personal life! What more when you call your home your office too. The situation can spiral out of control if you don’t spend time trying to separate your private life from your business one. Otherwise, you’ll find yourself answering phone calls about your business in the dead of the night while breastfeeding your baby! Although women are known to be more capable at multi-tasking than men, we’re not THAT ELASTIC!
You’re your boss and don’t be a mean boss, then
Work at home people relish the idea of saying to their friends and family, “Yes, yes….I work from home. I am my own boss. Isn’t that, like, totally awesome?” Yeah, I have to agree there that working from home means that no one gives you the sour face when the report’s not done when you said it would be done but sometimes, when your work at home business picks up, you might find yourself pushing yourself a little bit harder everyday. Your work might even creep into your personal life. Just like a mean old boss at your old work place, you will find yourself denying YOURSELF a break or maybe get off work early.
Work at home mothers don’t have working hours
Freelancers and work at home people sing songs about having the flexibility of planning their time and work as they see fit. This advantage can turn around and bite you bitterly. Workaholics, like me, find it hard to ‘get off work’ because there isn’t a time, there isn’t a bell and there’s definitely no office! Finding a respite or refuge away from the stressful environment of running your work at home business can bring you health and mental problems, for instance hypertension, anxiety, stress and panic attacks.
Be a nice boss, then
Based on experience, I believe that pushing oneself is good….in fact, it’s VERY GOOD that you’re serious about your work. your clients and customers will love you and I am certain that your business will grow exponentially. But the truth is that, when you’re your own boss, you have to be nice to yourself. Permit yourself to take leave away from work, even when you’re sitting at the same computer or chair you work in. mentally peel yourself away from your business and allow yourself the chance to recharge your physical and mental batteries.
Otherwise, you will find yourself and eventually, your family members, severely deprived of attention.
Take care.ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Marsha Maung is essentially a writer with more than 8 years of experience in search engine marketing and content development. She works from home so that she can be with her kids. Versatility is her. She believes that if a singer like her who spent four years reading legal documents in a Bank can work up her own Internet business and build a business with her computer, even a dog can! Well, maybe not....
For more on online business, article writing, motherhood and life articles, visit Marsha's website at http://www.marshamaung.com. For the dirty insider secrets (Hah! As if....) on the life of a mother and writer, visit her blog at http://www.marshamaung.blogspot.com.