For Amy Charlson of Deerfield, Illinois — mother of Benjamin, 5, and Elana, 3 — it’s all about balance.
She runs a part-time graphic-design business out of her basement. She hires a sitter only one day a week, so she ends up wrapping work around her kids’ schedules.
On paper, this might seem doable, but it’s proven difficult: “I can’t concentrate fully on work when my kids are around, and I can’t focus one hundred percent on my kids when I’m thinking about work.”
What the experts say
The consensus: Charlson is multitasking too much, and, as a result, she’s not getting anything done as well as she’d like. The first order of business is to create separate schedules on paper for work and family responsibilities. And spring for a babysitter for part of every workday.
“She may think she’s cutting down on expenses, but she’s not meeting her full business potential because of the distractions,” says Gracia. “It probably costs her in the long run.”
The best time to hire the sitter would be during Ben’s school hours, when she’ll have to pay for only one child and she can have a few precious hours of quiet. She should have her callback and e-mail list ready at the start of every day so she can jump right into productive mode.
To draw clearer boundaries between her roles as a mom and a business owner:
- When the kids are being cared for, she should skip the sweatpants and dress as though she’s leaving the house when she goes to the basement.
- Once in her office, she should shut the door. This will announce to herself — and her kids — that she’s not available to nip back upstairs.
- Likewise, when it’s family time she should fight the urge to run down and check her e-mail “one last time.”
Once she makes the line between work and home more concrete, she’ll be more productive at work and feel better about her time with her family. Her mind won’t be wandering while she’s with them, lessening any guilt.
Photo by GettyImages.
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