It has been a while since I have written about elements of the joys and challenges of juggling children at home with working at a home business. For many of us, it is the fact that we are parents that really spurs us onto starting our home business so it stands to reason that figuring out how to work with kids in our space and how to function when our kids are at work with us is a huge part of the running of a home business.
Whether you are trying to work when your kids do not need you—while they are in school or after they have gone to bed; or whether you are trying to build a business with very young children clinging to your legs and lap—operating a business and raising children can be both compatible and amazingly frustrating. The reality is that if we are working from home and raising children, we seldom can work straight through for an extended period of time without interruptions and no matter how organized we are in our planning and intentions—flexibility is the order of the day.
Now that I have said all of this, I can share some good news and solid advice: if you plan to incorporate child care and a home business, make a plan for your time and your goals. Even if you do have to be flexible and adjust to the reality of an unpredictable family life, having a plan for when and how much to work, whether or not your kids will be with you and what they will be doing, and when and how to be professional will all help guide you through a life of working with kids and having your kids wrapped around you at work. It is entirely possible to juggle the two, but the more intentional you are about what you are trying to achieve and what you are capable of, the more successful you will be.