As a busy homeschooling mom, sometimes it’s hard to find the balance between freelancing and doing all the things a homeschooling mom does. Especially this time of year, when kid activities pick up due to the sunshine coming out.
It’s times like these when a freelance writer needs to take advantage of every little opportunity to work during the day. When do I get my work done?
1. Nap Time – This one is obvious for those of us with toddlers. We shoot for nap time between 12 and 2 every day. I can hear the protests now. “But I have older kids who don’t nap!” Well, so do I. I institute quiet time between 12 and 2 for the older kids.
Stargirl usually does schoolwork during this time, and Bug is at school, making it easy for now. But when Bug is home for the summer, and our homeschool is on summer break, I will have the older kids spend some quiet time in their rooms. It’s a perfect opportunity to get a lot done!
2. While Waiting – Most days present lots of opportunities to wait. Doctor’s appointments, waiting in the carpool line to pick up kids from activities, waiting at stoplights (Kidding about that last one!).
I make it a point to bring work with me wherever I go. I check email on my phone, write down blogging ideas on my ipad, or read a book for review. A lot of time is spent waiting, so I may as well put that idle time to good use.
3. Bath Time – Boo loves to take baths, but as a toddler, she’s obviously too young to leave unattended in the tub. That presents me with an ideal time to get some work done. After I wash her up, I get to work while she plays. Usually I don’t do a lot of writing during bath time, but I do get a lot of reading done for book reviews. I also get a clean floor in the process, as Boo loves to splash in the tub!
4. Outdoor Play Time – I’m fortunate in that my kids play really well together, despite their age differences. On sunny days, I like to bring them all outside to run off some energy. While they’re out running around, I park a comfy chair in an area where I can supervise the entire yard. Then I bring out my laptop and get to work. Since the kids love being outdoors, I get a lot of writing done on sunny days.
5. Late at Night – Despite the work I get done during the day, I’ll admit I spend many hours working late into the night. The cold, hard fact is that when you’re a stay at home mom, late nights are sometimes the only uninterrupted hours you have to work. I try not to take on so much work that every night is a late night, but I do have my fair share of nights without enough sleep.
If you are a WAHM, when do you find time to work?
Photo by ButterflySha.
I think it’s also ok to simply look at your life and say ya know what? I don’t have time to work right now (as long as the money isn’t critical).
I don’t have time to try and make money. When my kids are older, sure. But now, no. My sleep is more important, and my time away from the computer is too at this stage
There are definitely times to do that, Kacie. I pretty much took all of last year off, while we were working on our adoption. Now that we’re almost to the end of that process, it’s time to ramp up the work schedule again.