# Balancing Family, Work from home, AND cleaning!



## Guest (Nov 10, 2009)

This is ridiculous! I can't do it anymore. I need help!

I'm a SAHM. I have a serious hobby that is turning into a business...so I guess I'm a WAHM. I put all my time into work and my family...and my house is suffering the consequences. To top it off, we moved this past spring, and still have some remodeling/repairs to do...

Before I had all the extra responsibilities of my business, my house was never spotless, but well-kept. I did all my weekly cleaning on Monday, Tuesday was my "free day" or when I worked on project (photoalbums, sewing), Wednesday was monthly cleaning (I picked one room of the house and totally cleaned it, washed down walls, dusted in unseen places, etc), Thursday was errand day, and Friday was miscellaneous day (bath dogs, pay bills, clean out purse, etc). I purposely planned on doing nothing (other than laundry and dishes) on Saturday and Sunday. Saturday was our fun day where we hung out at the house or went somewhere fun. Sunday was for church and visiting family.

But now, I can't do all that with everything else I have to do. It doesn't help that I use my computer and internet for the majority of my business, so I'm on it frequently, and yes, I get sidetracked while online (look at what I'm doing right now). I start out on Monday with my weekly cleaning, and only get 1/4-1/2 of it done, then Tuesday now has a bajillion other jobs assigned to it PLUS what I didn't get done the day before. By the end of the week, I'm so far behind I can't stand it! 

Tips? Secrets? Magic pills?
TIA!


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## Jan Doling (May 21, 2004)

You don't know how lucky you were, being a SAHM. I stagger out of the house by 6:30,drop the girls at school on my way to work, pick one up at 
6:00 pm, then try to cook dinner before I fall asleep so I can do it all over again. Any cleaning is done on the weekend and each weekend I get further and further behind. They are old enough to help, but "too tired" from high school. The only tool that will help me at this point is a bull dozer.


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## Guest (Nov 10, 2009)

There's a possibility that I may go back to working part-time next year when my youngest is in kindergarten. I wonder all the time how working moms do it and IF I will be able to manage!


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## ErinP (Aug 23, 2007)

Lyndseyrk said:


> This is ridiculous! I can't do it anymore. I need help!
> 
> I'm a SAHM. I have a serious hobby that is turning into a business...so I guess I'm a WAHM. I put all my time into work and my family...and my house is suffering the consequences. To top it off, we moved this past spring, and still have some remodeling/repairs to do...
> 
> ...


Throw in homeschooling two kids and you have _my_ day! lol
But I still have more time/day than I ever had when I was working full time.




Take a few days, let everything slide and create a routine. Things that _have_ to be done, things that _should_ be done, things that you'd _like_ to get done. Organize them into a list for each day.
Along these lines, have you ever checked out FlyLady?

Also, try setting a timer for your online time. (I have a devil of a time with this one, too. It's _really_ easy to slide since a lot of my "work" does, legitimately, involve being online. I just end up wandering around in addition to actually working...)


My life is organized into my Control Journal. It's a half-sized 3-ring binder with my lists, schedule, contacts, etc. in it....Sprinkled liberally with clipart (I'm an artsy-fartsy type, so anything as miserable as organization _has_ to be made less painful with pretties.  )
But basically it's a DayTimer/Runner for ME. It has exactly what _I_ need to keep track of.


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## Merit (Jul 15, 2009)

Hire a cleaning service. That, my friend, will be the best money you've ever spent. POOF! One entire stressload....resolved! Every two weeks, just around the time you start looking around and thinking, "This place is DIRTY!" Someone breezes in and Solves It All for you. Your entire house, clean in one swoop. 

Priceless. 

And not nearly as cost-prohibitive as you might think. 

(Just be sure to hire someone who is legal, legit, insured & business tax-paying, lest you find yourself in a heap of financial trouble when he/she slips and falls and YOU end up owing the medical bills. Or one of you gets audited for tax purposes. Don't just hire the lady up the street who "cleans houses sometimes". You gotta do this one right, because it can really come back to bite ya if not.) But once you've done it, you'll never look back. Your life will be sooo simplified..


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## RedTartan (May 2, 2006)

I work from home too. I have a job-job where I subcontract for a big business that I do online and I have a cottage industry job where I make soap, spin wool, and crochet small things to sell in local stores and online. I also homeschool, keep house, cook from scratch, garden, and keep goats, chickens, and ducks.

Or at least I aspire to do all that. 

I'm usually behind in a couple of the above areas and in one area (the cottage industry) I haven't done anything for it in months. My time goes best if I stick to a schedule. If I don't stick to my schedule religiously for even one day, it takes me a long time to catch back up. 

My schedule is very generic. I need to make a new one as my needs have recently changed. It will look something like this:

Monday: Grocery, Clean Bathrooms, Homeschool
Tuesday: Great Room, 3 Loads Laundry, Mop, Homeschool
Wednesday: Kitchen, Homeschool
Thursday: Office, Bedrooms, Homeschool, Cottage Industries
Friday: Outdoor work, Homeschool, More Laundry
Saturday: Projects, Living Room
Sunday: Subject to my Mood 

I work the job-job at night.

This type of schedule is usually enough to keep everything on track pretty well WHEN I STICK TO IT. It works for me.

Good luck.


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## Queen Bee (Apr 7, 2004)

I am sorry that you are feeling overwhelmed. BTDT. It's amazing how much we do and still 'try' to do more! Before you can get a handle on things, YOU have to step back and look at things clearly. Decide what must be done, today: 

If you cook from scratch, you can achive several meals from one day of cooking. Instead of cooking a tiny roast, cook a huge one, slice part of it for tonight, make sandwiches for lunch tomorrow and then cut the rest into chunks and add veggies for a pot roast later in the week, add more potatoes to the pot (five lb.)stew potatoes tonight, mashed tomorrow and potato cakes later in the week....Think ahead. If you eat lots of chicken, cook several at once and then you can make chicken and rice, chicken salad, chicken tacos, BQ or any other... Grilling---grill extra or even different things such as a pork loin, steaks, chicken, veggies and we love grilled fruit and pop them in the freezer, for another day.

Use baby steps to get your house in shape and continue to do it, every chance you get. While the baby is asleep, clean out the frig. or out from under the sink. By getting organized you will save your self money (by not purchasing things you don't need, you'll know where things are--saving you time not 'hunting' things. Have a yard sale and use the money to take everything to the laundry mat and get it done at once... It's amazing how much time you can save by doing this...I usually take all my quilts, blankets, throws, comforters in the fall before we get too cold. It takes 20$, 2 hrs and I go home and put it away... If I did it all at home it would take all day long and I would still not be finished.. 

Make list and rejoice in your finished projects and forgive yourself for not being a super woman. Make time for yourself.


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