The Home Office Edition 1

[Petra]

Let me start by saying that I absolutely LOVE working at home. I feel extremely lucky and blessed to be able to do it, because I know a lot of mothers yearn for the opportunity. I hope to be able to help some of you find work-from-home jobs, discuss issues surrounding the topic, or at least open up a forum for others to chime in and give advice so everyone reaches their goals!

Now let me take a moment to introduce myself and tell you a little more about me (I'll try to keep it short so I don't lose ya!) I am a 29-year-old married mother of a 2 1/2-year-old little girl and full-time stepmother to an 8-year-old boy. I am married to a wonderful man whom I share with the "family" business (although sometimes it seems the business gets him more than I do!) I work from home as a web site editor and a freelance writer and I write for my blog, The Wise (Young) Mommy. My goal is to be able to continue working from home (and eventually work less hours), write a book and be published in major magazines someday! I work about 30-40 hours per week, six days from home and one day in the office of a publishing company. I feel that I have finally found my "niche" doing what I am doing right now and feel really good about the future.

So basically, what I would like to express to you today is that although working from home is ultimately rewarding and convenient, it is also difficult, and it takes certain characteristics to be able to pull it off. The first characteristic is patience (something that I sometimes feel I don't have enough of!). First of all, it takes patience to do your homework and find the work-at-home job that fits for you and your family. You will come across a lot of scams or "sales" jobs that require you to hock products to your friends and family in order to make any money. My advice is, don't represent a product unless you REALLY believe in it, and be careful how you present trying to sell it to people you know. There are plenty of legitimate jobs that require you to sell, but you need to research them fully to be sure that you are not getting into something bogus. Telemarketing and phone centers are also popular for work-at-home jobs, but be aware that you need to be able to be on the phone most of the day and if you have small children, this can be a problem. Just be sure to get the whole story of what you will be doing before signing on. If you look hard enough and do your homework, you may just find the perfect work-at-home job for you and you are on your way to becoming a multitasking goddess! Once you have accomplished this momentous task, you can concentrate on honing your patience for dealing with work and the children simultaneously. But we'll talk more about that later!

So at this point I would like to reach out to you and find out what you would like to see here every week. Job postings from the net? Advice? Funny stories? YOU tell ME what your "Home Office" should be like! Here at Moms Helping Moms we are dedicated to helping each other the best way possible, so let's start now!

[Mama Ofromance]

What a great article Petra! I've worked from home for the past 2 years freelancing, and running my hume business. I've tried so many things that have been frustrating, and painful though before finally doing something that I'm comfortable with.

Things I've tried that did not work:

Surveys, Data Entry, Project Pay Day, and Dream Team.

Things that have worked:

Freelancing writing posts and articles for different companies (currently I'm looking for more reliable ones that always have work - mine have slowed down), and working my own business from home with a wellness company.

I agree with you, that there is this huge misconception that people think working at home is easy, and it isn't. It's almost harder than going out to work in that you have to be the one to balance everything - not your boss.

I find it super challenging to draw the line at when to work, and when not to. It's taken me the past two years to get the juggling thing down pat.

Thanks for the great insight Petra!