What It Takes To Be An Entrepreneur

Summer Solutions For Working Moms Part 2

Written by Jay Shapiro for Gaebler Ventures

Summer break is something all kids look forward to, but many work at home moms dread. Trying to satisfy the needs of a business and those of the kids can prove taxing even for the most efficient women.

Here are some more Summer Break tips to help you deal with those no-good busybody children of yours:

• Let your clients know when you are going to be out of the office - this roughly translates to 'I am going to the beach with the kids' but there's no need to say that!
• Take a laptop with wireless internet connection on day trips and holidays.
• Try to see to work tasks in the evening and use the day for time with your kids. You don't have to do this forever; it's only to keep you in control of everything over the weeks of the summer break.
• Use an auto responder email message to inform customers about when you will be back at your desk.
• Divert business calls to your cell phone and keep it on answer phone. That way you can field calls and answer the most pressing. Remember, you're trying to balance work and leisure so avoid being on the phone the whole time.
• Setting targets for your business and your family is important. And striking a healthy balance is vital. All the benefits of being a work at home mom can be negated if you are so engrossed in work that you children feel palmed of and deprived of you.
• Make your business as portable as possible. Take your laptop with you on vacations with your kids; you can catch up with clients online while your kids are sleeping.
• Make a boredom box and fill it with craft materials that the kids can safely use by themselves. This can be invaluable if you need an hour to make calls or send your invoices out.
• Trade babysitting duties with a neighbor so that you each get a couple of morning free a week.
• Always set aside time to just be with your kids. They are not children for long. Your business, if handled correctly, could always be your business. So prioritize and don't allow yourself to be mentally distracted by work issues when you are supposed be dedicating time to your little ones.
• Arrange to form a babysitting co-operative with other local work at home mothers. A group like this made up of women who understand each others' needs and relate to the work/kids dilemmas can be invaluable.
• Outsource your work overload to so you can take time out to enjoy being with your children in the summer.
• Invite your kids to work! Let them organise a desk drawer, open the mail or play 'offices' at a desk of their own by yours. Give them plenty of paper and pencils, rubber stamps and sticky labels. That way they can 'make like mommy does' and feel involved.
• Get your kids involved with your local library. Many libraries run story mornings. These are not only economical activities but they expand the mind and the imagination.

Summer break doesn't last for ever, but your memories of it as a fun time will if you balance work and kid time effectively.

Jay Shapiro is a freelance writer based in the UK. Jay has a particular interest in the emotive aspects of the entrepreneur's character. "Alongside the nuts and bolts of business, the character of the person is often the ingredient responsible for success."

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