The idea of being a work at home mom is freeing to many women. They can work when they want, stay home with children, and provide for the home without commuting every day. When you start getting too much work, however, you may feel less liberated and more like you’re crushed under a heaping pile of deadlines and requests.
Read on to find out how you can successfully be a WAHM without being overwhelmed!
1. Have a work schedule that fits your needs.
It’s likely you will begin drowning in work if you don’t have a schedule to get things done. Plan to set aside adequate time each day to finish your work at home job tasks. Without time to dedicate to your work, feeling overwhelmed is practically unavoidable.
2. Use a planner to stay organized.
Ever have a looming deadline that you forgot about until the night before the work was due? It has happened to most WAHMs at one point or another. However, staying organized by recording all of your projects and their due dates in a planner will help prevent this from happening – and the overwhelm that sets in when you realize you have mere hours to complete your job!
3. Create daily “to do” lists.
Even with a planner to write down all work at home assignments, it’s still good to have a list to work from each day. Review your planner each morning (or better yet, create this list at night so you can be ready to go the following day) to decide what to work on for the day.
Prioritize your list so you get the most important tasks done first. Be sure to create a list that you can finish, given your schedule, or else you will be overwhelmed on a daily basis.
4. Avoid accepting every opportunity that comes your way.
When it comes to working at home, many accept freelance projects that land in their email inbox from time to time. Once you build a reputation, you may see these offers more and more. It’s important not to let yourself take on every project that is asked of you.
Consider what is required, the pay rate, how long it would take you to complete, and what other work at home jobs you have going on before you accept any opportunity.
5. Outsource some of your tasks.
It’s not uncommon for WAHMs to hire a virtual assistant or periodically outsource some work they need to get done. A VA is there to complete the mundane tasks, including replying to emails, updating your resume, managing your social media, or editing/proofreading your work.
Even if you don’t have someone hired on a regular basis, there are lots of freelancers that would be happy to take one-time projects off your hands so you can focus on more important duties – and not overwhelm yourself with so much work!
Looking for support as you navigate the waters of being a woman-owned business? Click the image above to join my Work From Home Moms Facebook group!