Work Life Balance

June 20, 2024

Maintain Your Home-Based Business & Your Sanity During the Holidays

As a mom and home-based business owner, you probably feel like one of those circus performers who can keep a dozen plates spinning on sticks all at once. It can be challenging from day to day, but most of the time you are pretty good at keeping your plates in the air. However, add the upcoming holiday season to the mix—which, of course, includes shopping, decorating, incoming guests and kids bouncing off the walls with anticipation—and it might seem like those carefully balanced plates will all come crashing down.

Fortunately, we have some work life balance tips to help. With some planning and preparation, you can make it to 2015 without losing your business or your sanity.

Adjust Your Schedule and Your Expectations

Accept the fact that your usual schedule will be disrupted for awhile. Once you’ve accepted this, look for pockets of time during the day and night to fit in shorter spurts of work. For example, if your kids are watching “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” for the thousandth time and dinner’s in the oven, head to your computer and knock out some emails or invoices. If you are an early bird, set your alarm an hour or so earlier and try to crank out some work before the kids and company get up. If you are more of a night owl, work a little after the kids go to sleep to catch up on some of your projects.

Prioritize and Push Back

Schedule some specific times and activities with your family and guests during the holiday season, and post the calendar in a place where everyone can see it. Whenever possible, schedule things to do during the times when you wouldn’t normally be working anyway—that way, you won’t feel as stressed out about missing work time, and you can really focus on your kids. You could swing by your local coffee shop for hot cocoas to go, and then drive around your neighborhood looking at lights.

Also, try to push back at least some of your work and deadlines into January. Chances are good that many of your clients are also trying to juggle their lives and the holiday season, so depending on what type of at-home work you do, it may be possible to reschedule at least some of it until early 2015.

Shop Online

If your to-do list is already three pages long, you might wonder how you’ll find time to get to the mall to shop. You don’t have to fight the crowds and parking lots to get toys and gifts for everyone on your “Nice” list. Pour yourself a cup of coffee or a glass of wine, put on your comfy flannel jammies, and when the kids are asleep, take care of your holiday shopping online. Walmart always has some great Black Friday deals and it seems like every online retailer offers shipping deals this time of year. If you are planning on sending out holiday cards, you can also upload photos to sites like Snapfish or Shutterfly and order them from there.

With these work life balance tips, you will be able to skate through the holidays having a fun and relaxing time with your family.

Check out these other great articles about productivity / time management as a work from home professional. Also check out our current job postings for mom professionals.

Written by Staff Writer

June 20, 2024 0 Comments

Take Your Work-at-Home Productivity to New Levels

Have you ever asked yourself? “How productive am I? Am I using my time wisely to get the most accomplished in the time I am working? Where is my time going?” All these questions deal with work-at-home productivity.

Working at home is often seen as a luxury to many moms. It is the best of both worlds. You still get to work and earn an income but you do not have to sacrifice your family time to do it. Many moms have made the transition, and many more are in the process of making the transition. The downfall is that many inexperienced business moms lose of a lot of time, money and energy in the process due to inefficiency and inexperience.

Causes for Loss of Productivity

Unprepared for the journey ahead of them, the following daily occurrences often cause a loss in productivity while working from home:

Personal phone calls,
Emails coming in,
Children and infant responsibilities interrupting schedules,
Neighbors knocking on the door,
Fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants mentality,
Lack of organization and planning,
Unfinished household chores creating an eyesore to your peripheral vision, and much, much, more.

I believe my success, like other thriving home-based working moms, lies in mastering my own System. If you don’t have a structured system laying the foundation of your at home business; your productivity and profitability are at stake.

Ask yourself:

What systems do I have in place to organize my business and personal life?
What daily routines do I need to ensure are done?
Do I have reliable child care arrangements?
Do I have any weekly assignments, tasks or chores that I need to plan for?
What are my monthly to-dos and when should I schedule them?

How to Be Productive at Home

Setting your system can be as easy as:

Checking emails only twice a day, or during particular hours of each day.
Allowing voicemail to pick up your personal calls and kindly asking your neighbors to come back when you are finished with your work day,
Setting a work schedule and working solely on your business while your children are tended to and not on household chores.
Picking one day a week for laundry and ironing, or running business errands out of the house.
Taking advantage of weekday shopping while traffic and crowds are at a minimum.
Sending monthly invoices and accounts payables on one particular date each month.
Establishing an annual calendar based on your anniversary date, to review and report your progress, and find ways to improve your weak areas.

While working at home does give you lots of flexibility, you do still have to know your limitations and when to simply say “no”. Let go of the guilt and know that you cannot possibly do everything. Whether you need to hire a housekeeper, order take out or say no to a volunteer request, know that you are doing what’s best for you and your family but not overextending yourself and putting unnecessary burdens and expectations on yourself.

Create Necessary Boundaries and Stick to Them

Remember: profitability is only one sign of your business success.

Success lies more in your work-at-home productivity, because it ensures all your roles as a home-based working mom are met.

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Lesley Pyle is the founder and president of HBWM.com Inc. which includes the national association of Home-Based Working Moms helping moms network, learn and grow in their role as a Home-Based Working Mom and HireMyMom.com connecting at-home Mom Professionals with home-based jobs and projects in virtually every career field. Pyle has been featured in numerous publications including Forbes, Entrepreneur, Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Home Office Computing, and many others. Twitter @lesleypyle and @hiremymom

Check out these other great articles about productivity / time management as a work from home professional. Also check out our current job postings for mom professionals.

Written by Lesley Pyle

June 16, 2024

How to Get AND Stay Motivated

Motivation … It’s been one of the driving factors behind our coping mechanisms during these tough times.

When we are motivated, we are rewarded in some way and this is what keeps us thriving. Staying motivated can be difficult, especially when we are constantly being thrown curveballs in life. COVID-19 is a good example of that.

When it comes to reaching a goal, motivation is like a cheerleader – constantly encouraging you to move closer and closer to that finish line, cheering you on every step of the way.

The key to getting and staying motivated is to have a passionate purpose. There is always a WHY behind what we say, and what we do. If your WHY is driven by passion and heart, it’s hard to go wrong. However, passion and heart aren’t always conventional ways to make a living but as the expression goes; “if you do what you love to do, what you love will take care of you”.

Motivation counters fear and when we do something where the outcome isn’t known or could have a consequence to it that fear could grow to the point we end up changing our minds and pivoting down the “safer” path.

Whether your goal involves your health, wealth or happiness, it’s important to take the first step and continue on with those steps until you reach your final destination.

Here Are 7 Quick Tips To Help You Stay Motivated

1. Set Desirable Goals

When deciding on the goals you want to achieve they should be goals that you are passionate about. When a goal comes from the heart, passion becomes the motivator. When you are doing what you love to do and it doesn’t feel like “work”, you’ll want to do it more often and you’ll work harder and more productively.

Time and effort go hand in hand and often reap the biggest rewards here. As the expression goes “you get out what you put in.”

2. Write It Down

It’s important to write down your goals. When you take the time to put the pen to the paper you are reinforcing your goal not only from a conscious level but a subconscious one too. There’s something that can be said about the power of manifestation. Your mind is like a GPS, if you tell it where you want to go it will start creating opportunities and opening doors to help you get there.

3. Make It Known

When you make your goal known, you become accountable to yourself and to others who you make it known to.

Social media has become a popular channel for goal setting and achieving. Whether you are setting out to get in shape, quit a bad habit or change your career path, making it “known” publicly can be a huge motivator.

Often, friends, family, and even co-workers will react positively commenting things like; “you’ve got this”, “you can do it”, “so proud of you” … these phrases for example can give someone not just the motivation but also the affirmation they need to know they are on the right path and doing the right thing.

4. Break Your Goal Into Steps

Goals, especially long term ones, are best achieved when laid out in actionable steps. You can break your goal down into segments for example. These segments could be time increments or before, during, and after phases.

If you can break your goal into pieces, you’ll start seeing results faster because the one big goal becomes little goals and each of them take smaller increments of time and effort to achieve – which means you have that sense of gratification and sense of accomplishment sooner.

5. Track Progress

Tracking your progress is extremely important. Picture a marketing campaign without any conversion tracking. You have no idea whether or not you had a return on investment (also known as ROI). When you don’t track your progress, you fail to realize when you achieve your goals and/or milestones. It’s like walking through the woods without a compass – you can easily get lost and off-track. In the long run, this could cost you both time and money.

6. Reward Yourself

As you reach each milestone, it’s important to reward yourself. From a young age, we are conditioned through rewards. Whether it was that piece of cake after you ate all of your dinner, an allowance after completing your chores or graduation to the next grade in school; a reward system has always been in place in our lives to some capacity.

Decide ahead of time what your reward will be as you complete each step towards your goal. The rewards can act as tiny celebrations to keep you motivated as you get closer and closer to what you want to achieve.

7. Invite Others to Join

Sometimes goals are better achieved if you have others participating with you. Fitness programs that involve 30-Day challenges are a good example of this. When you have someone else doing the program with you, you can lean on each other, support each other and celebrate together. The journey doesn’t feel so isolated in this case and it can become a fun social activity at the same time.

Finding Your Inspiration and Motivation

Motivation and inspiration are all around us. You can find motivational quotes, posters, artwork and calendars quite easily in stores and online.

You can also spend an afternoon creating a vision board for yourself. Vision boards have been known to help people manifest and achieve the things they want in life.

Finally, you can join support groups to help you stay focused on reaching your goal. If you surround yourself with like-minded people from beginners to pros, you’ll gain instant support for every step of your journey.

We have a Facebook Group at HireMyMom. The group is for like-minded Mompreneurs and we use the group to share job leads, tips on getting hired, resources, inspiration, and foster new friendships along the way. You can visit our community here.

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January 30, 2023

10 Ways to Boost Your Productivity When Working from Home

Working from home can be a great way to stay productive, but it can also be difficult to stay motivated and focused when the distractions of home life come into play. That’s why it’s important to stay on top of your productivity and make sure you’re getting the most out of your day. Here are ten ways to boost your productivity when working from home so you can maximize your time and accomplish your goals:

1) Set a schedule and stick to it.

Set a realistic schedule that allows you to balance your work and personal life. Make sure you’re giving yourself enough time to get all your tasks done, but don’t overbook yourself or you may become overwhelmed. Having a schedule also helps you avoid procrastination. Make sure you’re setting achievable goals for yourself so you don’t become discouraged. Break large tasks down into smaller, manageable pieces so that it’s easier to stay on track. It’s also a good idea to set regular deadlines for yourself so that you have something to work towards.

2) Set up a dedicated workspace.

Make sure the workspace is free of distractions, like televisions and other electronics. Designate a comfortable chair and desk that you can use to sit and work. You may even want to set up a filing cabinet or shelf to store important documents and supplies. Additionally, make sure your workspace is well-lit and has good ventilation. Not only will this ensure you have an inviting work area, but it will also help you stay productive and healthy.

3) Take breaks!

Allowing yourself to step away from your desk and take a break will help you stay focused, energized, and productive. Make sure that you get up and move around, grab a snack or a cup of coffee, and spend some time away from the computer. Consider taking breaks throughout the day or setting a timer to remind you to get up and stretch or meditate for a few minutes. When you come back to work, you’ll feel refreshed and ready to tackle the next task.

4) Get dressed for work.

When working from home, it’s easy to fall into the trap of wearing the same pajamas all day, every day. While this might be comfortable, it can also be detrimental to your productivity. Getting dressed for work each morning is one of the best ways to set yourself up for success. Putting on your “work clothes” will help put you in the right frame of mind and make it easier to transition into work mode. It’s important to find a balance between being comfortable and looking professional. You don’t have to dress up as if you are going into the office, but try to stick to items that you would normally wear to work. Opt for clothing that is comfortable yet still makes you look professional. This can be anything from an outfit you already own to something new that you purchased specifically for working from home.

5) Set boundaries with family and friends (and kids!).

One of the most important things to do is to set expectations for when you are available. It’s important to make sure everyone understands that you are busy during the day and not available for socializing. You can also put up a sign that says “Working from Home – No Distractions Please” to make sure everyone respects your space. If you have kids in the house, it’s essential to create a structure that allows them to understand when it’s time for work and when it’s time for play. Consider setting up a dedicated workspace for yourself that is away from the living area where they can play and engage in activities while you work. You may also want to set up a schedule or plan to have another adult take care of them during your work hours so that you can stay focused on your tasks. It’s also important to remember that everyone in the house has their own needs and goals, so setting boundaries can help everyone stay productive. Make sure everyone knows that it’s not personal, but rather just about managing time and setting expectations.

6) Stick to a routine.

Start your day with some sort of exercise or activity. Not only will this get you into the right mindset, but it will also help wake up your body and mind. This could be as simple as going for a quick jog or a more involved workout. Then, have a set time for breakfast and lunch, where you focus on refueling your body and taking some time away from your work. By having a daily routine and sticking to it, you’ll be able to stay on track with your work and create better boundaries between work and home. This will help you stay organized and productive while still being able to enjoy the benefits of working from home.

7) Avoid distractions.

Distractions are one of the biggest killers of productivity when you’re working from home. Whether it’s your cell phone, television, or other people in the house, there are plenty of things that can easily pull you away from your work. One of the best ways to avoid distractions is to designate a workspace for yourself. Make sure it is away from any places that can be distracting and make sure you don’t bring your phone or any other devices with you that can draw your attention away from your work. If you find yourself getting distracted by noise, consider using noise-canceling headphones or earbuds. Listening to some relaxing music can help drown out any distractions. Also, be sure to turn off notifications on all your devices while you’re working, as they can easily pull you away from the task at hand.

8) Find a support group.

Working from home can be an isolating experience, especially if you are the only one in your house. To combat this, it is important to find a support group that can provide you with emotional and practical support when you need it. A support group can consist of other remote workers, freelancers, or even just friends who are in similar situations. Having a support group to lean on during tough times can be a great source of comfort and help boost your morale. Sharing ideas, encouragement, and advice with each other can help you stay motivated and productive. You can also use your support group as a sounding board to brainstorm solutions to any problems you may be having with your work or working from home. Having people to turn to when you’re feeling stuck can be invaluable. You can always engage with us on social media for support, and check out our Facebook group where you can network with other work-from-home moms.

9) Take care of yourself.

Exercise regularly, eat healthy, get enough sleep, stay organized, and take breaks! Remember, taking care of yourself is an essential part of productivity!

10) Reward yourself!

When you complete a task or reach a goal, think of something special you can do for yourself to recognize your hard work. This could be as simple as taking a few minutes to enjoy a cup of coffee or tea, reading a chapter of your favorite book, or taking a walk around the block. Make sure to take the time to truly appreciate your accomplishments and give yourself the recognition you deserve. You can also set larger rewards for yourself at the end of the week or month. Whether it’s getting a massage, treating yourself to a special meal, or taking a day trip somewhere, rewarding yourself for reaching milestones will help motivate you to keep going. No matter how big or small, rewards are an essential part of staying productive when working from home. So make sure to take the time to recognize your hard work and give yourself the recognition you deserve.

How do you stay productive when working from home? Share your tips with us!

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December 12, 2022

Setting Professional Boundaries: How to Keep Work and Life in Balance

As an entrepreneur, you’re likely juggling more tasks and projects than most people can handle at one time. Even if you’re not a self-employed person, though, odds are good that you have to meet some deadlines or other obligations every day. Keeping up with all of these tasks while maintaining your health and well-being can be difficult if you don’t set boundaries between your personal and work lives. While it’s important to be flexible and accommodating in your working relationships, it’s equally important to be able to step away from work when it’s time to do so. However, it can be daunting to set these boundaries up front — the sooner you set them, the better! Keep reading to learn when to set boundaries and how to update them as needed.

Set Working Hour Expectations

We recommend setting working hour expectations up front whether that’s during the interview process for a full time remote job or a first time meeting with a potential client as a freelancer. Many employers/clients may say they offer flexible working hours. It is important that you ask what their definition of flexible means — we have seen expectations on both employer and employee sides be very different. For example, an employee may hear flexible and think they can quite literally work whenever, so long as they meet deadlines. However, employers may mean that their workers can start a few minutes later or leave a few minutes earlier within a traditional work day.

It’s also important to establish time off too! If every year you take off spring break to take a trip with your kiddos, be up front about that from the start. Employers may offer unlimited time off, but that may mean only a couple days in a week and not an entirely full week. Communication is key here, and it’s best to always ask both parties to define what they want in the working relationship. This is where you are able to establish important boundaries — as well as the communication channel to update those boundaries as needed.

Don’t Be Afraid to Set New Boundaries

Using our example from above, perhaps you started working with a company that stated they offered “flexible” schedules. However, as you started working together, you realized they expected you to work when they did, with flexible applying more to their schedule than yours (yes, we have seen this before!). If this is not what you expected, you have every right to speak up for yourself! Politely send a message stating that the hours are not what you thought, and that you would like to have a discussion about working hours with the company.

Work-life balance is incredibly important, and as uncomfortable as it may be, it’s important to stick up for yourself in the workplace! If it wasn’t communicated that an employer thought you would work mostly afternoons but you need mornings because of your children’s schedule, bring that up with your employer and ask to negotiate hours. It really all comes down to communication! A good employer/client relationship will be based on open communication and negotiation.

Create Payment Window Rules

For our freelancers, the number one boundary we see that goes without being established is that of creating firm payment windows with companies. Let’s say you offer Net 30 on your invoices, but your client does not pay in 30 days. You have to keep reminding them, and finally, 10 days later, they pay. But, that does not cover the stress or time it took you to keep track of all that and follow up with them.

Of course, there can be outstanding circumstances that cause a payment to be late every once in a while. However, as a freelancer you rely on your customers to pay in a timely manner. During that first meeting with your client, let them know that after thirty days goes by, you will charge a certain percentage of the invoice or add in a special processing fee for late invoices. You can research online to find good examples of rates/fees for your specific position.

As mentioned above, if you have not established this boundary yet and you find yourself with a client that is consistently paying later and later, it’s okay to establish this boundary later. All you need to do is communicate what the penalty for paying late is and why you have to enact that. Working with your client, you may be able to come up with a different billing system that gets you paid on time without charging extra.

Boundaries are extremely important, so you should establish them up front, but if you don’t it’s okay to go back and let the parties involved know that you were not aware this is how things would be, and they need to change. Just be open about your situation. What are some ways you set boundaries with employers and clients alike? Let us know so we can share your advice with the HireMyMom family!

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October 17, 2022

Preparing Your Team for a Successful Holiday Season

The holiday season can be stressful and tiring, but it doesn’t have to take a huge toll on your employees. Get your team in the right mindset before the holidays begin by following these tips to prepare your team so they can enjoy the holidays and come back without feeling overwhelmed. You’ll all start refreshed and ready to hit the ground running!

Set Clear Expectations

As the holidays approach, it is very easy to get into “holiday mode” and out of “work mode.” After all, everyone wants to enjoy the time off with their families! Going into the holiday season, set clear expectations for your team. Tell them which projects should be finished before the holidays and which they can push until after. Give parameters for time off such as when they can leave for the holidays and what sort of schedule there might be — think of the week between Christmas and New Year’s Eve as an example. Should employees be ready to work that week? Or will your company take that time off? It’s good to figure all this out ahead of time so you aren’t left scrambling at the last minute.

Schedule a Check-In with Employees

Schedule time to check in with your employees periodically so they don’t have to keep their holiday worries bottled up and can ask questions or seek guidance. Plus, scheduling time will help you make sure they’re not feeling overwhelmed. Encourage them to find someone they trust to share their feelings with, whether it’s family, friends, other coworkers, or someone else. They might also want to make changes to their schedule such as rearranging work tasks so they can avoid the busiest days at the office before and after the holidays. If an employee does become overloaded with work during this busy season because of pressure from management (e.g., responding to more than ten emails per day), then scheduling a check-in is the perfect way to discuss expectations to ensure your employees are happy and healthy!

Set an End Date Early

Start by thinking about the roles in your organization and prioritizing which members will be able to take time off. Some people may not be able to come back until after the holidays, but it is important to think about how long people can be away from their jobs because each job may require different amounts of prep before someone can come back. For example, if you work as an art director in a design firm and no one else on your team is working on anything holiday-related, then you may want to come back early (because the holiday season only lasts so long) whereas someone who works in HR may want to extend their time off through January. However, don’t forget that you will need some level of staffing during this busy season! If you plan on closing for holidays completely, make sure you have a plan in place to let customers know your holiday hours.

Define Parameters Around Discretionary Tasks

To ensure that you take care of all your business duties, tasks related to personnel and operations are given higher priority in the weeks leading up to the holidays. This doesn’t mean, however, that these work tasks can’t be handled after the holidays as well. Preparing your team and planning ahead will allow them to go home on time this year and re-enter work with refreshed minds the next week. Make sure they know what they should do when they come back from the holiday break. Take care of projects that need attention before then if possible so there is no chance of things falling through the cracks.

Take some time off for yourself during this period too; being burnt out can lead to feeling overwhelmed and not wanting to go back at all!

How do you prepare your team for the holidays? Let us know!

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October 3, 2022

The Busy Mom’s Guide to Creating a Work-From-Home Schedule

When you work from home as a stay at home mom, it’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking that you have all the time in the world to get everything done, when in reality time seems to slip away from you and then you’re behind on everything and don’t know how to catch up. In order to create structure and balance in your life, create a schedule that will allow you the freedom to work from home while still getting everything done around the house and providing enough time with your family.

Set Up A Routine

Creating a routine can be difficult when you work from home. The best way to get it started is by simply waking up and deciding what your goal for the day will be. Maybe your goal is cleaning the house, or editing photos, or even sending out emails. Set time goals, be specific with yourself and keep reminding yourself of those goals so you don’t back down midway through your day. And always remember: It doesn’t matter how many times you fail; it only matters how many times you get back up!

For some it helps to create a to-do list so you can create a new schedule each day. For others, they stick to a strict time limit, setting a certain amount of hours per day to work before clocking off or switching tasks. No matter which way you prefer, make sure you have something in place, because if you try to wing it, more often than not you will find yourself falling behind and getting distracted.

Adjust Your Routine Based On Your Kids’ Needs

Staying home with your kids can be challenging when it comes to keeping your schedule intact. But by adjusting what time you work and what responsibilities you have during the day, you’ll find the perfect balance that works for both yourself and your family. Here are some tips on how stay at home moms can manage their time:

Figure out when you’re most productive, and schedule your work for that time. If you’re a morning person, get up early before the kiddos and get work done. If you’re an afternoon person, schedule time to work while the kids are down for a nap.
Organize set days (such as one weekday, one weekend day) where you work from home. For instance, if you choose Monday as your workday, then don’t have any other commitments or appointments on Mondays so that you can focus solely on getting things done. The same goes for weekends; if Saturday is your day to work from home, make sure there aren’t any activities planned for Saturdays so that you won’t feel guilty about spending all of your time working.
Start simple — figure out the three tasks in each category of responsibility so that everything gets completed but not overly stressed about finishing everything.

Develop an Exercise Routine Too

Plus, you’ll need to make time for yourself as a mom. Exercise can help relieve stress and be relaxing, so take the time to do it every day. You should aim for 20 minutes at least 3 days a week. Not only will you start feeling better and look better, but it will also help you keep the house cleaner too! Set aside a 20-30 minute chunk of time in your schedule each day to work out–a very productive way to spend that time when you are working from home.

Keep A Daily Journal Of Everything You Do

It is important to keep track of what you are doing so that you can set goals and also look back on your days. Even though it can seem like one day blends into the next, you will be surprised at how much you get done if you stop for just a minute each day and write down what you did. When the week is over, your journal will help remind you how productive your week really was! It will also help you prioritize what you need to do in the coming days.

What are some tips you have for creating a schedule and sticking to it as a work from home mom? Reach out and let us know!

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April 11, 2022

Surviving Summer: 4 Tips to Stay Productive

Do you remember what it was like, waking up on the first day of summer as a kid?

The morning air was cool with a hint of the heat to come. Dew covered the grass as morning doves cooed. You were excited; excited to feel the grass on your bare feet, or play your favorite video game, or catch up with friends, or maybe even go on a big family vacation.

You felt free.

As adults, the first day of summer looks a little different. We know you’re excited to spend time with your kiddos, but there’s some apprehension because you are working from home.

How are you going to balance working with creating a summer of freedom and fun for your kids?

After working from home for several years, and with several different aged kids, we have some experience in this area. Here are our four favorite tips on how to have a productive summer while your children are home on summer break.

#1 Schedule, schedule, schedule

The number one thing we recommend is to create a schedule for your summer. Map out your vacations, meetings, and even time that you need to set aside for yourself. Let’s be honest, there are so many distractions without kids, that summertime can seem daunting.

Writing everything down on a calendar will help you and your family. In fact, you should also make a summer calendar for your kids too. Block out times when you know they will be at a friend’s house, or when they like to play outside.

If your kiddo goes to a summer camp in the morning, schedule it! If you have a really important meeting you can’t miss, schedule it! Write it all down before the summer starts, but also remember that the best laid plans will encounter problems.

Plan on revisiting your schedule once per week. Sunday nights are a great time to evaluate the coming week.

Most importantly of all, when creating your summer plan, make sure to include lots of flexibility because you never know what the day will bring!

#2 Beat the heat

You’ve heard of the afternoon slump, but did you know a summer slump exists too? The heat tends to make people lethargic, and if you already find yourself experiencing afternoon slumps no matter the season, then summer will make you even more tired.

So, beat the heat! When you’re planning activities or creating your summer schedule, keep in mind what times of day you work best and what times of day you do not.

We recommend comparing that with your child’s sleep schedules.

If you work best in the morning and your child sleeps in, plan on working in the morning so you can spend afternoons playing (or napping together!). Have a productive summer switching your normal 9-5 schedule around.

#3 On the next episode of Kid Swap…

Remember that show, Wife Swap? While it produced some interesting characters, it also gave moms across the U.S. a great idea: let’s swap kids.

Seriously, it’s that simple. On days when you really need to be productive working from home during summer, ask your neighbors to watch the kids. Then, you can watch their kids when they need it.

Maybe even plan play dates with your child’s friends so that one week the kids go to your house, and the next they are at their friend’s house. As part of your summer calendar for your kids, they are sure to love it, and you will too when you get some time to yourself to power through work.

#4 Once upon a time at the library

Sure, you’re used to home based work, but what about working at the library? Find your nearest library, and check out what is available. Some libraries offer fun summer programs with different activities. Others have rooms you can rent to work out of while your children read books. No matter what, your local library has a kid’s section that can be fun for them to work on puzzles, read books, and play while you get access to wifi and a quiet location.

When you have a stay at home mom job, summer might seem extra stressful when you think about balancing productivity with spending time with your kids. We are here to say that you can do it, and have fun in the process.

There are lots of great resources available out there to help you create a schedule, track your productivity, swap kids, and even spend some time out of the house at the local library.

Don’t be afraid to ask for help, and remember that summers aren’t about huge vacations. Your kids will thank you for the small things like a surprise popsicle from an ice cream cart on an extra hot day, or spending time at their friend’s house building blanket forts.

As a kid, summer is all about freedom and free time. As an adult, that changes a bit, but that does not mean the summer has to be less fun for you! Put these four tips to use on how to have a productive summer, and you will find yourself balancing work and fun with your children just fine!

Do you have another tip you use to stay productive when kids are home for summer break? Let us know about it!

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December 20, 2021

One Simple Thing You Can Do to Ensure 2022 is Your Best Year Ever

The last two years have been tough–especially for moms. We’ve learned an entirely new way of life. Many of us cared for ill family members or got sick ourselves. We shepherded our kids through a once-in-a-lifetime pandemic, kept the meals flowing, and loved our families through it all. Oh, and we also worked from home to keep our professional ambitions alive.

On the cusp of 2022, it’s time to look back and say: “Wow! That was a lot.”

But, life is returning to a pace that feels more typical and liveable. It’s time to exhale, peek our heads up over the horizon, and consider what’s next.

Given everything you’ve done the last two years, the HireMeMom team thinks it’s time for you to focus on yourself in 2022. It’s not selfish. In fact, it’s selfless to invest in your happiness and interests because it creates a deeper personal reserve you can draw from and give to your family.

But, we get that it’s not easy to make yourself a priority–whether you are focusing on health and fitness, financial or professional goals.

We know that support makes a difference. So, we’ve created a series of programs and offers that can help you focus on your goals next year. HireMyMom’s new Elevate You: Mastermind & Coaching programs are just the thing to help you get unstuck and take a fresh look at the possibilities for your life and career.

This blog explores why we created these programs and how you can use the new year’s fresh start to make 2022 your best year yet.

Moms are our passion

At HireMyMom, helping moms find meaningful work-from-home opportunities is our passion. It’s what we think about and where we put our energy.

As you can see from our blogs, we cover everything from questions to ask yourself to determine if a work-from-home job is right for you to helping you develop habits to be more productive each day. We share ideas about how you can save money on childcare, show you how to level up, and offer guidance on how to turn your idea into a business. And, we celebrate your success, highlighting moms like Jessika Soto and Nicole Smith as examples of how the system works.

Over the last few months, the HireMyMom team has heard from several moms looking for more personal coaching and support.

We see (and have heard about) the desire for moms to be part of a group of women who want to move ahead in life and business.

But, you aren’t just looking for any group–we understand that you are looking for a group of women outside of your immediate social and professional circle who can help you gain clarity and focus as you pursue your dreams and goals. You’d like to find a group of women to connect with over time as you explore what it means to find meaningful growth and success. You want to find a group of women you can cheer for as they cheer for you.

Good news: HireMyMom’s new Elevate You: Mastermind & Coaching Groups are forming now, and they are just what you need.

Invest in you

These programs, built around virtual meetings and an app, can help you gain the clarity and focus you need to pursue your dreams while connecting with a community of like-minded moms.

Through the program, you’ll find the path for meaningful growth and success based on what matters to you. You’ll create deep and authentic relationships with women on the same path and benefit from coaching from our founder and HireMyMom CEO, Lesley Pyle. We will also have fun while supporting each other.

The program offers two levels:

Cultivate is specially designed for moms looking for remote work, transitioning from a traditional job, or hoping to start a freelance business.

This group will meet weekly and focus on resume and cover letter writing as well as interview guidance. We will talk about the basics of starting a business–including finding the right productivity tools. Our private group app will help you track weekly events, connect with other members and quickly access all of the tools and resources that are part of your membership.

As a member of a Cultivate group, you’ll participate in group brainstorming, get support, offer encouragement, and enjoy the accountability and networking opportunities that come from meeting with other moms who share your goals.

If you are considering transitioning to a work-from-home lifestyle or launching a new business endeavor, Cultivate is for you. Join us in a Cultivate group, which is forming now for an early 2022 launch.

Flourish is perfect for moms who already have experience working at home and are ready to level up and grow personally and professionally.

This group will meet weekly to discuss business growth, discuss ways to expand, and explore marketing ideas. The peer group dynamic will help fill you with fresh ideas and unique perspectives so you can develop new viewpoints and see your business with fresh eyes.

The group will explore ways to improve business systems, build better processes and automate your work.

A private group app puts all the tools and resources at your fingertips. Group sessions will provide an opportunity to share thoughts, get support, and find encouragement.

What’s more, the group sessions will help you stay accountable to your goals and will offer you a chance to network with other like-minded moms who you might not have otherwise met.

Consider coaching

If you aren’t ready to commit to a group program, individual coaching may be right for you. Working with a coach–even just for one or two sessions, can help you move to the next level. As a work-at-home mom who deeply values family time, finding the right coach is essential.

We all need support in business and life. It’s easy to feel stuck or overwhelmed–especially as you raise a family and navigate career space. An experienced, independent, outside voice can help provide feedback on what’s not working and give you the clarity you need on the best way to use your time and energy.

If you want to balance working at home with your family life, there’s a good chance Lesley is the right coach for you. You can benefit from Lesley’s 25 years as an entrepreneur and her insights into balancing work and family from a wife and mother who’s been down the road you are traveling.

Research shows that working with a coach is the most effective and efficient way to experience the breakthrough you need to grow personally and professionally.

A coach can help you define what success means for you, guide you as you start or grow a remote career or business, and help you work through roadblocks or fears that hold you back. If you know you want to make a change but aren’t sure what you want to do, the proper support can help.

Join us!

We hope that reading about these programs has you as excited to attend them as we are to offer them. We think this is the ideal time to invest in yourself and consider what’s possible for you in the next year.

We can’t wait to celebrate your success!

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December 13, 2021

Ready to Change Your Work Life? Check out These Top Secret Job Trends

If you’ve turned on the television, listened to the radio, or opened a newspaper lately, you’ve likely heard about the labor shortage in the United States. Even if you’ve managed to escape the news in the media, you’ve probably seen help wanted signs hanging from virtually every shop, restaurant, and service provider in town.

What’s more, remote teams and work-from-home jobs have never been more popular with employers or employees. When the pandemic sent workers home, many employers were forced to rethink operations and have turned to home-based staff to get work done. And, many people–especially moms–found that working from home improved the quality of their family life and they want to stick with it.

The confluence of these trends means it’s a great time to find a work-from-home job. While a tight labor market can be challenging for employers, it offers an opportunity for job seekers.

HireMyMom has been helping match small businesses with professional women who want to work from home for decades. Through our concierge service, we also help employers find the right candidate quickly. All of this hiring action gives us a good look at trends.

Bottom line: It’s a great time to be looking for a new job. We see hourly rates creeping up and an increasing number of job posts as people leave their current jobs and look for better ones that offer more pay, greater flexibility, and the freedom to work at home. And, employers are moving quickly to snap up talent before candidates move on to other possibilities.

We talked with the HireMyMom concierge team members to find out what types of jobs are hot right now and what those employers are looking for in candidates. Consider this blog your secret job-hunting weapon as we head into 2022.

Virtual Assistant

Virtual Assistant or VA jobs are perpetually popular, but we’ve seen a noticeable uptick in postings for these roles lately. As businesses grow, many entrepreneurs are eager to find support for administrative tasks.

VA’s take care of many tasks, including email response, appointment setting, travel planning, and calendar management. It’s a great business model because it solves a problem so many business owners have–squeezing more tasks into a day. Small business owners looking for on-demand support or help with administrative tasks find VA’s indispensable.

It’s also an excellent lifestyle for moms who want to control their own time, skip the commute, and put family first while still keeping professional ambitions alive. For many moms, launching a business that provides economic security and flexibility is a top 2022 priority.

VAs can work for more than one client on a part-time basis or for a single client. Some are employees, but it’s more common for a VA to work as a contractor.

If you are interested in launching your own business, consider starting a VA service. There are some great opportunities for free training for aspiring VA’s who want to begin the journey. If you’re interested in exploring this career path with additional training, we’ve rounded up the best VA training options so you can find the one that works best for you.

Bookkeepers and Accountants

We are seeing an increasing number of posts for bookkeeping and accountant roles. These jobs are quickly moving to work-from-home positions.

These jobs generally require a degree of expertise and training is available to help you learn more and decide if this is the right career path for you, even if you don’t have experience in the field.

Check out this YouTube video of our founder, Lesley Pyle, and founder of Stay at Home Bookkeeper, Tiffany Higgins, talking about getting started with a bookkeeping business.

Online Business Manager

We are seeing strong and growing demand for Online Business Managers (OBMs). An OBM takes over the daily operations of a business, freeing the founder and other executives to concentrate on growing the business and pursuing new ventures. The OBM steps in as the Chief Operating Officer for the company, managing day-to-day tasks across a broad spectrum of functions.

At the most basic level, OBMs lead a team. They understand the company’s objectives for the business and are focused on leading all elements of the team to understand that vision. Many businesses use OBM’s, including those that operate online and those with more traditional operations. OBM’s have a skill set that can be used to help run any type of business.

OBM’s often have administrative backgrounds or experience in logistics. We see many work-from-home moms start as VA’s and grow their businesses to serve as OBM’s by adding additional services.

Here’s a closer look at what OBM’s do and why growing small businesses love them.

Social Media Manager/Specialist

Using social media to promote their business and specific offerings is a crucial strategy for many small businesses. But, managing social media accounts and conducting promotions require time and expertise, which are often outside of the business owner’s area of expertise. Because social media is a powerful and ubiquitous force that changes frequently, many small business owners are hiring social media managers to increase the quality and effectiveness of their social media efforts.

Social media managers work with clients to develop a social media strategy, set short- and long-term goals, select the right platforms based on those goals, offer promotional ideas, create social media content and assess results.

We are seeing robust demand for people with Google Ads expertise as company’s work to make their posts stand out in a crowded marketplace. Social media managers with solid Search Engine Optimization (SEO) experience are also in high demand.

To learn more, link to the Complete Digital Marketing Course.

What Are You Seeing?

Drop us a line and tell us about the jobs you think will be hot next year.

Hire My Mom

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