Healthy Work at Home Tips For Homeschooling Families

Ahhh…the trials and tribulations of the internet. One year ago I began with just this blog. It was simple and I spent a lot of time posting here. Over that year, my internet empire has developed into 4 blogs, 4 websites and one stand-along lead capture page with about 6 more waiting in my mind to be born. I post on a few different forums related to working at home and network marketing, plus I offer free mentoring and coaching services using the Mentoring For Free program.

This blog began as a conversation about balance and has morphed somewhat into a lot of specific information regarding our home business industry. I feel a strong desire to get back to the balance issue. As the supposed “expert” I have let myself get way out of balance due to the time I devote to working. The funny thing is that I LOVE what I’m doing,  so it doesn’t feel out of balance until I step back realize what I’m not doing.

So here’s my list:

1. I’ve only read 2 non-business related books in a year

2. I think about exercise way more than I actually do it

3. My daughter is watching too much TV (mom is on the phone)

4. I forget about breakfast and lunch because I get involved in something and then eat an energy bar and a glass of water

5. I stay up until midnight with my eyes glazing over from too much computer time

6. I find it hard to sleep because so many new and exciting ideas are generating in my brain

7. Exercise…forget…wrote it again because it is so important.

So now that I’ve confessed to you I will let you know how I do in the coming weeks, getting  back in balance. A part of business is now coaching others and it would be hypocritical of me to be talking to my mentorees about balance, organization, etc… and not be taking my own advice. If you’d like to take a look at the Free Ebook I’m using to help people find success, click here–put in your info–and then download the 10 Steps to Success Book. The link is highlighted in green.

Beyond that—look at your own work/life/homeschool balance. Let me know how you’re doing!!

It does not matter if it’s in the kitchen or the office; there appears to be a difference in the way that men and women handle multiple tasks. No offense to all you dads out there reading my blog, but I believe that most women feel that we do it better. (Please dads keep reading…I have good things to say about you as well).

Recent psychological studies have looked at this perceived difference.

A study by Dr. Glenn Wilson (2005) was performed for Hewlett Packard to explore the productivity of multitasking. What he discovered is astonishing. The average worker’s functioning IQ, a temporary qualitative state, drops 10 points when multitasking. That is more than double the four point drop that occurs when someone smokes marijuana.

Interestingly, the functioning IQ drop was more significant in men participating in the multitasking study by Wilson. This brings us to the controversial debate over if there are differences between genders in their abilities to multitask.

Below are some excerpts from a study performed at Missouri Western State University in 2006. The results are summarized in the abstract and the brief discussion below. They make for some interesting thoughts which I will share with you.

GENDER DIFFERENCES IN MULTITASKING
BRANDY R. CRISS
DEPARTMENT OF PSYCHOLOGY
Missouri Western State University

So what does this mean? In my life as a mom with a home business and a child that I’m homeschooling, I find that I am more likely to multi-task than my husband. I often play with my daughter, make lunch and answer the phone all at the same time. My husband finds that he has trouble focusing on making dinner unless our daughter is occupying herself. Most moms I know can get the whole family out the door to go skiing and arrive at the destination on time with everyone’s ski gear, warm clothes plus assorted snacks. Most of the dads I know would choose to live in Florida if they had to do that.

Moms tend to multi-task because they have to. Since they don’t often have the opportunity to do just one thing at a time, they have learned how to do many. The downside is that men seem to be more able to screen out other needs and distractions and truly focus on a task. As the research stated, their productivity is just a good as women’s. I think in some ways men might ultimately be more efficient since their focus is more directed. Then again, women might have the capacity for the same level of efficiency (or even greater?!) when they have the opportunity to focus uninterrupted.

When you work home, whether you are male of female, it is important to clear space when you can concentrate on your tasks for the day without distractions. Especially when you need to make business phone calls, or do any kind of writing or analysis, having clarity of thought allows you to be more professional and proficient.

In terms of overall brain functioning, there are a number of herbs and fruits which appear to help. Ginko Bilboa is one. Another is a relatively unknown (in the western world) Chinese fruit called schizandra, which is stated to be a superior “brain tonic”; and mental function enhancer.

Schizandra develops the primary energies of life, and generates vitality and radiant beauty when used regularly for some time. If used for 100 days successively, Schizandra is said to purify the blood, sharpen the mind, improve memory, rejuvenate the Kidney energy (especially the sexual functions in both men and women), and cause the skin to become radiantly beautiful.

Schizandra can be found in the new liquid Ayurvedic formulation called Zrii. You can read more about this Ayurvedic drink and it’s nutritional benefits by clicking here.

Whether you are multi-tasking or singularly focused working at home with the addition of homeschooling takes its toll on the best of brains. Remember to take time for self-care. That means good nutrition, exercise, sleep and fun.

We’re in that period of time that I’ve always loved. Christmas is over. The New Year is not here yet. It feels like a time that somewhat separate from real time. We all know that once New Year’s day is over it’s time to get back to business…whatever that means for you. But right now we still have the luxury of waiting, planning, even relaxing a bit.

When your year is spent more in a “school year” calendar than a regular calendar, this time of year is often a big exhale from the first burst of “school”. This is true whether you homeschool or not.  Twenty years ago when I was a teacher I recollect the ebb and flow of the energy of the school year being intimately connected to the holidays. From September until Christmas there were many holidays, culminating in the Christmas/New Years break. It was clear to all that coming back from break in January, it was clearly time to get down to business.

So here we are, December 28th…four more days before it’s time to get serious.  Four more days to prepare your mind, your curriculum, your bookkeeping…and of course your resolutions for a year of regular exercise and good health.  Writing things down tends to make them more real. When I work with clients we often write down goal, plans, promises and affirmations.  If there are things you’ve been thinking about incorporating into your day or your life…ideas for the kids, marketing for your business, a new workout routine for your body…write down. Here’s how:

Write it down as if it were true. Stay away from “I’ll try…” or “hopefully I’ll…” Make statements that are specific. “On Tuesday mornings from 10-11 my friend Mary will do an art lesson with the kids while I go to Pilates.”  Or, “I will learn how to advertise on the computer using Google Adwords and will have my first ad up and running by January 15th.” When you set concrete goals like this your brain is better able to wrap around them and take action. When you say, “I’m going to exercise more this year”, there is really no boundaries to work withing and you end up doing nothing.

So take out a nice new pad, or piece of paper or open a new file on your computer and write. Happy New Year to you and yours!!

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When you homeschool your children, being organized is crucial. When you work at home, being organized is crucial. To be organized you need time to get organized and this is often where people get overwhelmed.

There are two basic, but very large, areas of organization in a home. One is the organization of time and the other is the organization of stuff. There is also financial organization, but I find that focusing on this, even though very important, is difficult until you’ve conquered the first two. And then there’s the organization of goals, priorities, to-do lists, etc…Again, it is hard to focus effectively on this if you feel scattered in terms of time and overwhelmed in terms of stuff.

Getting started is harder than continuing. If you are swimming in disorganization, where do you begin? I believe it’s with the stuff. There is a wonderful book called It’s All Too Much, written by Peter Walsh. The book offers “an easy plan for living a richer life with less stuff”. It’s too much to spend time here summarizing what Mr. Walsh has to say…so read the book. The plan is simple and clear and he makes his method accessible to even the busiest mom and dad. Once your space feels calm, it is remarkable how much easier it is to function.

As for time. There are two things to look at. The first is the quantity of things that need to be scheduled into any given day or week and the second is the actual scheduling. Since we’re dealing with a family here, get a big calendar. There are some calendars on the market now that have section within each day for each family member. Take the time at the end of each month and the end of each week to write down the appointments, events, commitments of each family member. In addition, block off your homeschooling time, your work time, exercise time, and family time. It’s amazing how things are more likely to get done once they are written down.

Each adult and teenager in the family may also want to have their own “daytimer”. If you are working in or out of the house, this will be a necessity. Take the time set out for work on the big calendar and break that time down in your personal calendar. Make sure you allot time for meditation or taking a walk. Again, if it’s written down it’s more likely to happen.

Do the same thing with your kid’s homeschooling time. Once you have time blocked off on the big calendar, have a separate one for organizing what each child is working on and when. If you are using a curriculum, this is somewhat simplified. If not, you may want to try planning a few months in advance.

Not wanting to overwhelm you with too much at one time, I’ll save the financial organization and the to-do list, for my next post.

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Meditation is an interesting topic for this blog. The power of meditation for yourself, your children and your business can be quite amazing. As someone who has experienced that power from years of daily meditation I can highly recommend it for busy parents and their children.

Bringing children into meditation and allowing it to become something that they treasure and value can begin in a number of ways. There of course are families where the children have experience with meditating since newborn days…families where they rested nearby while their parents did their practice. These children may see a meditation practice as something normally done, like dinner or brushing teeth. Children who have not had this experience might love to start doing a type of family meditation.

Spending time with your children developing what your family meditation practice looks like, is a beneficial and also creative process. Your practice can be a simple as sitting together once a day and breathing, to a more elaborate ritual of chanting, breathing, prayers and blessings. If you as the parent have had no prior meditation experience, you will find it helpful to first read some books or listen to some meditation tapes. An author like Jon Kabat-Zinn is very accessible and easy to read. Once you have created a family meditation practice, the move to children meditating on their own as they mature, will be a natural one.

From the standpoint of a homeschooling parent working at home, meditation can be a lifeline. Ours is a busy day. Knowing that at some point in that day everything will become quiet, the focus will turn inward and we will have a moment to reconnect with our inner-self, can be all we need to push through the math problems or return that difficult client’s phone call. Meditation created space. A daily practice creates a space with no expectations and no demands. The breath continues inward and outward regardless. No matter what your day has wrought or what it’s about to bring, meditating allows you to spend time in this one moment. Doing so can allow you to re-enter with more patience, more motivation and more focus. That is truly a gift. A gift for yourself, your children and your business.

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Computers. They were meant to be a timesaver and a paper saver. They are neither. If you work at home they are a necessity. Your kids need them eventually for research, word processing, and most importantly to be computer literate in the 21st century. How do you create balance with the computer? It’s an important question.

There are so many computer programs available for children. Is it good to let our children spend time on the computer? How much time? Recent brain research is showing that young children would be much better off staying away from screen viewing. This includes TV’s, computers and video games. The young brain needs to getting it’s stimulation from the real world. Counting pennies on the floor is much better for you the young developing brain than counting pennies pictured on a screen. Watching a real tadpole turn into a frog, or a butterfly hatch from a crysalis makes more sense than watching a video of the same events.

Yet, you work at home and you spend time on the computer. Your children see you spending time on the computer. They want to do what you do. And there you have it. So choose wisely. There are computer games that mimic guns and war. There are games that require reading and math. Choose wisely. Just because you’ve heard about it somewhere from someone doesn’t mean it fits in with your values and beliefs about what your children should be exposed to. Limit the time. Thirty minutes at the computer for a young child is plenty.

As your child gets older he/she will do research on the computer. Make sure you’ve set your filters. It’s amazing will google will take you (or your child) if you’re not careful. Spend the time you need learning how to get to relevant research sites and then show them to your child. Anyone can write an article about anything, on the internet, and have it show up when you search. Look instead for educational sites, or sites sponsored by organizations that have a good reputation, like PBS, or National Geographic. As a homeschooling parent you are going to need to teach your child how to find relevant, academically generated information on the internet and separate it from all the fluff.

The computer is a tool that is increasingly necessary in our 21st century world. Learn to use it with respect for what it offers and with respect for your own body and balance. Teach your children to do the same.

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