Sleep Ponderings from Moms Who Work From Home

Katie: writer, mother of two boys (2 and 9 months) "Being a WAHM (work at home mom) means that when both kids finally go down for their afternoon nap, the "office" opens, and I know that I need to take full advantage of the 1 1/2 - 2 hrs. of work time I have. With two kids under 3, quiet time to work is a rarity, so I know I need to be as efficient and effective as possible when I have those moments. This means, I usually ignore the lunch dishes, bypass the basket of laundry that needs folding and focus on just getting work for the business done. In the past, when I've tried too hard to multi-task with house and work to-do's during that time, I've found that nothing really gets done, so I try to keep nap time set aside for the business. Sometimes, I'd like to just take that time to lay on the couch with a magazine, but I remind myself that it is a blessing to be a mom and a blessing to be able to do work that I love from home. Being productive and focused during my time for work means that I can be more present and fully engaged when my kids aren't napping. And those dishes and laundry....well, they'll get done eventually."

Mindy: Arbonne rep, mother of two (1 and 3) " I cram as much work as I can do into their nap times! I find I am much more regimented with nap time since I have been doing my Arbonne business. I used to be pretty scattered on times and that only made them cranky and irritable, and I was miserable! Since, I have been more structured with our time (because I need to be with my business) I find that my kids expect it and look forward to having routine sleep. My 17 mo. old is happy to go down with no problems, since I chose not to be so sporadic! With working from home, you have to be so much more efficient with your family’s time. Without a routine sleeping schedule, life would not be pretty for your family or your business!"

Kelsey: Designer/Business Owner, mother of a 4 year old son "Working a set period of time vs. working around nap schedules is a hard decision to make because for a lot of women, it means daycare, which for me, it did. And, for me, it meant daycare with a kid that already wasn't sleeping and an overtired mama. I was also breastfeeding and Beck refused to take a bottle from anyone. He was 7-8 months at the time. But, once we did discover what allowed Beck to sleep (unfortunately at 11 months), things were better. For us, routine was critical. Everything the same, every day, no deviations. Luckily, Beck was in a great home daycare that centered around routine, and eventually he got it, as long as I kept up with the routine when we got home things went pretty good. It was, and still is, a balancing act that is constantly changing, but the majority of it is the same. Sometimes it requires rules to be broken...especially if you have one with a sickness. And, sometimes it requires a bigger bed or compromises to be made at 3 am so that all can get sleep. Luckily, I have a flexible schedule, where if Beck was to get sick, I could take off during the day and have my husband cover during the night. But, the work is still there and needs to get done, so a lot of times, I work at nights or I wake up extra early to catch an hour to get e-mails returned...things that I can do easily from home or from bed with a sick kid near. I put a priority on 8 hours of sleep for myself, and work within that. Sometimes, I cheat myself if I've taken on too much, but that's life. As long as I keep the routine similar for Beck, who's now 4, things work pretty smoothly. Sometimes you just have to be flexible...on vacation last week, he slept on a pillow on the floor of a restaurant so that we could stay out. And, when we got home, he had an ear infection. I ended up rubbing his back to sleep while I checked work e-mail from my phone. It gave him the time he needed to fall asleep with a little extra love and me the time to catch up on work stuff before I got into work. And, I try and tackle things on a personal level at home and in spare time and try not to get down on myself when things just can't get done. And, if they can't, I start asking for help, even if it means paying the cleaning lady to come an extra time, so that we can get a little more personal time. I once heard someone say, in the end, you're not going to be remembered by how perfect your towels were folded in the linen closet. So, I try and concentrate on the majors at work and life, and then go from there. And, then see how much of the minor stuff I can fit in. Sometimes I even get to the perfectly folded towels...not that often, but it's been known to happen!"