I speak with many mums, every single week, who express the desire to work from home or start a home business. Some are new mums with pre-school aged children, and others are juggling school-aged or teenage children and a household while working a job. Talk about multi-tasking and being busy, they know what it means! Interestingly, many mums wonder whether they would be ABLE to start their own work from home business. For many, it all sounds ‘too much’, ‘too hard’ or ‘too scary’…

I want to address the question I receive the most from ‘to be’ work at home mums:

How can I manage my kids, my home AND a new business?

Many mums don’t realise that they already have the skills required to do this. What mums with a new home business must do, is transfer their existing skills, and a re-allocate their time and resources to their priorities, in a highly organized manner! Before I started my business, I was a full-time mum, and this was my number one priority. My second priority was to support my husband and the household, and I carried all my tasks in a spontaneous fashion. I must say, my first priority has not changed. My children’s needs remain at the top of the list. But since I now have a business which I work at every day, and I still am responsible for many aspects of running a household, I have had to change the way in which I carry out my many responsibilities.

I have a detailed daily schedule. It’s amazing how much more you can get done in a day when you are organized! I feel more IN CONTROL now than I ever did before having a home business! I have acquired new skills to better set my priorities and allocate my time and resources to them. I still spend quality time with my children. I work from home, so I can manage my work and my home almost seamlessly. And most importantly, I am now empowered to achieve my goals while being in charge of my own schedule and lifestyle. I do what works for ME, MY family, MY business, MY goals. 

Here are my thoughts around the question: “How can I manage my kids, my home AND a new business?”

-       Having a home-based business and working around your kids will require that you get highly organized. Whether this is a new skills for you or not, it will require some tweaking over time until you find your very own magic formula!

-       As mums, we are all great multi-taskers! You can use those existing skills to become highly efficient in managing your household, and create more time to focus on your home business and your children.

-       When you are clear on the income and lifestyle goals you want to achieve, and you fully commit to being successful as a mumpreneur, and you know that you have the right business vehicle to achieve this, you will create a strong motivation to make it work!

-       As you grow and develop new skills, you will become more productive. You will develop a schedule that allows you to be 100% present in your most important tasks, including being a great mum and a focused business woman!

-       If you allow yourself to embrace personal and professional development, you will empower yourself to achieve amazing results in your personal life and home business. Never underestimate the power of personal growth!

If you commit to your DREAMS, you will see it is all worth it! Working for yourself may be the scariest, most challenging thing you ever undertake. But aren’t your dreams worth the challenge?

Justine Simard is an online business and network marketing coach.  To learn from Justine Simard and tap into the most powerful and profitable marketing systems and online business industry, visit Home Business Opportunity. Also visit Justine Simard's Official Blog for Online Business Resources, internet marketing training, personal development and success strategies, and inspiration for online entrepreneurs.

Tags: Goal_Setting Home_Business Justine_Simard Mumpreneur Personal_Development P

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Over the weekend I received my very first Hawaiian healing massage (Ho'oponopono Lomi Lomi). This healing massage has a strong emphasis on positive energy, holistic wellbeing, spiritual healing, deep breathing and detoxifying the body. Throughout my treatment, my therapist expressed some powerful and meaningful messages which will undoubtedly shape my personal growth as a work at home mum. Here are the most powerful lessons I received:

Unconditional Self-Love

As mothers, we all have unconditional love for others, and yet we may neglect to give ourselves this same unconditional love love! We forgive the people we love for their mistakes, yet we judge ourselves harshly for our own behaviours or outcomes. We offer our children and others we love the room that is needed for personal growth, yet we establish extremely challenging objectives for ourselves. And as I encourage and support others to take in the process, to acknowledge each step in the direction of their most significant ambitions, to take on personal development, to focus on their abilities and most intense interests as work at home mums, and to always be in their integrity… I tell myself to ‘be there now’, to eradicate my weaknesses, to conquer every obstacle, to be strong and be superior than my own self! (Yes, I'm disclosing some challenges that I have kept personal to this point - however I trust this can empower and serve others!). Like many others, I need to practice better what I preach, and allow myself to grow as I provide a safe personal environment of unconditional love! 

Achieving Balance Between Action and Allowing

My massage therapist shared the role of the Feminine and Masculine quality of all individuals. The Masculine side motivates the actions, the persistent motivation to produce change, to re-shape, to DO. The Feminine side drives stillness and gratitude, and opens to RECEIVE and ALLOW. A positive balance linking the Masculine and Feminine sides optimises holistic wellbeing of the mind, body and spirit, and bring the realisation of our greatest potential and goals. This message has been given to me consistently in the last few months… but at this point, I must faithfully accept it and practice this! Taking consistent action is one vehicle, but every so often we get so focused on creating change and ‘DOING’, that we are not able to express gratitude and appreciate the stillness of what is, in the moment. We don't notice opportunities and gifts, ready for us to take. We will possibly not allow and attract the people, events or things that need our attention and openness. So while being intensely focused on producing change, taking inspired action and attaining my objectives as a mumpreneur, I must make certain to look up regularly, be grateful for the abundance I already carry, open my mind and my heart, and ALLOW!

Your Body is Your Best Friend

We've all heard that our body is 'a temple', however the idea of a best friend is more meaningful to me. Along with the message of self-love, how about perceiving and taking care of my body like a best friend? To my best friend, I am caring, kind, gentle, mindful, respectful, available, generous, loving and patient. My body needs all this! As I apply these principles to my daily mindfulness and behaviours, I can genuinely give my body what it requires for physical and mental wellbeing, from fitness to nutrition, and from oxygen and relaxation to strength and energy. It is an attitude and priority shift, as I take care of my body as I would for a best friend, and give it the care, love, respect and time that it requires to give power to my mind and actions. Vital approach indeed, in particular for busy work at home mums!

I absolutely enjoyed the Hawaiian healing massage, and more specifically the insightful messages given from this holistic approach, which I will apply to my personal development and home business Let me leave you with the ‘9 Principles of Living in Natural ‘Huna’ Harmony’, which were communicated regularly during the treatment:

Be Graceful (Ho’ola) •  Be Aware (Ike) •  Be Free (Kala)
Be Focused (Makia) •  Be Here (Manawa) •  Be Happy (Aloha)
Be Confident (Mana) •  Be Positive (Pono) •  Be Merciful (‘Ohana)

Power to mumpreneurs and mums working from home to grant themselves unconditional love, to create the essential balance between 'doing' and 'allowing', to practice gratitude and value the personal growth, and to truly respect their bodily health and wellbeing!

Justine Simard is an online business and network marketing coach.  To learn from Justine Simard and tap into the most powerful and profitable marketing systems and online business industry, visit Home Business Opportunity. Also visit Justine Simard's Official Blog for Online Business Resources, internet marketing training, personal development and success strategies, Work At Home Mums and inspiration for online entrepreneurs.

Tags: Balance Empowerment Gratitude Health Holistic_Wellbeing Inspired_Action Int

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Whether you have started a work from home business or are still researching online business opportunities, you must know the 12 MISTAKES TO AVOID to grow your business and make real profits! These mistakes are probably not the ones you expect!

So many work at home mums start their new business without the right coaching, and without being armed with the best tools and resources to manage their business, grow their profits and develop their personal and professional skills.

I have just released a 1-hour recorded webinar that addresses exactly this! How to build a profitable online business in 2011, and how to avoid the 12 COMMON Mistakes! I did this webinar with my great friend and partner, who like me is a home business coach and work at home mum, and we are passionate about empowering other mums to get it right when their start their work from home business!

So whether you are still in the ‘research’ phase, or you already work from home or have your own online business, click on the link below to get instant access to the recorded webinar!

What You Need To Know About Starting An Online Business in 2011

Enjoy the webinar, make sure to apply what you learn, avoid the 12 mistakes, and grow as a mumpreneur!

To your success,

Justine Simard

Justine Simard is a home business coach and work at home mum! To learn from Justine Simard how to start an online business and get the right mentoring for success, visit www.sheerambition.com.

Also visit Justine Simard's Blog for more online business resources, personal development strategies and inspiration for mumpreneurs!

Tags: Work_at_home_mums Justine_simard Working_from_home Network_marketing Online

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Depending on your expectations, perhaps becoming a work at home mum didn't end up being as leisurely as you originally thought it would be? Were you planning that, across the week, you’d look after and play with your kids, do the laundry, clean the house, cook up great meals for dinner, do the shopping, meet up with your friends, do your daily fitness program, and work your business naturally in between all this? Maybe you even managed to do all that, in a somewhat chaotic way, for a few weeks (maybe months), and all of a sudden realised that you were totally disorganised, stressed out and overwhelmed?

I have had this personal experience, and I have spoken with many other work at home mums who have felt the same lack of control and efficiency, in their two central roles as a mum and home business owner. When I launched my home business, I had the belief that I could use my multi-tasking skills and just wing it, juggling every tasks at once, and that this would bring great results. However I did not - wing it or get the results that is. And so I thought I would start to just work HARDER. And believe me, I can work hard. I can be a machine. And I don't actually mind it at all. But my goals do, because if I work hard instead of smart, they’re not getting realised.

This was a great realisation and I have taken back control since then. I have created and follow 5 rules, and these allow me to be a successful home business owner and work at home mum, without the stress and overwhelm. So here they are:

1. I have a strict schedule. Yep, you read that right! While I value the flexibility I gain while I work from home, I only use it when I really need to. When you are clear on what you must do and complete at any particular time, and you've set a clear deadline, you get it done! I have diligently created a weekly schedule to cater for quality time with my kids, meeting with friends, and each of my business-related tasks. I know what times work best for being a loving mum and enjoying my kids, and I also know the best times for focus and productivity in my business.

2. I get leverage on my efforts. I focus on processes and results that I can duplicate. I team up with business partners so that I can get more back from my contribution and efforts. I establish procedures that are likely to be used across various tasks (I constantly start from skeletons from earlier projects). I find automated resources that I can set up once with the purpose of saving me time and effort. Fortunately, my home business opportunity came with automated marketing systems and a strong leveraged income plan - which is a huge help when it comes to getting results from leveraging my business and investment.

3. I manage my expectations. Like most work at home mums who start a home business for the very first time, I was full of belief and ambition. However, I completely underestimated the level of commitment and persistence that would be needed to attain all my objectives. While I strive to maintain a high level of self-confidence, optimism and focus (and invest signicant time and energy into nurturing my success mindset), I also manage my expectation by following a rational business plan, by keeping track of my progress, and by regularly evaluating my strategies and their effectiveness.

4. I get help. I have a professional virtual assistant for my online business who does a superb job at completing all those activities that are time-consuming and don't need my skills. My children go to childcare two days each week, which I believe is the ideal balance for them to be sociable, stimulated and independent. During those 2 days, I focus entirely on my business. My partner is also part of the master plan, and we have planned some times where I work while he takes care of our little ones. This is productive for all of us, and allows me to prevent the unproductive multi-tasking.

5. I look after myself. While being a hard-working machine, there are times when you don’t eat even if you’re hungry, and you don’t sleep even if you’re tired. I'm sure you can see that this is only sustainable for actual machines, and is not productive even for ambitious work at home mums! When I nurture my body, mind and spirit, I'm also more empowered. So I allocate some time for eating and sleeping well, for my physical fitness, for my personal development, and for relaxing as well .

These 5 rules enable me to create balance and productivity in my life and work from home business, and I believe work at home mums can apply them and reap the benefits of being well-planned, productive, healthy, relaxed and successful.

Justine Simard is an online business and network marketing coach.  To learn from Justine Simard and tap into the most powerful and profitable marketing systems and online business industry, visit Home Business Opportunity. Also visit Justine Simard's Official Blog for Online Business Resources, internet marketing training, personal development and success strategies, and inspiration for online entrepreneurs.

Tags: Home_Business_Opportunity Justine_Simard Leverage Productivity Success_Mind

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As a work at home mum, do you make an effort to divide your life as an individual and as a home business owner? Do you have a separate personality for your work from home job or business and your personal life? As you seek success in both areas of your life, don't you believe the unique qualities that you exercise in your personal life are just as pertinent in your professional outcomes? What if you translated your assets between both areas, and applied yourself with authenticity through your greatest qualities across the board?

I have in the past been one to carefully divide my life as a professional and my personal life. Most likely because I didn't enjoy my job and felt no connection with the people I was working with! As a new home business owner, I had difficulty for a while with finding harmony between my home business and my personal life, and particularly the rather separate personalities that I used to run each aspect of my life. Today however, as an online entrepreneur who is passionate about what I do and who chooses to partner with like-minded individuals,  I found the gap narrowing between my professional personality and my individual self.

In a book by Timothy J. Sharp on happiness, I stumbled across this line: "The skills that lead to success in one area of our lives could just as easily lead to success in other areas". In the past, having completely dismissed the behaviours and personal qualities that lead me to a successful life at a personal level seems foolish now! All this time 'at work', I could have shown others how I am actually caring, assertive, passionate, collaborative, inspirational, positive, innovative and funny! But rather, I focused on being professional, compliant, productive, reliable and hard-working, which are some of my strenghts, and likeable to many employers, but certainly not the full range of my capabilities!

Why am I writing this? Because I have since realised that the attributes that make me a successful spouse, a good mum, a good friend and an inspired woman is also what leads me to be successful as a work at home mum and online business entrepreneur. My personal attributes translate completely between my different roles to achieve success in each. I can be a caring mum, and a caring leader in business. I can be a collaborative business woman, and a collaborative friend. I can be a hard-worker in my home and in my business. And I can be inspiring and passionate in all my roles. I don't have to be two different people. I can be one successful individual in all areas of my life using the power of my personal assets and attitude, and keeping with my integrity. Wow! How liberating!  

My fellow business work at home mums will know what I'm talking about in this post. The ability to be yourself, take back control, follow your passions, lead with integrity, enjoy what you do, inspire others, attract like-minded people, be empowered to create your own outcomes, and approach success as an all inclusive personal and professional objective. And as I have a personal development business (the actual products for my network marketing business are personal development related), I am constantly empowered to learn new skills in my personal life and business, and apply and transfer them throughout the various aspects of my life.  

So I'd like to ask you: Are you transferring your personal skills? Do you utilise the personal attributes that make you succeed in one area of your life in the other areas of your life? Do you openly reveal your personality in your work or home business, and use your greatest personal traits to create more success?

Justine Simard is a mum and business owner, passionate about empowering others through personal development and entrepreneurship. Visit Work At Home Mums to learn about a work from home business opportunity which allows mums to work around their kids, attain a greater income, a better lifestyle and more freedom!

  

Tags: Work-At-Home-Mums Business-Mums Home-Business-Opportunity Mumpreneur

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Most mums ask themselves whether they can and perhaps should work at home. These questions arise with a need to be more present for their family, to raise their young kids at home, to do school pick-ups and drop-offs… and to make an income! 

First, I need to explain something. Work from home opportunities belong in 2 groups: the work from home jobs and home businesses. With a work from home job, you still work for somebody else. Your employer is allowing you to work from home (telecommute), but you’re still being remunerated for the time you put in and the work you're hired to do. With a home business, you are your own boss, you choose your work, and you get paid profits for the sales or services you generate. With your own business, you don’t get rewarded for the hours you put in, you get rewarded for results, and that implies that if you can generate great results, regardless of the number of hours you worked, you can make an unlimited income.

So which is best for work at home mums? A home-based business or work at home job?

There are several things to consider when choosing a work at home opportunity, between a job and a business. Moreover, within the home business category, you have various options: you can start your very own business from a skill you have or a product you manufacture or make yourself. For example you can do personal assistant work, data entry or typing, craft, cooking, teaching, personal training, coaching, graphic or interior design, writing, clothing and fashion, and the list continues on and on. Alternatively, you could start a work from home business opportunity within an existing company, where the company usually provides you with all the products, the systems in place and the support and training you need to set up your home business.

Of a business or work from home job, which will be best FOR YOU?

If you're undecided whether you should seek a work at home job or home business, firstly you need to consider your personality. If you’re a person who prefers to report back to someone else, who doesn’t like decision-making or being independent, who needs to be provided with a structure with deadlines, agendas, and a definite description of your role, your responsibilities and the activities that you need to do to get compensated, then a work at home job might be for you. In contrast, if you are somebody who's more self-directed, who likes to call the shots, who's self-driven and self-reliant, someone who wants to control how much they get paid and has a lot of determination and tenacity, then you definitely can succeed as a work at home mum with a suitable home-based business opportunity.

An added really important criteria is the cost to work from home. If you happen to choose to choose a job, you will need some money to set up your own home office, and some of your expenditures may even be paid by your employer. Starting a work from home business usually is more costly. Depending on the business opportunity, you might have initial costs associated with a membership, using business tools or systems, purchasing or manufacturing products, education, and marketing your business. Remember that in both cases, you can actually get tax deductions. And let me give a word of caution: if you do find a work at home opportunity that promises a huge income with no start-up costs, then you should start hearing alarm bells because it’s probably not a genuine business opportunity.

Working from home can be so rewarding for mums. You are able to do activities during the week with your little ones, take them to playgroup, the park, after school activities, catch up with friends, give them flexibility around their sleep habit and also just enjoy being at home. It is on the other hand a juggling act, just like it would be if you worked in a company setting since you would still have to juggle everything between work, daycare or school pick-ups, groceries, etc. It just means that you can run the schedule that will be just right for you and you’ll be more flexible around looking after your loved ones and doing your work. But for work at home mums to succeed, it demands discipline and organisation.

I hope this helps clarify your options to work from home with a home-based business or telecommuting job, and whether this can be for you. Being a work at home mum myself, my online business gave me the opportunity to bring up my 2 young kids at home, to build my business part time around them, to become my very own boss, and to make an unlimited income. I wish you all the success in working from home, to find a business or work at home job that you can be passionate about, and in achieving the great income and family lifestyle that you desire!

Justine Simard is an online business and network marketing coach.  Find out more about a Home Business Opportunity at Work At Home Mums. Also visit Justine Simard's Official Blog for Online Business Resources, internet marketing training, personal development and success strategies, and inspiration for work at home mums and online business owners.

Tags: Work-At-Home-Mums Business-Mums Home-Business-Opportunity Mumpreneur

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An important component of goal setting is planning for obstacles. You might be clear on what you want to achieve and how to get there, but have you planned for obstacles and sacrifices? Will you be tempted to go back when it gets too hard or uncomfortable? Will you go back when you have decided that you just can't win? It can be a challenge to become a work at home mum or establish a work from home business, especially if this situation is different from your past experiences. The truth is, with the acknowledgement that obstacles will arise and a solid contingency plan, it is possible to burn bridges and ensure that you will always be moving forward towards your goals.

So how do we burn bridges? By strategically removing the conditions which will enable us to go back or give up. Those conditions may be material or psychological. As a psychological example, not committing ourselves fully to achieving a desired outcome can protect us from feelings of inadequacy, failure, resignation and defeat. This is because if we don’t commit, we don’t promise anything to ourselves and therefore maintain little attachment or expectations about the outcome. The same way that we feel less accountable when we make no promises, to ourselves or others. An example for a material condition could be keeping a contract open with an employer or partner, or reserving a spot in a childcare centre for your child, in case your new projects, work from home business or job doesn’t work out.

The main issue with keeping doors open to ‘go back’, is that going back often means returning to the very things we were trying to get away from. Burning bridges is a key part in establishing all the psychological and material conditions which will be instrumental in reaching our goals, and eliminating the conditions holding us back. That is, burning bridges helps build a strong mindset for success, and also helps create the right supportive environment.

Burning bridges makes it HARDER to go back, and EASIER to succeed.

Here are some key points about burning bridges:

- Eliminating the option to give up and go back means that the only option remaining is to go forward.

- Being overtly accountable to yourself and others for your success reinforces your commitment. For example, you can make a promise to achieve your goal to yourself and your family members, whether it is in regards to working from home or anything else!

- Acknowledging obstacles in advance and preparing a contingency plan will empower you to burn bridges and respond positively to obstacles as they arise.

- Building a strong emotional attachment to your desired outcomes will conversely build incongruity with your previous situation, pulling you forward. Think about WHY you want to achieve a particular goal, and maintain that positive focus on your target.

- Having only one option (moving forward towards your goal) increases your focus, resourcefulness, patience and perseverance.

Some bridges act like a rope, holding you back and preventing you from fully taking off in the direction of your dreams. Not burning bridges can be the very factor limiting our success as work at home mums. When there is no turning back, when you have NO OTHER OPTION but to succeed, psychologically, financially or socially, you WILL succeed. Burning bridges means letting go of the past and opening the doors wide open for our future.

Do you think bridges should be burnt? What bridges have you burnt in the past? Did it help you succeed, or move in the direction of your dreams? Which bridges are you ready to burn as you get closer to your goals? Please share your inspiring work at home mums stories here!
 

Justine Simard is a mum and home business owner, passionate about empowering other mums through personal development and entrepreneurship. Visit Work At Home Mums to find out about a work from home business which allows mums to work around their kids, and to achieve a greater income, a better lifestyle and more freedom.

Tags: Work-at-home-mums Work-from-home-business Justine-simard

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You may have heard of the power of positive thinking, but maybe are not convinced enough to try it for yourself. I will explain here the 'mechanics' of positive thinking and how it affects emotions, and in turn behaviours, because for those of us work at home mums with an analytical mind, it sometimes helps to understand a process first before we believe in its power and apply related strategies effectively! 

An important part of our brain to discuss here is the limbic system, which guides our mood and emotions, but also plays an important role in our attention and motivation. The limbic system, also referred to as our 'emotional brain' is responsible for our drives, and the stronger we feel about reaching for or avoiding something, the stronger our drive will be. While our feelings and emotions come from the limbic system, the neocortex controls our verbal ability, judgment, planning, and creative thinking. These is constant communication between the emotional brain and the neocortex, and together they shape our beliefs and behaviours.

I've recently heard the limbic system being referred to as a 2 year old child. This analogy was made because the limbic system, just like a young child, has poor judgement between right and wrong, doesn't distinguish between good and bad thoughts, and acts upon any information it receives as being true and real. Here is where it become interesting. Behaviours are caused or influenced by emotions. These emotions are generated by your limbic system, who is acting spontaneously like a 2-year old and making very limited judgment on the information it receives! Many work at home mums reading this might already have ideas on how to use this to their advantage! Put simply, you can manipulate the information you send to your limbic system for it to generate the productive emotions you need to achieve your goals. 

Your subconscious mind will act on bad thoughts just as readily as good thoughts. We have ready access to our thoughts, and therefore can feed our limbic system with positive thoughts, leading it to produce positive feelings. So what happens when work at home mums feel empowered, confident, happy, energised, focused, relaxed and optimistic? They behave accordingly and impact on their environment in a way that helps them produce the results they seek. The more you repeat good things to your mind the more it will change, the more your behaviours will change, the more your results will change, and the more your life will change.

Producing positive and productive emotions can be a simple exercise, as simple as practising visualisation or positive affirmations. There are a few things work at home mums should remember when using these techniques: 1. Be consistent - practice visualisation or positive affirmation daily; 2. Build your affirmations on precise and measurable goals; 3. Use the present tense, as if it is happening right now; 4. Statements should focus on the positive (i.e. 'I am full of energy' as opposed to 'I am not tired'). You can also use various tools, such as visualisation audios or videos or written affirmation cards placed around the house. If you search on the internet, you can also find ready-made affirmations about many subjects, such as self-esteem, creating abundance, health, love, etc.

Justine Simard is a full-time mum and home business owner, passionate about empowering other mums through personal development and entrepreneurship. Visit my Work At Home Mums business opportunity website to learn about a work from home business opportunity which allows mums to work around their kids and achieve a greater income, a better lifestyle and more freedom. To view my other articles with more insight and practical tips, visit my Ezine profile through this link: Work At Home Mums Articles.

Tags: Work-at-home-mums Work-from-home-business Justine-simard

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Women are renowned to be great multi-taskers. Work at home mums are undeniably one of the groups of mums who need this skill the most. I've written quite a few times about schedules and separating 'work time' and 'mum time'. However, it is at times impossible to separate those roles, and while multi-tasting a lot I've recently realised that I hardly give myself fully to one task at any given time. If my body, behaviours and thoughts are busy doing something, my mind is often active about a few other things at the same time. With this realisation, I have come to the conclusion that the key revolved around one easy conscious effort I could make to have better focus and productivity to any task at hand: Awareness.

As a work at home mum and full-time mum, my most important task is looking after my kids. However, with a growing home business requiring more thinking and planning, I found that I would often be sharing my focus between my kids and my work, at the same time. So I started this new exercise when starting an activity with my kids. I said to myself: 'I will devote my whole self to this activity and my kids'. No allowance for work thoughts, checking emails, of even putting a load of washing on. From the very first time I tried this simple commitment statement, I realised how much more aware and fulfilled I was while spending quality time with my kids. It meant I fully took in the moment, noticed the little things that make a mum's heart fill with joy and pride, gave more love and positive interaction to my kids, and fully indulged in the primary reason why I work from home - raising my kids. It also meant that I became more aware of all the mental disruptions coming through, so that I would purposefully shut them down and re-focus.

After applying this principle to my role as a mum, I did the same for my home business. Of course, for work at home mums, it is impossible to say 'I will devote my whole self to this work activity' when your kids are running around and under your care. It is indeed a lot easier to shut down your work for your kids than shut down your kids for your work! So don't fully commit to a work task unless you know that you're kids won't need you; this will only lead to frustration if you are interrupted. I refined my commitment statement for work even further, in committing to one task at a time (e.g. 'I will devote my whole self to writing an article'). This simple commitment increases my focus and therefore my productivity, and gives me the head space I need for problem-solving and creative thinking! 

Adding a simple commitment statement before starting an activity with my kids or for my business has certainly made a massive difference in my productivity and focus. For work at home mums, it's about focusing your awareness to the specific activity you have committed to. Less multi-tasking, physically and intellectually. Better productivity for my business and home duties? Yes. More love and inspiration for my kids and from my kids? Definitely! More rewards as a mum and business owner? Absolutely!

Justine Simard is a full-time mum and work at home business owner. Visit my website Work At Home Mums to learn about a home business opportunity which allows mums to work around their kids, to achieve an unlimited income, a better lifestyle and more freedom. You can also view more of my articles on Ezine via this link: Work at Home Mums Articles.

Tags: Work-at-home-mums Work-from-home-business Justine-simard

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