Home business - 1

Most of you, I assume, take your kids to school in the morning, pick them up in the afternoon, and the hours in between are your working hours.

My family is a little different. We're homeschooling. Now, the reasons for that are many and varied, but the main thing you're probably thinking right now is "How the heck do you manage to work at home when your kids are ALWAYS there?!"

Or, maybe you're considering homeschooling, and wondering how the two can fit together.

So I'd like to share a typical weekday in the Smith house.

A day in the life of a homeschooling family

8 am: My alarm goes off. I get up, check social media, emails, and play games on my tablet for a few minutes to get adjusted to the day. I know a lot of people recommend against this, but it works for me. Also, I usually make myself a cup of tea, and try to remember to drink it before it goes cold!

Anywhere from 7-9 am: My kids wake up. If I'm lucky, they wake up AFTER I do, and I get a bit of peace & quiet to start the day off, which REALLY helps. If I'm not, they wake me up with their fighting at 7:30, and I know a miserable day is ahead.

9 am: My 8 year old starts his lessons in my office/sewing room. We use workbooks for most of his learning. Until this week, he was working on them in the lounge, whilst his younger brother was playing nearby. This week, we began letting him use my office, and things go much smoother. He doesn't complain as much, and it takes him half as long!

10 am: My husband gets up. He's a bus driver and works the night shift, so he HAS to sleep late. This is the point where I can go off to the shops if I need something, even if it's just a half hour break from kids fighting! (Yes, even homeschooled kids fight. Can't get away from that one, I'm afraid.)

11 am: My husband spends about an hour with the kids, teaching maths, science, or geography. While they're doing this, I usually tackle the dishes and cook lunch.

12 or 12:30: we all eat lunch together and watch something on TV. The 8 year old likes Megastructures at the moment, but if Dad has his way, it's Top Gear. Actually, any engineering show goes over well with most of us. What can I say? We're geeks.

1 pm or so: I go into my office and work until my husband needs to go to work. This doesn't happen every day. My husband's schedule varies, and he starts work anywhere from 2 pm to nearly 5 pm. On the late start days, I get a lot of work done in the afternoon.

After Dad goes to work: mostly we all just potter around, play on computers/tablets, watch a bit of TV, play. Sometimes, if the kids are quiet enough (but not TOO quiet!) I can get some work done while they play. On Friday afternoons, we usually meet up with our homeschooling group at a local park.

6-7 pm: dinner time. The kids & I are pretty laid back about dinner. Sometimes I just tell them to grab their own (if there's enough grab-able food in the fridge), and other nights I cook something for all of us.

8 pm: Start bedtime routine. (I've never understood why people think kids should go to bed at 7. That just means they get up earlier!)

9 pm: In bed listening to music with the kids. Once the 3 year old falls asleep, I'm free to do whatever I want.

Sometimes I work after the kids are in bed. Sometimes I'm so knackered from getting them to bed that all I want to do is curl up on the couch with whatever TV show I'm currently watching.

Then, anywhere between 10:30 and 1 am, my husband gets home from work. I'm in bed at 12, but rarely asleep when he gets home. So we chat a bit about how our nights have been, then he usually watches something on TV and comes to bed later.

For the moment, this works for my family. I know that things will change as life goes on, and we'll adjust. I'll still make time to get my work done.

Homeschooling doesn't have to mean the end of your biz. It can actually be an educational tool too!

I'm participating in the Cheeky Visionaries Biziversary & Launch Party! Amanda Sue Howell's business is turning 5, and she's celebrating with the launch of 30 Days of Creative Abandon. 30 Days of Creative Abandon is a 30 day course created for makers, who are looking for new ideas to set them free from artist's block!

Look, I'm going to be honest here. I had an awful time working out what to write for today. So I'm going to tell you about all the things that have been conspiring against me to stop me doing anything creative.

How to kill creativity

Children. I have kids. Before I had them, I loved doing crafty things. Sewing, knitting, crochet, baking - those have been my mainstays over the years. After the kids came along, I slowly let my creative hobbies drop by the wayside. I found it nearly impossible to knit with a toddler around. Harder than trying to knit with a kitten in the house! But now that they're older, that excuse is becoming less valid, and these other ones are taking over.

My son's birthday present, finished just hours before he officially turned two.

Procrastination. It's easy to want to do something, and then say 'I'll do that later.' But later never comes, does it? There's usually a deeper reason for procrastination. Figure out what it is and you just might get past it.

My boys in their stocking caps, made in between levels of Candy Crush.

Mobile games. Oh dear. Do I really want to admit to how many hours I've spent playing mobile games in the last week? Let's just say it's been excessive. It's so easy to lose track of time when you're staring at your virtual farm. Those kinds of games are fun, but I'm not sure they're helping me to be creative with anything other than extending my tablet's battery life.

This afghan took me six years to finish, because I lost interest in it part way through.

Apathy. Sometimes you just don't care enough to create. Fine for a little while - everyone needs a break sometimes - but sooner or later you've got to get back on that horse. Humans are creative by nature. And there are HEAPS of ways to be creative. My husband writes computer programs. My older son builds with Lego. My younger son loves music. Find something you enjoy and start creating it!

I'd love to do pottery, but I'm afraid I'd mess it up!

Insecurity. Feeling like you're not good enough leads to procrastination and avoidance. But creativity isn't necessarily about being GOOD at something. It's about making something and having some fun.

The nappies I used to make in my handmade business. Over five years, my feelings on sewing went from love to hate.

Obligation. When I had my handmade business, I started out loving what I did. And then over the next five years, that love was replaced by duty. I felt like I HAD to sew my nappies so I'd have something to sell. Doing something because you have to, not because you enjoy it, is a sure fire way to kill any enjoyment that might have been there. Just think about doing the dishes. Laundry. Cleaning the toilet. Do you enjoy those? Most likely not. Because you HAVE to do them.

So those are my major blocks to creativity. What are yours?

Today was one of those days. You know the kind. When getting your seven year old to do anything feels like pulling teeth. And your three year old pushes your buttons all day long so that when he finally falls asleep for a nap at 6:30 pm, you don't wake him because you like the peace, even though you know he'll be up late because of it. And through it all, you've been trying to think about blog posts and Facebook and finding new clients or customers, but you can't actually DO anything because the kids are taking up all your time. And sure, many of you are looking forward to the first day of school (or rejoicing because it's already come). But for those of us who homeschool, it's a different story.

My kids are with me about 90% of the time. They get up in the morning before I do, and go to bed between 9 and 10 pm. My husband works nights, and often doesn't get home till 11:30 or midnight. I am an introvert. Therefore, my sanity slowly slips away bit by bit the longer I go without alone time. So for that hour and a half between the kids being in bed and my husband getting home, I breathe a lot easier. I get things done that I can't do during the day.

You can homeschool if you work at home. I've done it for two years. I know other business women who homeschool and have done it for longer. How do we do it? Here are a few strategies I've used to be more productive when the kids are always at home.

How to work around the homeschool

• Work at night/early in the morning. You can get a lot done when the kids are in bed. And you can eat all the good snacks while you do so. Just make sure you still get enough sleep, okay?




• Hire a babysitter. Do you know another homeschool family with teenage kids? Ask if they'd like to earn some pocket money by babysitting your kids while you work. They can come to your house and play with the kids (useful if you have a little one who's not quite ready to be away from mum), or you can drop them off at the other family's home.




• Put on a video. Now, we all know that too much television is a bad thing. But a video a couple of times a week is hardly too much (unless it's the extended version of The Lord of the Rings). Let them watch something fun (or even educational!) while you write for your blog.




• Send them outside! Provided they're old enough, playing outside without adults is actually good for kids. Remember all the fun we used to have playing outside? I'm sure my mom still doesn't know half of what my brother and I got up to when we ran around our seven acres. We had a ball, and she had a bit of peace and quiet for a while.




• Leave your partner with the kids while you hide in your office/sewing room/stock room. Since my husband works nights, he's home until after lunch time. This means when I need to, I can fire up the laptop in my office and work in there, with the door shut.

Do you homeschool? What other ways do you get time to run your business? I'd love to hear your ideas! (I may need them!)