Mothers definitely have loads of work at home. But this article is not about the household chores and the duties of taking care of the family. This is more about mothers who are taking care of the home and the family, while earning extra income at the same time to augment the family expenses — in other words, here’s how to be a work from home mum.
I can relate well to mothers who look for ways and means to make ends meet especially when the husband is the only bread winner in the family.
Though I have been earning my own income as a working mother, I know how difficult it can be when there are mouths to feed and bills, which cost more than or just equal to what the family earns, to pay.
While some mothers leave their homes to seek work and earn income, this is a luxury that many mothers do not have — someone has to stay home to look after their children.
Some mums choose to stay at home and look after their kids full-time. But it is possible to be a work-from-home mum with some careful thought and planning
So, how to be a work from home mum?
Luckily, today’s mothers are more fortunate than their earlier counterparts. The Internet has made the world much smaller and opened doors to hundreds and thousands of women to work from home.
A word of caution before I proceed any further though: beware of the many online scams.
In this article, I am going to share with you information about online work opportunities that stay-at-home mothers can do and where to find legitimate work.
I will also share a few tips on how they can balance their work and family priorities.
There are plenty of online jobs if you know where to look
How to be a work from home mum: The kind of jobs to look for
There are many online work opportunities you can apply for depending on your skills and abilities.
Here’s a list to get you started:Administrative Support – This involves data entry or becoming a virtual assistant. If you can write articles, do research, coordinate travel plans, answer letters or emails, create database, transcribe audio files or type fast, then you can work as a virtual assistant for a client.
- Writing, Proofreading, Editing and Translation – This job is for those who can write, proofread or edit web content, articles,resumes, letters, stories, essays or speeches, or for those who can translate one language to another.
- Multimedia Design — If you are creative enough to design graphics, logos, animation, brochures, labels and packages, cartoons and comics, photographs and a lot more, then this type of work can be good for you.
- Finance and Management – Those who are knowledgeable in accounting, bookkeeping, financial planning, business consultancy, operations management etc. can earn much from this type of work online.
- Legal Services – If you are an expert when it comes to laws and legal procedures, then this could be the best type of online work for you. This entails providing legal advice or writing legal documents for different clients.
- Sales and Marketing – This refers to promoting websites and products for a business owner. If you’re someone who is well-versed in sales and marketing, a lot of opportunities await you.
- Web and Programming – Website design, web or blog programming, software applications development and search engine optimization are just some of the web and programming jobs you can find from the internet.
How to be a work from home mum: Finding opportunities
It isn’t difficult to find websites that can introduce you to the different work opportunities mentioned above.
Two websites that I can personally recommend and find find trustworthy are www.elance.com and www.odesk.com.
These websites are venues for legitimate work which will safeguard your interests.
How to be a work from home mum: Succeeding in your online work
It can definitely be difficult to ensure that you take care of the home and the children and deliver expected output from your online employer. But you can succeed with discipline and determination.
How to be a work from home mum: Tips to get serious about your online work
- Set up your own office at home. Put a desk or table and a chair. Make it comfortable and clean so that when you work you’ll feel at ease.
- Set and follow a schedule. Make your family members understand that you are working and they are not to disturb you when you are working except for emergency reasons. And don’t try to mix up your house work and online work. Work according to your schedule.
- List down things to do and prioritize the urgent and important ones. You can easily be overwhelmed with the many things you have to do but the secret to doing what you can do promptly is by prioritizing.
- Take every opportunity to do your work and be productive. When you go out for grocery or errands or when waiting for your children from school, you can bring a notepad where you can jot down ideas which you can finalize when you’re in your home office. It’s great if you have a laptop or notebook handy where you can directly do whatever you have to work on online.
- Have a break. Always remember to set aside time off from your work in order to relax and spend time with your children and spouse.
When at first things don’t work out well, don’t be discouraged because it takes time to finally get the feel of working online and staying at home.
Are you a work-from-home mum? Share your tips with us by leaving a comment