Copyright 2005 Ron LeBlanc
Ironically, most of us got into the home based business world
because we wanted to have more time with family. So how is it
that we sometimes have less time? Let's take a look and see what
can be done about it.
The promise of having more time with family is one of the major
attractions for a home based business, but time has to be
carefully managed and guarded. If you are in a regular job
working at least 40 hours per week, it can be tough. One thing
that must be communicated to your family is that there has to be
a short term pain for a long term gain.
You have a finite amount of hours available to you, but here are
some suggestions. If you have children at home and it becomes
chaos as soon as you get home, then one possible strategy is to
stay at work an extra hour later. You can return quite a few
phone calls in an hour and it would probably be uninterrupted. A
home based business can have a remote office!
Another strategy is to take mass transit if you normally drive.
It may allow you an extra 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 with local laws on it).
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 are then free to listen to the
calls on your time.
I make it a priority to spend time with my kids when they come
home from school. I work from home full time, so I take a break
mid-afternoon to see how their school day was and enjoy a snack
together. I then head back to my home office until dinner time.
I also have less need for sleep than the rest of my family so I
frequently take an hour or two at night or early morning. This
can be extremely productive time for a home based business, but
unfortunately does not usually allow you to return phone calls.
I used my lunch time at my old workplace for that using a cell
phone - my investment in the large minute plan was worth it.
The exact solution for you has to be determined by you for your
particular home based business. However, my advice is to plan
ahead and block out the family time. Make sure you clearly
communicate with all family members about what time you are
blocking out for your business activity. As long as you
communicate well, you should be able to spend anxiety-free time
on your business.
With some good planning, you can be successful in being good to
your family and your home based business.
About the author:
Ron LeBlanc, PE spent 20+ years in science and engineering when
woke up to his true potential and began working from home. He
lives in Boulder, CO and works out of his home. He enjoys
helping other people learn to do home based businesses. Get his
tip-filled newsletter and some special offers at
http://www.be-do-have.com
