WAHM (Work at Home Moms)

Being successful while working at home can be difficult but it doesn't need to stay that way. When you begin to notice some challenges, take a look at our top ten solutions for working at home successfully to get you on the right track.

1. Create A Space You Love

Use your favorite color to decorate - on walls, file folders, mouse pad, desk top, etc.
Get supplies & accessories that reach out and make you want to use them. When you surround yourself with things you love it increases the chances that you will spend time in your home office and enjoy what you are doing.

2. Get Organized

Get organized from the beginning. Lack of organization is the single biggest time waster and energy zapper. It's too easy to get off-track and lose focus on the task at hand when you can't locate that crucial piece of information. An organized space makes your working conditions more peaceful.

3. Use A Planner or Calendar

Organizing your day, your week, and your month will help you to establish goals and ultimately, get things done. Make lists and prioritize. It's so satisfying to cross things off the "to-do" list.

4. Create A Schedule

Decide when your most productive time of day is and schedule your work hours around it. It's ok if it isn't the same every day -that's one of the perks of working from home. Be realistic in what you expect of yourself and don't over-schedule. Working too many hours is often a bigger problem than devoting too few hours to a home business. Remember, you work from home to be with your family, too.

5. Get Caller ID

If you can help it only answer the phone during your scheduled work hours if it's related to business. Ask family and friends to understand that you will be unavailable at times each day, and to leave a message.

6. Be Professional

You might work at home with the kids at your feet and the TV in the background but you're really a professional who just happens to have an office in the home. Try to keep your business life separated from your home life as much as possible to maintain your air of professionalism. Your clients deserve it.

7. Schedule Time For Email/Social Networking

Unless an email relates to your current project, don't open it until it's the designated "check email" time. Most of your email is probably spam anyway. ;-) The same goes for your social networking time. Choose 5-10 minute blocks throughout the day (because different people are on at different times). It's too easy to fall into the trap of quickly checking to see what's going on. It's a great tool but also a great sucker of time. Do those things that make you money first.

8. Let's Play Pretend

Would you fire you if you were your boss? If so then try acting as if you work for someone else and your job (and income depends upon it - because it does). You want to show her that you can do this job well, but to do that you'll have to put forth a solid effort. Sound kind of silly? By pretending that you have a boss you may be more likely to treat your home business like a real job that you want to keep and work that much harder at it.

9. Eliminate Distractions

Turn off the TV. Shut down your email program. Close your web browser and concentrate on what you're doing. Got kids? Me, too. If you have kids at home then find pockets of quiet time when they're asleep or otherwise occupied to work.
10. If you have small children at home, you may want to consider hiring someone to look after them for a few hours daily. It's almost impossible to work at home and tend to the needs of children at the same time.

Keep in mind that working at home can be challenging, but has great rewards. Following these tips will help you to overcome the challenges and become a successful work at home mom who still has her sanity at the end of the day.

The ability to work at home can be a blessing or a curse. It all depends on your outlook and the way you structure your business and the way you work each day.

Making sure that you start your day the right way for you to take action is a perfect way to set the stage for a successful business.

Work When You're Most Productive

Are you an early bird or a night owl? Do you have your bursts of energy in the morning when you get up or are you raring to go when the rest of the world heads for bed?

Once you determine the time of day you're most productive, set a schedule around those hours. Then get cracking. Whatever it takes to get you going at the time you are the most productive.

Some of us like to start slowly. For others, immediately heading to the computer, coffee mug in hand and starting in right away, is best. There are no right or wrong answers here. Whatever works best for you is the right way. Doing things your way is how you will begin setting up your day for work at home success

Get Ready To Work

Take a shower, get dressed, relax with that extra cup of coffee, work the crossword in the newspaper, tidy up the house, drop the kids off at school.

Savor that 30-second commute. You are in an enviable position. People you know would die to be in your work at home shoes. If you previously worked outside the home, any time spent on getting to and from work is now newfound time. This found time is yours. Use it as your gift to yourself to do with as you wish.

Schedule Your Day

If you don't have a schedule or to-do list you won't have any idea what you should be working on during your day and your day will get frittered away. Create your list and prioritize. Some people make their list at the end of a work day for the next day, while others prefer to make their list in the morning. In either case, it's a good idea to prioritize the items on your list based on importance.

Create a habit. Habit can be a wonderful thing because it allows us to get in our comfort zone without consciously expending any effort in doing so. As a work at home mom, creating good habits for yourself will allow you to accomplish a lot more in a limited amount of time. Put your day on auto pilot as much as possible.

Take Action

Whatever you do you must take action to be successful. You can read information until you're blue in the face. You can buy product after product so you make sure you're getting it right but until you take some form of action, your business will be at a standstill doing nothing but sucking money out of your bank account. So the rule here is to Take Action (NOW!) and Revise Later (the TARL method)

Create Success

Now that you're ready to meet each day with a sense of purpose to move your business forward you are ready to create success as a WAHM working from home. You are ready to face whatever challenges or frustrations may come along. Just don't forget to enjoy the successes, no matter how big or small, along the way.