What Comes First: Home or Work?

It's almost like asking, which came first, the chicken or the egg? Work is addicting... and even more so when you work for yourself and your computer is in your home office, or shop! While you spend hour upon hour building your online presence, writing articles, press releases, social networking accounts and emails to network with other entrepreneurs and provide online customer services to clients, you tend to neglect a dozen odd household jobs. Hours seem to fly by when working online. As for your household chores and duties, with great effort, you pry yourself away from the desk to just take care of the most basic ones like fixing dinner, driving your kids to school, etc! It is proven fact that business owners put in more work hours on any given day, including weekends and holidays, than employees. It feels good to work for yourself and is rewarding. Work no longer feels like "work", it has become a goal with the understanding, that the more we put in, the more we get out.

Balancing Homework, Household Chorse and Work

Cleaning, organizing, buying groceries, paying your bills, going to the post office etc are often postponed till the last hour. So how do you balance your work along with your home? There are two important steps: first, make yourself realize the fact that you HAVE TO take time out for your home and family and there is no excuse in the world to avoid that. Secondly, start organizing 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. Picture yourself going through the troubles of paying your bills later than allowed.

5. Set aside some time for all those jobs which require you to go outside. For e.g. going to the market, 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 organizing/ decorating/ renovating activity around your house. These are so addicting 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 on the cost of your home and your family.

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!