By now, you already know the pros and cons of freelancing. You feel you have more hours in the day; you can set up your workspace to suit your needs, and you can work as much or as little as you like. As for cons, you might get lonely or find your home too distracting.
Your partner or housemates might not understand your role as a freelancer, either. Some don’t appreciate that as a work at home wife and mother (WAHWM), even when you’re at home, you don’t always have the freedom to step away from your desk for housework and other chores. Is it possible to find the balance? Yes, and here are a few ideas to help.
Repurpose Your Commute
One of the best things about working from home is the lack of a commute. Inexperienced freelancers will take advantage of this by staying in bed longer, but those who know what to do with all this free time will take another approach. Repurposing your commute by doing quick cleaning and housework jobs when you wake up or when you finish will not interfere with the rest of your day. As you’d normally be driving or traveling anyway, using this spare time to vacuum, dust, or hang the laundry allows you to squeeze in some housework.
Set Achievable Expectations
A messy home can affect your concentration while working from home, which is why it’s important to set achievable expectations when balancing housework with regular work. If you want to work in a perfectly clean home, you will need to sacrifice hours of your day, which is not beneficial for your freelance business or other projects. For many, a relatively clean house is enough as it allows you to focus on your work without feeling you’re living in a pigsty.
Blend Your Breaks
Breaks are something freelancers can struggle to master. As you’re not in the office, you can take breaks whenever you like. As good as this sounds, it also comes with some issues. It’s easy to get distracted around the house, and your five-minute break suddenly becomes twenty minutes. If this is going to happen anyway, you may as well make the most of it. When taking a break, combine it with something else. If you’re making a coffee, put the dishes away and wipe down the counters.
Decide What is Convenient
Some parts of the house are easier to clean than others are, depending on who is at home. Consider this when deciding what housework you can complete while working from home. If you’re waiting on Pet Supply Packaging to keep your cat or dog healthy and happy and, therefore, can’t leave the house, think about which areas will be trickier to clean later. This is usually the bathroom or the living room, as they are two places that will be occupied once everyone else gets home.
The Fine Balance
No one masters the art of working from home immediately. For some, it can take years to finally establish a routine that allows you to get all your work done and keep the house in order. Once you find the balance, though, you’ll have no trouble staying on top of everything in your life.