WAHM: 5 Steps to Working at Home and Saving Time
Many mothers have every intention of retuning to their full-time job after giving birth to their first child. And then…
The mother sees her baby for the first time. She is small, beautiful and adorable. Often, the mother gets a few weeks off (if in the U.S.) or a few years off (if in Europe) to spend nurturing this new life.
For mothers with a few months or weeks off from work, it can be a challenge to return to the 9 to 5 grind and to be away from a baby that’s only a few months old.
Now I WAHM (work at home) while the baby is only a street away from me. This is an arrangement I like a great deal.
When I first started to WAHM, I found it hard to focus on my work. The house was a mess, dirty dishes called my name, and we had a mountain of laundry. Not much housework got accomplished during my maternity time. 
After much trial and error, I came up with several ways to get more done in less time. Reading Dan Kennedy’s time management book helped me as well. Since I read it, I’ve instituted changes in how I work with excellent results.
These are 5 ways I’ve managed to make the most of my time.
1. Set Up a Defined Work Area. I have a small office upstairs. On the days DH is home with the baby, I’m able to hear the fun and be away from the action at the same time.
2. Have Everything You Need Within Reach. I gather together snacks, plenty of water, a cup of hot tea, reference materials, pens and paper. By doing this, I do not waste time getting up and down all day.
3. Bunch Your Tasks Together. Instead of making a telephone call and then editing documents and then checking email, gather your similar tasks together and work on them in groups. Make ALL your phone calls one after the other. Check your email at certain times or it can eat up hours if you do it 5 minutes here and 10 minutes there.
4. Do Not Answer the Phone: When I first starte WAHMing, I kept answering the phone. One day, I had more than 10 people calling about a babysitting job I’d posted. Yikes! It wasted a lot of time. I emailed people to let them know I was not answering the phone for the next several hours.
5. Make Lists. I use the Outlook task list to make lists of what I need to accomplish in both my personal and professional life. I can see what needs to be done all in one place, and I don’t have to sit around wondering what was it that needed to get done today (a real time waster!).
Good luck on your WAHM journey.
Tags: Work at Home Mom - Work at Home Mother - WAHM - Time+Management - Parenting - Toddlers - Mom Blog - Mommy Blog