A Celebration of Inspiration
In the spirit of encouraging WAHMs, I am launching an *inspiration celebration*
Have you been inspired or encouraged by a work at home mom? Her excitement and energy about her business? Her ability to keep family a priority while still working from home? The way she is willing to work with and encourage other WAHMs?
What about a WAHM has made you smile and feel better about the world this month? Tell us!! Nominate an inspirational work at home mom for our celebration! All nominated work at home moms will receive a letter congratulating them on being an inspiration!
Send your nominations to michelle@wahspirations.com be sure to include:
- WAHMs Full Name
- WAHMs Email address
- Her Business & a little about it
- Link to the business website
- Why you’re nominating her
We’ll be providing updates and more information through our newsletter, so be sure to sign up while you’re here. Nominations will be accepted through the 31st of May.
Five WAHMs nominated will be selected to receive a special surprise. Surprises donated by the following work at home mom owned businesses:
Donating three $10 Gift Certificates
Donating a $15 Gift Certificate
Donating a $15 Gift Certificate
Donating a $10 Gift Certificate
Donating a 468×60 banner and signature banner set
Donating copies of “I Love My Life, A Mom’s Guide to Working at Home” by Kristie T.
So go ahead, brighten the day of someone who has inspired you!
Are you an *inspired* WAHM?
Join the Top 100 Inspired WAHMs list!
Sign up at http://wahspirations.gotop100.com and get some FREE promotion and traffic to your site!
Juggling it all…
One of the WAHM forums I post in recently started a discussion on “balance” and getting it all done while still spending quality time with our children. When we wear the hats of mother, wife, business owner, housekeeper, cook, teacher… it’s quite a juggling act to get it all done. Most of the work at home moms I know consider it their biggest challenge.
Here are some of the tips I shared that help me juggle things without going too insane.
* Know your priorities. Know which activities directly make you money, which don’t but are necessary (marketing), and which you can let go.
* Keep a calendar. Mine tells me which days I need to post something to my blog, and which days I MUST work on my newsletters.
* Embrace and accept help! My 7 year old LOVES to vacuum. He loves it. I don’t know why. I used to feel really, really guilty if I let him help… Now I look at it like good training that his wife someday will thank me for. I let my kids help with the housework and it cuts the time in half! They also realize that by helping me, they get more mommy time.
* Don’t do what you don’t have to do. I don’t deep clean every day. Don’t misunderstand–my house is neat and clean… but it’s not spotless and I do deep cleaning only on weekends. I don’t scrub the kitchen floor or change sheets every day, that’s Saturday’s job. I do vacuum, sweep, dust, make beds, do laundry, etc daily.
* Consider creative childcare methods. Mother’s helper, occasional baby sitter while you catch up on work (see if you can swap or barter with the bay sitter if you need to), grandparents or relatives, swap time with another wahm, etc.
* Find a mentor or partners. One of the BEST things I’ve done for my business was to briefly work with a business coach (three months this year — www.jgivlercoaching.com ). It helped me find a focus and really get it together business-wise. You can also just find someone more experienced in your field to learn from. Save yourself a lot of time and frustration by learning from others who’ve BTDT.
* Another note on housecleaning–being super organized helps SO much. I was raised in a generally messy house and it took me years and a lot of hard work changing my habits and expectations before I could keep house well. Now I can. Thanks in part to FlyLady. I have morning lists, evening lists, and things that are done immediately (all dishes immediately in dishwasher, I clean up as I cook, we do living room sweeps of all toys, junk, etc put away every few hours). If I keep after it by spending just a few minutes at various times, it never gets overwhelmingly bad. I also declutter viciously. I go through once a week and donate everything that either has no good purpose or isn’t being used, played with, or worn. Helps tremendously when there is less “stuff” to keep up with.
* Take advantage of ALL your time. I keep a book or two in my bathroom (right now it’s “I love my life! A Mom’s Guide to Working From Home” by Kristie T (awesome book, if you’ve not read it, read it!!) and Learn XML in 24 Hours from the Sams guide series). Every spare minute I get in the bathroom I read (kids in bath, etc). I keep a book in my diaper bag, and a notebook to jot down things when I’m out.
* Plan your meals. This saves me SO much time!! I also use my crockpot a LOT. Probably half my dinners are crockpot dinners. So I can make them the night before and they’re ready whenever we are. Right now a wonderful aroma of potato soup is wafting in from the kitchen and I’m relaxed to know I don’t have to worry about making dinner.
* For homeschooling, one thing I decided to do differently this year was to add more accountability and support to our schooling. I enrolled in a charter school for the boys that means every month I’m in contact with a teacher, I send in samples of their work and their grades quarterly, etc. We love homeschooling, but I’m a structured homeschooler (not unschooler) and the accountability and SUPPORT helps so much. I have a teacher I can email/call when I have questions or need advice on something we’re struggling with. This helps tremendously. Just knowing there’s someone I can turn to when I’m discouraged or overwhelmed with it and they’ll offer good ideas/suggestions to help.
* Another quality time tip, involve your kids in whatever you’re doing. I have to cook. No choice. So I let my DD help and the boys when they want to. Nothing dangerous obviously, but they can stir pancake mix, help make cookies, etc. And they love it. They also help me fold laundry (they get 5 cents for every pair of socks they mate LOL). Just involve them in whatever you are doing and in addition to learning important life skills they’ll also enjoy spending time with mommy.
* I remind myself quite often that the sacrifices now will pay off. And that I love what I do, and I love that it enables me to stay home and be with my kiddos. I have inspirational sticky notes all over my desk. I make it a point to network almost daily with encouraging solo-preneurs and small business owners (forums, mailing lists, discussion groups, listening to teleclasses, etc) from whom I can draw energy and inspiration to keep going.
* And take a little time for yourself every day. I stay going, going, going, and it’s easy to run out of energy. I recharge by spending at least a few minutes a day (even if it’s only 5 minutes) doing something I enjoy. I am seriously into politics and love to read. So I take a few minutes at night after the kids are asleep to read my favorite political news sites. It recharges me enough to push into the next phase of my day which is my work time.
I hope some of these help you find more balance in your life. The life of a WAHM isn’t easy, but it’s full of rewards. Right now my children are laughing and playing on the floor (with all of the pillows off of my livingroom suite… eek!) and having such fun, and I can sit here and enjoy just watching their happy energy.