Work At Home Musings

What are your Work At Home Goals for 2007? Mine is “Make More Money!” Well, that is not really my a goal, but what I want to happen by accomplishing my goals.

Here is your first goal tip for 2007:

MAKE LISTS

I am awful at this. I start out making all kinds of lists, but then I don’t follow through. Make a daily list and check off when you have completed each item. Work on only ONE item at a time. It is so easy to do each item half-way and then move to something else. What does this accomplish? Nothing, except that you have more half-way done items to complete tomorrow, or the next day, or the next day……

Choose how you will keep your lists. Here are some ideas:

Daily Planner - IF you are willing to carry around a daily planner with you, then this is the way to go. I have a small planner in my purse. Each month is divided into days and then five columns, one for each member of my family.

Small Notebook - I also like to keep a small notebook in my purse. When I am in the car, or waiting for kids to get out of school I can jot down what comes to mind. It is best if these thoughts are then transferred to a more organized list.

White Board - A friend of mine suggested mounting a white board in my office and using that. Great idea, but I haven’t had the time to do it yet.

Front Door - This is my area of last resort! I am a very forgetful person, so if it is something that I MUST do on a particular day, a note gets stuck to the front door. I don’t miss it as I am going out the door.

If you have any other ideas for keeping lists organized, please comment!

Aggh!! I hate when it gets this way. I have been so busy with a business project and then halloween costumes for my kids that I haven’t done anything. I just read a new book though about what your kids should be able to do as far as chores are concerned. I think I am going to make up a better schedule. I will keep you posted!

I am putting this post under organization because I think that this is a great way to get rid of old books, CDs and DVDs that you simply do not want anymore. In return you are able to get new titles for your reading, listening and watching pleasure! The site is called TitleTrader and it is a free service. You simple list the items you want to get rid of and you get contacted if someone wants that item. The sender pays for shipping to the requester, but in return the sender receives points that allow him or her to request items. The site has over 180,000 items listed and 7500 users. Over 85,000 trades have taken place at TitleTrader.

I am going to go through old books and try and swap some. I love to read so here is a great opportunity to get new reading material!

Besides running a WAHM website and a stamping business, I also run a custom embroidery business (see my links at the bottom if you are interested). One of the items I sell are embroidered sports towels. These towels are smaller than hand towels and are embroidered with sports figures and can be personalized.

Well, I recently ran out of the towels and needed to reorder. Instead of double checking the item number from my previous order I just ordered the “Spirit Towel” from the catalog. Imagine my surprise when a lower quality towel arrived at my doorstep! I was furious at the company! How dare they send me a lower quality towel!

After a little research, I found that it was my mistake and not the wholesaler. I should have ordered a different product - “Fingertip Towel.” I called the wholesaler and they will take back the first order, but I have to pay shipping and a $5.00 restocking fee.

Moral of the story — ALWAYS double check before you order!! Even if you think you are ordering the same item as before - check old invoices.

http://www.momswithaspine.com
http://stampedsilly.stampinup.net
http://www.stitchedsilly.com

Rachel Gawith gives us these handy tips:

I simply cannot work if my desk is a mass of clutter. It distracts from everything else and if my work place id disorganised, then so am I. File away paperwork you do not need out on a day to day basis, maybe have an in and an out tray…but make sure you have a clear, tidy work space.

Also I swear by a daily marketing plan. Granted I cannot stick to it every single day and any plan should be flexible, but it gives me a rough idea of what needs doing each day - things like daily promotions, marketing, ads to send out, web pages to update etc…..

Then I also make a short separate list for the week, setting out day by day what I hope to achieve. Make this reasonable and then each day you can cross off those tasks you have completed. This will give you a feeling of satisfaction and keep you motivated.

About Rachel Gawith:

Rachel started out working from home, or attempting to, around 9 years ago. She has dabbled with everything from Herbalife, to pyramid schemes to MLM and envelope stuffing and painting minature cottages. She got nowhere until introduced to M2CGlobal. You can read about her business here: http://wahm-business.momswithaspine.com/2006/08/17/home-business-m2cglobal/
Now she works this part time as well as running an online farming marketing place at http://www.gofarmer.com and a website about Bulgarian property investment at http://www.thetravelbug.org. Later this year she is moving to Bulgaria full time to start a new life. She is just recovering from the break up of a long term relationship but her work and dreams keep her going.

A LITTLE ABOUT ME AND MY BUSINESS
My name is Michele G. I am a wife, a stay-at-home mom to 7 children, and I home school them all!! My business is called Blue Moon Artistry and can be found at http://www.bluemoonartistry.com.

I started my business because with a large family and only one income, I was having a hard time budgeting money to spend on all the creative things I like to do. I decided that selling some of what I make would provide an outlet for my creativity as well as a source of funds. Everything I sell is hand-crafted by me. I make unique, beaded hair sticks, jewelry, and items that are crocheted and knitted. I also do custom, made-to-order work.

Juggling a business and a family can be a real challenge! Everyone has to do what is right for themselves, but I am happy to share with you a little of what I have learned along the way. Let me start by saying that I am very blessed to have a husband who puts a high value on what a wife and mommy does. He has said multiple times that he could never pay anyone to do what I do. He constantly reminds me that my time is extremely valuable and that being mommy is the most important job in the world! I know that I am very fortunate to have someone so appreciative and supportive.

DOWN TO THE NITTY GRITTY
There are a few things that help me to keep my very busy household and my business running smoothly. I do not think that I have all the answers. I am struggling along, just like everybody else, but in my years of wife and mother to multitudes, I have learned some helpful “domestic engineering” tools:

TIME MANAGEMENT
–Keep a calendar in a public place (like the refrigerator) and write everything on it! Music lessons, part-time work schedules for teenagers, sporting events, Dr.’s appointments, repairmen scheduled. Everything! This helps the whole family to know what is going on and not have conflicts.
–Schedule dates with your husband, and even your children. Set aside time to just spend with them doing something fun and relaxing.
–Keep some special toys or videos tucked away. Don’t let them be for every day use. Save them for when an emergency comes along and you really need a block of time where your children can happily entertain themselves.

CHORES
–Two simple words: Delegate and Schedule. You may be a wife and/or a mother. You are not a slave. If they are big enough to take it out, dirty it, or eat it, then they are big enough to learn how to put it away, clean it, or load a dish in the dishwasher. Remember what your grandmother used to say, “Many hands make light work!”
–I am a firm believer in child labor. On our refrigerator next to the calendar are chore charts. The rule is, “chores and school come first.” If I have a child asking for a privilege, I can refer them to the chore chart. They can look at their name and see listed all their responsibilities for that day. This prevents (for the most part) lots of rants and ravings by me. I can smile sweetly, and say, “You know the rule, dear. Chores and school come first. You may do that when your work is done.”

In our household, meals and laundry are the two areas that have the largest potential for disruption. Here are some hints to keep them under control:

MEALS
–Don’t wait until 4:00 or 5:00 in the afternoon to decide what is going to be for dinner! Think about it in the morning, or even better, the night before.
–Plan a menu for the week (or two). Plan a grocery list based on the menu. Shop one day and get everything you need.
–Keep healthy, “convenience” food on hand — fruits, granola bars, cut up veggies, etc.
–Keep an “emergency meal kit” in your cupboard. You know, everything you need to make a meal quickly for unexpected company. Pasta, a few jars of sauce, and a box of brownie mix for dessert is what one lady I know always has on hand.
–Use your crock pot.
–Cook in big batches and freeze the extra. Don’t just make one casserole. Make two or three and put them in the freezer. Sometimes I will brown several pounds of ground beef at one time and freeze it in meal-sized portions. Then, when we want pasta, chili, tacos or a casserole that has ground beef in it, I am that much closer to having dinner on the table, plus, no greasy pan to clean!
–Keep the phone number for Domino’s Pizza on hand and remember that the 5-5-5 deal is great when you are really in a pinch!

LAUNDRY
–Schedule your laundry. I am going to repeat that. Schedule your laundry! This has been the biggest life-saving tip that I can give. I have a system I will share with you. If my system can keep a family of 9 from having laundry pile up, then it can certainly work for you too!
–There are three basic principles to my system.
1) Keep the dirty laundry pre-sorted.
2) Teach everyone in the family who is big enough to reach the machine how to properly do laundry. (All my kids help load, unload, and fold. At about age eight or nine, I will trust them to actually run the machine.)
3) Designate days of the weeks for different “zones” to do laundry.
–As an example, here is how it works in my household: The “zones” around here are GIRLS, BOYS and PARENTS. Each zone contains at least two dirty clothes hampers — one is for lights/whites and one is for darks/colors. In the boys zone, there is also a hamper for towels/linens. Even the youngest person in my house knows that their dirty clothes go into the proper hamper. We no longer spend time sorting laundry. It is pre-sorted for washing!
–My laundry schedule runs like this: On Monday and Thursday, the girls must do all the laundry in their zone. That means wash, dry and fold and put away! They are also required to change their bed linens on one of those days. On Tuesday and Friday, the boys must completely do all the laundry in their zone. They also must do their bed linens. I do laundry on Wednesday and Saturday.

KEEPING IT IN PERSPECTIVE
In this season of my life when all my children are home, I try to keep everything in perspective and my priorities straight. For me, that means that family must always come first. When a day or two rolls by and I realize that I have not had time to snuggle and read to my 4-year-old, I know that things are getting out of balance and it is time to set my business on the back burner a bit. The business can wait, but my children will be grown and gone so quickly! I know how easy it is to get consumed with your business. I know, believe me, I know how hard it can be to make ends meet and money is important. But remember, the greatest gift you can give your family is you.

You can find the author’s unique, hand-crafted creations at The Petticoat Pirate in uptown Greenville, NC. and at http://www.bluemoonartistry.com. For a special 10% off discount, enter this voucher code in the appropriate box at check out: 12471221. You can also view the author’s blog at http://busyhsmom.blogspot.com

The following is the tip sheet from a program hosted by Cecile Pryor with her special guest Jennifer Milner.

If you have children, you know that organizing your children’s clothing can be somewhat of a daunting task! Here are some great tips provided by Jennifer Miler owner of 1mother2another.com for organizing children’s clothing.

Tips:

1. Keep a couple of plastic tubs at the changing table or in a child’s room. One is the too big tub and one is the too small tub. Each time you change your child, if the clothes no longer fit, throw them in the too small tub. If the clothes are large, throw them in the too large tub. When the tubs are full, donate or pack up the too small clothes and put the too big clothes back in the drawer or closet. This prevents continuous washing of clothes that are not dirty!

For older children, keep a box or bucket in their closet for them to put too small clothing in. Empty periodically by either donating the items or boxing them up to hand down to younger siblings, friends or relatives.

2. Small clothing such as socks, hair ribbons and bows, hats, mittens and underwear can be placed in a hanging accessory or hosiery bag instead of in drawers. Older children can use a hanging shoe organizer for socks, underwear, hats and mittens as well. These items are now easily accessible!

3. Use the space under the crib for storage. Plastic storage bins can hold bulky coats or snowsuits, items that are only worn occasionally. Take the lid and put it under the storage bin. This enables the bin to slide easily out from under the crib.

4. Roll clothing. Roll shirts, and PJs and even shorts and pants and put them in the drawer. This lets you see all the items instead of just those items on the top of the pile.

5. Amount of clothing. Set a limit of how many shirts, pants, shorts, etc. that each child should have. With older children, make sure they are part of the decision process. When the child wants to buy a new item of clothing, make sure that they understand that the same amount of clothing must be taken from their drawers and donated or stored (for younger siblings). This ensures that your child does not have too many pieces of clothing that never get worn and keeps your closets and drawers under control.

6. Before school starts, inventory your child’s clothing. Get rid of clothes that are too small or that the child will not wear. Let the child help decide what clothing they would like to get for the school year that will ??? the existing clothing.

7. Hang a stacking clothes organizer or shoe bag in the closet and use it to store the clothes for the next week for school. You can also store permission slips and other items that need to be returned to school on a particular day in the slots.

8. Use lingerie bags attached to hampers for children to place underwear and socks. Attach the bags to the hamper with large diaper pins with a different color for each child. The lingerie bags go directly in the hamper. This will make sorting socks and underwear easier.

9. For babies, keep the laundry basket right next to the changing table. When changing baby the dirty clothes are easy to toss right in the hamper.

10. Keep a multiple compartment laundry system in the laundry room. For older children, ask that they bring their clothes to the laundry room and sort them once or twice a week. Label the compartments white, darks, etc. to make things easier.

The most important thing is to have a system that works for you! If it is too hard to maintain you are not going to use it. Check out http://www.containerstore.com for great ideas!

If you are having problems staying organized, you should try to Fly!! If you are living in CHAOS (Can’t Have Anyone Over Syndrome), like I am, check out the Fly Lady. The Fly Lady can help you overcome your unorganized behavior.

I just started with the system and I am trying to keep up with it. Don’t worry, you take little baby steps each day for a month until you can get into the habit of being organized. Even if you don’t want to follow the whole system, there are plenty of tips and tricks to help you get organized.

There is also a Holiday Plan and a Body Clutter Plan. You can access all the plans from the home page - http://www.flylady.com.

Try it - you might enjoy the flight!