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October 27, 2014 0 Comments

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.

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August 30, 2014 0 Comments

How to Run Your Home More like a CEO

4 Tips for Time & Budget Management from a Business Development Strategist

All successful CEOs have one thing in common: They’re able to maintain a big-picture perspective. It’s also something successful moms like you have in common if you run your home like a business, says Zenovia Andrews, a business strategist, speaker, author and mom who coaches entrepreneurs and CEOs on time and budget management.

“In business, CEOs implement a process that achieves efficient time and resource management in the most cost-effective way; sounds a lot like a mom, doesn’t it?” says Andrews, founder and CEO of The MaxOut Group, a company devoted to empowering and teaching entrepreneurs development strategies to increase profits.

“If every mom were a CEO, America would rule the world!”

Andrews, author of the new book “All Systems Go – A Solid Blueprint to Build Business and Maximize Cash Flow,” (www.zenoviaandrews.com), suggests the following tips for moms to better manage money and time.

•  CEOs utilize apps, and so should CEO Moms. When a CEO’s personal assistant isn’t around or, if it’s a small business and she doesn’t have one, then apps do nicely. There are several apps for moms, including Bank of Mom – an easy way to keep track of your kids’ allowances. Set up an account for each child and track any money they earn for chores or allowance. The app also allows you to track their computer and TV time as well as other activities.

•  Measurement is the key to knowledge, control and improvement. CEOs have goals for their businesses and Moms have goals for their family members. In either case, the best way to achieve a big-picture goal is to identify action steps and objectives and a system for measuring progress. Want to improve your kids’ test scores, help your husband lose weight or – gasp – free some time for yourself? There are four phases to help track progress: planning, or establishing goals; collection, or conducting research on your current process; analysis – comparing information from existing processes with the new one; and adapting, or implementing the new process.

•  Understand your home’s “workforce.” A good CEO helps her employees grow and develop, not only for the company’s benefit, but for the employee’s as well. Most people are happiest when they feel they’re learning and growing, working toward a goal, which may be a promotion within the company or something beyond it. When they feel the CEO is helping with that, they’re happier, more productive, more loyal employees. Likewise, CEO Moms need to help their children gain the skills and knowledge they need not only to succeed in general but to achieve their individual dreams.

•  A well-running household is a community effort; consider “automated” systems. In business, automated systems tend to be as clinical as they sound, typically involving technology. Yet, there’s also a human resource element. Automated systems are a must for CEO Moms, and they tend to take the form of scheduling at home. Whose night is it for the dishes, or trash? One child may be helpful in the kitchen, whereas another may be better at cleaning the pool.

It’s easier than you think to run your home like a business. Using these tips, you will quickly become CEO Mom.

About Zenovia Andrews

Zenovia Andrews, www.zenoviaandrews.com, is a business development strategist with extensive experience in corporate training, performance management, leadership development and sales consulting with international clients, including Pfizer, Inc. and Novartis Pharmaceuticals. A sought-after speaker and radio/TV personality, she is the author of “All Systems Go” and “MAXOut: I Want It All.”

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.

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June 11, 2014 0 Comments

4 Great Apps Every WAHM Needs in 2015

Not that long ago, work-at-home-moms relied on giant wall calendars, fax machines, decent computers and plenty of caffeine to get in a full day of productivity. Now, working at home means having a handful of the best devices and dozens of organizational apps that reach across your computers, tablets and smartphones. WAHMs keep discovering ways to stay on top of both work and family commitments—caffeine still required, of course—so there’s no excuse for not using them.

The following four work from home apps are perfect work-at-home-moms who are ready to start 2015 with a boost in digital organization.

Evernote

Being a WAHM involves lists—lots and lots of lists. Thanks to Evernote, WAHMs can access to-do lists, notes, schedules and all of the other mom stuff from any smart device. Evernote allows users to manage expenses, including those omnipresent piles of bills, receipts and invoices, and it can even help plan a trip to see the in-laws next summer. Available on both Android and iOS, the basic Evernote app is free, and upgraded versions with more bells and whistles can be purchased. Plus, since it is available for all devices, anything done on one device can then be accessed on another simply through the app.

Imagine that: she can be in line at the grocery store and planning an upcoming project on the new iPhone 6 Plus, Samsung Galaxy S4 or Windows phone she got over the holidays, and in the afternoon, she can continue planning from a tablet or laptop while she’s using her phone to schedule dentist appointments.

Dropbox

When it comes to must-have apps for WAHMs, Dropbox is definitely top pick. This amazing and innovative program lets users upload important work files, photos and documents and then share them easily with co-workers, employers, clients and more. Everyone who signs up for Dropbox automatically gets 2GB of space for free, and the app can be accessed from computers, tablets and mobile phones. Because who has the time to sift through piles of paper?

Google Calendar

For WAHMs who have relied on a huge white board calendar with different colored dry erase markers, Google Calendar is a terrific replacement. The Android app has more than 132,000 5-star ratings and allows busy work-at-home-moms to see daily, weekly and monthly schedules all in one easy to read place, and even includes maps to where they might be going to a meeting with a client, or to drop off their son or daughter for band practice. Once reservations are made for date night with hubby at a local restaurant or trip plans are finalized, they will be added to the calendar automatically through Gmail. The app also allows WAHMs to flip back and forth between different types of calendars including daily or several days at once.

Cozi Family Organizer

The Cozi Family Organizer has an average rating of 4.5 stars from more than 30,000 reviewers, and for good reason. The free app was winner of the Appy Award for the Best Family App and the BMA Gold for Best Mobile Calendar. This awesome program features a color-coded calendar that a WAHM can use to expertly keep tabs on her kiddos’ play dates alongside her own upcoming work deadlines, to-do lists and shopping lists. Just give each child or task a color and see at a glance what “teal Tommy” or “red Rachel” will be doing that day. For those who wish to do away with the ads that are part of the free version, they can upgrade for $29.99 to a premium version with additional features called Cozi Gold.

Let us know more work from home apps that you find useful in your home-based business. We are always looking for ways to make our workday more productive.

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.

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April 30, 2014 0 Comments

Why Having a Third Space is Good for Your Business

Have you ever thought of using a coworking space or a business incubator to give you that “third” space for your home business? We all know working from home really is a big challenge. If you have young kids in the house, taking a conference call is hard to schedule between nap times. You want quiet to be able to do your work and knock out that client project. But you don’t want that eerie quiet that suddenly sets in when you go, “uh-oh, what are the children doing” and you find the dog getting a makeover. When you do get out of the house to take that client meeting, you are either meeting at the client’s location or you have picked your local coffee shop. Neither place really gives you a chance to show that you are a professional running a professional enterprise. Plus, when working only from home, it’s just you having to work on your projects all by yourself. One of the biggest benefits of working in an office environment is that you are surrounded by your peers. You can bounce ideas off of them, have conversations, and get inspiration on how to tackle problems. Adults need adult time too, away from the kids every now and then.

What you need is a good “third” space to give you the things that your home office just can’t give you. There are many kinds of “third” spaces out there that help get your business moving to the next step. Think about joining a coworking space that has a good vibe and gels with the business you are building. There are coworking spaces that cater to programmers, artists, makers, marketers, and professional services. Some of the best coworking spaces have a nice mix of these kinds of people in them. Coworking gives you a chance to have that professional adult time and work on business problems and get access to a professional office environment, conference rooms, and have a real business address. You know, someplace that you would feel good having a meeting with a client. Many of the coworking spaces offer programs to help you with your business. Session speakers, hackathons, and other networking events are usually part of the membership fee.

Also over the last few years, business incubators have opened their doors up to more than just tech companies. The incubator I am involved with has a mix of tech, legal, marketing, healthcare, and retail companies. In the same vein of coworking, you get a professional space with some additional support from programs that might be offered by the local venture capital firm, university or community college to help with your business. All good resources to have, especially if you need to have a summer intern to knock out that branding project you have not had a chance to get around to.

It is long winded, but here is the point. Get out and socialize your business. Make connections, build a network of like minded entrepreneurs that are willing to help each other. The best place to start is in a coworking space or business incubator. Make the time for yourself to pursue your business objectives. Even if it is just one or two days a week, you’ll find that being a solopreneur isn’t so lonely when you find others that are just like you trying to solve the same kinds of problems.

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.

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January 28, 2014 0 Comments

Taking the Dread out of Deadlines

What do you think of when you hear the word “deadline?” If you are like most people, you probably get tense, stressed and get the “dread” attitude. But it doesn’t have to be that way. Deadline-oriented work from home projects can be your friend, and they can be a valuable motivator. As a solo-preneur, if you don’t set deadlines your goals will never be met. We know that’s not what you want.

So let’s talk about the types of entrepreneurs and their personality traits in regards to deadlines. There seems to be three different types of entrepreneurs when it comes to the topic of deadlines.

Type 1 Entrepreneur

You see a deadline, procrastinate to the very last moment, stress out to meet it, but you succeed with your best work.

Problem: While you’re producing your best work, your health and well-being begin to suffer due to unnecessary stress. Your family, home and other personal responsibilities may suffer from your poor time management as well.

Recommendation: Set your deadline in half: by hours or days. Make this your new deadline and stick to it. Complete your task, let it sit overnight for final reviews and revisions, and your best work will be met with time to spare. More importantly, you will have less stress and better health.

Type 2 Entrepreneur

You see a deadline, get to it right away, finish the job early with extra revisions, and produce your best work with time to spare. With the extra time, you seek out more deadlines and repeat your cycle, over and over and over again.

Problem: While you’re also producing your best work, you are prone to taking on more responsibilities and duties. You try to fit two or three more deadlines within the initial one deadline assignment. By over-committing, your health, business, and family life begin to suffer.

Recommendation: Finish deadline number one and pass it in prior to its due date if you’d like. Now, celebrate! Take a much needed break. Enjoy extra family time, personal time, or just relish in the luxury of having a silent moment to rest and relax.

Type 3 Entrepreneur

You have so many deadlines to don’t know what to do, where to start, and your completed assignment is sub par work.

Problems: By over-committing yourself, you’re constantly stressed out, your reputation and work begins to suffer, deadlines are missed, mistakes are made, clients dwindle, and you can’t manage your business, household and family relationships successfully.

Recommendations:

  • Delegate work: outsource duties, utilize interns or paid professionals at an hourly rate lower than yours.
  • Seek a business mentor, coach and/or advisor. Don’t know where to find them? At HBWM.com (Home Based Working Moms); we have a Panel of Experts available for general Questions and Answers, and individualized coaching for hire.
  • Join a network organization with like-minded people and similar business structures. I find that other home-based working moms willingly share their tips, tools and resources to help you succeed in business as well as at home. For example, at HBWM.com, we have forums for you to network with thousands of moms so you can stay motivated, accountable and empowered.

I, too, found myself fall into each of the above categories at different stages of my business growth. Through trial and error, I found success in applying my own recommendations to meet my deadlines.

So, don’t hate deadline-oriented work at home projects—be motivated by them.

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.

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November 25, 2013 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.

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