It’s summer! For most people, the summer holidays are a time to rejoice and to plan vacations, but for work at home moms with school age children, there’s often a sense of thinly veiled panic. The question we don’t dare voice is: how the heck will I meet all my deadlines with all my kids at home?
Of course, being able to spend time with our kids is part of the reason we have this job anyway (that, and an inability to leave the computer for more than five seconds), so we should welcome the opportunity. However, there’s no denying that it can present challenges if you have a roster of regular clients with regular deadlines. So what do you do? Here are some of the strategies I have used.
Outsource
Pass some of your work onto a trusted colleague. It has to be someone who will deliver the same standard of work as you, and whose work you won’t have to check to often (spot checks are always sensible). Yes, you will earn a bit less, but it will free up some family time and ease the pressure.
Shift Your Work Patterns
During school time, I generally get my daughter ready for school and then start work at about 8am while my hubby does the school run. In the holidays, I may start later and work intermittently. Today, for example, I did an hour between 7 and 8, then came back to the computer at around 9 to do some more. Hubby’s taken our daughter out, leaving me a couple of hours to do client work and write this post. I’ll probably take a break when they return, and do an hour late this evening to catch up.
Find A Camp
Despite the horrors suggested by summer camp in the Peanuts strip, not all kids hate it. In fact, many kids love the chance to do something different. Around here, camp breaks up around 2.30 so it’s a shorter day, but it means that I can get some of my work done if I’m organised, which brings me to my next point …
Be Efficient
When you have the whole day, you can afford to waste a little time. During the summer vacation, every minute counts, so make sure you use any free time wisely. During the summer I may post less on the blog and be slightly less active on some social media outlets so that I can make sure that my clients’ work gets done.
Take Some Time Off
Of course, you could just go with the flow. You will never get this time with your child back again. I’m aiming for a balance. My daughter knows that there are days when I have deadlines and I won’t be able to play, but on other days when it’s less critical, I can take a couple of hours off and revert to childhood – isn’t that the whole point of being a freelancer?
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