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August 26, 2019

Parenting vs Working: How to Create Work-Life Balance in Your Home-Based Business

Guest Post by Justin Chapman

Becoming a Virtual Assistant is often a choice made by parents who never want to miss the big moments in their children’s lives. One of the biggest struggles parents will face as a virtual professional is work-life balance. Often, as a Virtual Assistant or Virtual Professional, when you have a home office, you can easily get caught up working long hours because of your focus. As a professional, you want to get work done and saying to yourself “just another 10 minutes”, can quickly turn into another two hours. Conversations with your spouse can quickly turn into conversations about your new client or the project you are working on. Following the steps below can help you create work-life balance in your home-based business.

Schedule Your Hours

Flexibility in your hours is an attractive piece of becoming an at-home professional, but sometimes in that, you have to make sacrifices. These sacrifices can be made in your personal or professional life. If you have a tight deadline, you may have to sacrifice watching your child’s soccer game. If you can’t miss your mother’s birthday, then a couple of hours of work may have to be done early one morning. Knowing your schedule at least a week in advance will make you more productive.

Whether you are taking care of children, or visiting your parents, entrepreneurs will always have their business in the back of their minds. Having a schedule will create work-life balance. A schedule assists in reducing stress; knowing that you have eight uninterrupted hours tomorrow to get work done allows you to enjoy the night before with family or friends. Make sure you take advantage of a schedule, and put as much as you possibly can in it.

Design a Home Office

If you do not have a spare office with a door, you do not have to be a contractor to build one. Purchasing “hush panels” or office boards to section off even a small work area can make a massive difference. Many Virtual Assistants set up a computer in a multi-purpose room. It is important to have that room act as an office during your working hours, or to have your station sectioned off from the room.

Conversations about work need to happen in your office, even with your spouse. Don’t allow work-talk to take over every conversation in the house. If you want advice from your spouse or a friend on a project you are working on, bring them into your office. Ask questions where you can take notes or show them what you have created already. Practicing this will build a sense of separation and create work-life balance.

Get Organized and Set Goals

This is one of the best tips to help you answer the question: how to create work-life balance in your home-based business. If you have ever taken any at-home post-secondary courses, such as CanScribe’s Virtual Assistant Program, you know how important setting goals can be. When you have a project, you have one ultimate goal: complete the project.

Creating smaller goals will help you complete the project effectively. It can also help you schedule your time around your family. Make sure you know what goals you have and how long each task will take. Rather than just “doing work”, you are working effiectively and not wasting time. Similar to knowing your schedule, you are able to reduce stress and enjoy time with your family and friends because you know what needs to be done, how long it will take, and when you are working on it.

Creating a work-life balance is important to success both as a family member, and as a professional. Scheduling your hours, building an office, and keeping organized can help become successful at both. Focus on your family while keeping attention on your work priorities. These tips help show you how to create work-life balance in your home-based business.

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September 24, 2018 0 Comments

4 Unique Benefits of Working From Home

We all know that there are several benefits of working from home – no commute, more flexibility, and less stress.  But there are lesser known benefits that aren’t discussed as often!

Check out this week’s blog for some of the unique benefits of being a work from home employee.

Get more done

When you work from home, you have access to your home! This is obvious, but it’s a great thing because it allows you to get some things done around the house, which helps you keep up with the housework and reduce stress.

When you set aside a few of your breaks for light housework everyday, you get more time with your family and friends in the evenings.  If you go to a traditional office, you don’t have this benefit, so it’s something that can easily be worked into your day. Of course, working from home is still working, so keep these cleaning breaks to 5-10 minutes at a time.

Break anywhere

As a work from home employee, you can take breaks or really work from anywhere! From lunch breaks to trips away, you can work from any location with internet access.

If you have the opportunity to tag along on your spouse’s work trip, you can come along! When they’re working, you can get your work done too, then enjoy time together in the evenings. It’s very freeing to have your whole work life attached to your laptop, allowing you the freedom to travel and set up shop all over.

Be more accomplished

According to Fundera.com, “86% of employees say they’re most productive when they work alone – devoid of distractions like inefficient meetings, office gossip, or loud office spaces.” Of course, you can occasionally meet up with friends to work at a coffee shop together, but this study shows that most people are more productive outside of a traditional office.

You’re more free to work through workday interruptions, distractions, and so on.  You can set your own schedule and often don’t have as many spontaneous meetings and office drop-ins.  When you work from home, meetings are typically planned ahead since everyone is on a different scheduled, and they’re also usually shorter and completed over phone or Skype.

Time with family

As we mentioned in a few of the benefits above, working from home just gives you more time with family and friends.  You can typically stop working a bit early if you want, and if your work is complete, it’s not a big deal. This opens you up to attend more functions, be there for people more often, and simply not be restricted by a rigid office work schedule.  If work is complete, you’re usually good to go!

Family also includes pets! Those who work from home are able to spend their day with their furry family members too, strengthening those bonds as well.  You can also save money by not having to hire a dog walker or have someone let your dog out during the day! Pets are great stress reducers as well, so being around them all day can be a calming presence.

Working from home has numerous benefits, from stress reduction to more productivity.  Beyond the obvious benefits, you’re able to get more accomplished, work anywhere, and spend more time with those you love.

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March 6, 2017 0 Comments

10 Reasons Why Working from Home is the Best

If you’re a work from home mom or client of HireMyMom.com, you already know the many benefits of working from home.  Yes, there’s flexibility and comfort, but did you know that being a home based employee significantly reduces stress?

Read along for our top 10 reasons why working from home is the best!

You can be there

Do your kids have events or sports during the day?  Even if they have games or lessons in the early evenings, this can be tough for a parent with a traditional office job.  It’s tough to bow out early or make the trek at 3:00pm, which typically isn’t the case when you work from home.  As long as your work is getting done, it’s more than acceptable (and feasible!) to be there for those important events and milestones.

In most cases with home based work, you can work when it best fits your schedule.  Of course there are exceptions to this, but working from home often goes with the opinion that you can work when you want, as long as the work is being done.

You can be flexible

The best part of working from home is likely the flexibility it affords.  In the aforementioned reason was kids’ events and sporting competitions, but it goes much further than that.  Do you feel like taking a nap for an hour and working tonight when you’re more on your game?  You can do that!  Are your kids sick?  You have the ability to pick them up without losing a day of work or pay.  Another bonus?  Many, many less sick days for you either!

If you have your own side business or work other freelance jobs, you also have the flexibility to work on those throughout the workday.  This is much tougher at an office, as you’d have a boss over your shoulder questioning what you were doing!

You can schedule

Need to meet a friend or business colleague for a meeting?  You can do this much more easily when you work from home! If your meeting goes long, it’s typically not an issue since you’re just headed back home anyway.  When you work in an office, there are often unspoken rule about returning to work at an acceptable interval.

As a home based employee, your schedule is truly your own, and if you’re still being efficient, you can make appointments, meetings, and schedules that fit what is best for you.  Best of all, you have more time! Since you aren’t commuting to and from an office, you gain more time in your day for what truly matters.

You save money

Commuting, parking, going out for lunch – it all adds up! These fees are mostly eliminated when you work from home.  If you work in an office, add up your gas costs, parking fees, and dining out for lunch receipts for a few weeks.  Working from home allows you to save that money and use it for something else.

You can be comfortable

No need for fancy suits and clothes! While it can help productivity to put on nicer clothing, you have the option to be comfortable.

You can be healthier

When working from home, taking breaks is easier.  Stretching isn’t so “strange” as it might be in a workplace.  You can also workout any time of the day, as well as eat healthier and prepare your own food easily.

You can choose your environment

Do you want a bright office or a more zen experience?  You get the choice of your home office! In a traditional office, it’s typically fluorescent lighting and bland paint colors.  If this doesn’t suit you, get creative in making an innovative space that works best for you.

You can reduce stress

According to Fonality.com, telecommuters have their stress reduced by 25%.  Stress can be eliminated by lack of commute, more flexibility, and the ability to take more frequent breaks.  Additionally, commuting is notoriously stressful.  When you work from home, your commute is from your bedroom to your home office!  It’s a nice, stress-free way to begin your workday.

You get variety

Typically work from home jobs are freelance or part-time positions, allowing you to expand your knowledge and skillset.  You can also always take on other smaller jobs here and there to earn extra money and fill time.

You’ll be more productive

A recent study by Harvard University indicated that when a group of workers switched from office to home work, their performance was boosted by 13%.  Additionally, Globalworkplaceanalytics.com shows that teleworkers are 20-25% more productive than their office counterparts.

Whether it’s the elimination of office distractions or an ability to work at a better pace, working from home shows that productivity is a winner in this space!

Working from home truly provides you with the flexibility and comfort that makes life just a bit easier.  It’s a great way of working that can give you more time – and less stress – with your friends and family!

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