Work is addictive...and more so when your computer is your office or shop! And while you spend hour upon hour to network with other netpreneurs and provide online customer services to your clients, you tend to neglect a dozen odd household jobs. Hours seem to fly by when work online. As for your household duties, with great effort, you just take care of the most basic ones like fixing dinner, driving your kids to school etc. Cleaning, Organizing, Buying Groceries, paying your bills, going to the post office etc. are postponed till the last hour. So how do your balance your work along with your home? There are two important steps to do this. First, make yourself realize the fact that you HAVE TO take some time out for your home and there is no excuse in the world to avoid that. Secondly, start organising your available time. Here are some quick steps to help you balance your work as well as your home. 1. Divide available hours between your home and your work diligently. 2. Set timers when you are working online. 3. Maintain a 'To Do' list or a diary. 4. Imagine the stress and extra time taken when paying your bills late and the associated fees/charges 5. Set aside some time for all those jobs which require you to go outside. For e.g. going to the shop, post office, bank etc. Try to coincide these with each other. Say, for example, you could take care of these after driving your kids to school. 6. Make up your mind and start some kind of organising/ decorating/ renovating activity around your house. These are so addictive that once you start, you will enjoy yourself a lot. 7. Similarly, take up your favorite hobby in the afternoon. You will love the change and enjoy getting creative. 8. Plan weekly activities. Take up cleaning once a week. Go for outings once a week. Call upon a friend once a week. This will help you maintain your social life as well. 9. Surf the net for information related to a hobby. This will get you started with that hobby and also give you the much needed break from work.
10. Surf the web with your hubby or children. Show them websites of their interest. That way, you will also get to spend more time with them.
Just like the old saying - 'You Eat to Live, You do not Live to Eat', I'll say
'You Work to Live, You do not Live to Work'. It's no use being successful if it is detrimental to the quality of your family life. The 'Dot Com Women' of today are not women who stay online for hours with a guilt feeling on the back of their minds. They are women with a strong desire to succeed in their personal and professional lives. And you are one of them! That's why you chose to read this, isn't it? Good Luck with your efforts to striking a balance between your work and your home!  About the Author Lata Tokhi is the Founder and Editor of Dot Com Women, a premier women's website and fast-growing online community, and Celebrating Christmas, a resource for celebrating Christmas in style. Visit her websites for lots of homemaking and business ideas, free downloads, free Ezines and message boards for women to network and share. |
| 