Healthy Work at Home Tips For Homeschooling Families

I know you have all had days or weeks when it feels like there’s just too much. Too much to do, too much to organize, too much to clean, too much to think about, too much to handle. The breaking point often comes at a moment fueled by lack of sleep and/or hormonal imbalance. For some it’s tears. For other, irrational yelling. Some stomp out and go running, and others retreat to a hot bath and bed. As women, mothers, business women…we have all been there. (For men reading this post…I know you have your overwhelmed experiences as well..this post is about women…so read it for the one you love).

Usually, once you reach that breaking point, you can wake up the next morning and start to get a handle on things. Sometimes it takes more than the emotional bottom to turn things around. Sometimes the tears or the anger are the signal that we need to make a change–that in fact it all is too much and something has to give. As women, our intelligent bodies give us information that will help us maintain balance but often we are too busy or bull-headed to listen. As women, it’s important in business to do it in a way that is synchronistic with our beings. That means that we may not do it as the men do.

Today I cried on the phone when talking with my very old school masculine mentor. I didnt’ mean to cry. I hadn’t planned on crying. But the old guy came out of the blue and complimented my commitment, dedication and leadership abilities on the same day that I was questioning whether I had what it takes to succeed in this business. Here he was telling me that I was unique in this business and that the level of success that I’ve achieved so far is just the beginning. An hour before, after a night of no sleep and 52 hot flashes and a snuggle from my daughter who was concerned that mommy woke up crying–I was wondering if it was all worth it.

Just when you think it’s all too hard… the simplest comment from the most unexpected source, can set you back on your track.

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PS. Do your self a favor. Take the time to learn how to do business from a position of strength, even if you’re dealing with aggressive people. Watch this free video and you’ll begin to understand the power that comes from inside of all of us. How you communicate it, relates directly to your own sense of self in relation to doing business.

Hi Everyone,

In all my years working at home, I have never seen something like this. I think you will agree. No matter what type of home business you have I believe you can benefit from what just landed in my lap. For myself, I do a lot of my shopping online because I live in a very rural area. We often purchase bulk “green” toilet paper and large quantities of breakfast cereal at a discount through online stores. This company that I’m about to tell you about gives you a rebate for all your online purchases. They have over 1000 stores, many of which you probably shop at regularly. A portion of their profits goes to helping a child in need.

This appears to be a truly Win-Win scenario. There is no charge to join. You purchase only things that you normally would purchase, only you do it through your Powermall web page. You receive money back and you help a needy child. After spending over an hour scrutinizing their website, I can honestly say that I could not find a single reason not to join.

I took a vacation. It wasn’t an exciting vacation. I didn’t even leave my town. But I took time off from working on the computer and blogging and writing articles. I spent time reading books and playing with my daughter outside of our homeschooling time. This, is the beauty of self-employment. This is also why there have been no new posts in a couple of weeks, but that’s OK. I work for myself. I create a stream of residual income. Money comes in even when I take a break from my day-to-day work.

When one talks about balance in life–a delicate synthesis between work and play, childcare and self-care, not enough money and just enough to feel blessed–what one often thinks about is developing one or many passive streams of income that allow freedom of time and finances. I recently read Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki for the second time. If you have not read it, I’d highly recommend that you do. He reframes the way that one looks at money, wealth, time, education and jobs in a way that is enlightening.

As homeschooling families we already have moved to a different manner of thinking in terms of educating our children. We have walked away from the mainstream education system in order to better prepare our children for the real world, as it is today and to inculcate them with the values that we hold dear.  Being self-employed, creating residual income, having multiple streams of passive income are all means for living that life that we desire and value without sacrificing our health and our family.

It was great to take a vacation from the computer and all the writing that I do. It was wonderful to know that I could do that, just because I felt like it and that the networks and structures I’ve set up both online and off would continue without my constant diligence. That is beauty of self-employment in the field of network marketing

OK, be honest here…how many of you eat the bread crusts your children leave behind and call it lunch? Or what about the half eaten apple, or the very bottom part of the banana? I have a friend who makes beautiful box meals for her kids when they are away from home for lunch but she is lucky if she remembers to throw some almonds in her pocket when she is running out the door. At least it’s almonds and not M & M’s!!

Let’s look at the difficulties involved with eating nutritiously as a busy mom. Personally, I’m not a food lover so if I am really busy, feeding myself is the first thing I “forget”. I also have a child who likes to eat constantly. I figure that if I nibble on her small left-overs, that should be enough to hold me until dinner. Thank goodness my husband likes to cook, and likes to eat meals as well. No corn flakes and milk for his dinner. So every night he cooks us a nice meal and we all sit down and eat together. Family time and nutrition in one easy package.

I do not feel I am alone in this manner of eating. When we have a ladies night out, we often share stories about nibbling on the lunch box remnants in the car on the way home. Are we really that self-sacrificing that we cannot take time to nourish our bodies? Work at home moms are especially prone to this problem since we are often don’t spend much time with other adults. If you work in an office, at lunch time most people eat. They either go out, or sit together and enjoy the meal they brought from home. Lunch at the office is both nourishing and social. Office people also take coffee breaks. Even though excess caffeine consumption can be a concern, these breaks are primarily about snacks and socializing.

At home most of us do not do this. We are so focused on our children, our home schooling (if we are doing that), our home business and all the other responsibilities of caring for a family that we often do not create a schedule that includes breaks for ourselves specifically designed for eating.

So what’s a mother to do? Stay tuned to the next few post and learn some nutrition basics, some time savers and some healthy eating tricks. By the time this nutrition series is done, hopefully we will all be taking better care of our bodies and our health.

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.

I know there are some regular readers out there. If you like what you’ve been reading on this blog and would like to share it with people who may not spend time reading things on the computer, there is a solution. I have put an ebook on ebay which is basically a compilation of all the posts in the blog with some minor changes. It is called Notes From a Work At Home Mom. Who knows, maybe another mom or dad you know might appreciate it as a gift. (Just go to ebay and put “notes from a work at home mom” into the search bar).

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