How to Balance Homemaking With Your Home Business

Are you a woman who is trying to balance being a homemaker and working full time?

You are not alone. Over half of all women in the United States have this same challenge. It can be easy to feel overwhelmed, but there are some strategies that will make it easier to balance both.

We’ll show you how to balance both with our tips on how to manage your time, energy, and resources so that nothing gets left behind or forgotten about.

Debate On Working Mothers vs Homemakers

Women are not always sure whether they should stay at home or pursue a career. There is no one-size-fits-all solution, but we can take some lessons from history. For example, when women were expected to stay at home and raise kids, there was a lot of pressure for them to be perfect mothers.

They had to cook the best meals and make their children look good in front of others; if they failed, then people would say that women weren’t meant for motherhood after all. On the other hand, when women were allowed careers outside the house, it created new challenges.

Women are not always sure whether they should stay at home or pursue a career. There is no one-size-fits-all solution.

There is a lot of pressure for women to be perfect mothers, but this can lead to bitterness because no one is perfect.

On the other hand, there will be less time for your family if you work outside the house. You’ll be juggling more demands on your time and may experience burnout, resentment, and feel guilty about not being around enough when your kids need you most. 

You must keep these two options in perspective so that you don’t make hasty decisions based on your emotions and feelings at any given moment, especially as a young mother who is still learning how parenting works best for her.

Ask yourself these 9 questions:

1. What would happen if I gave up my job?
2. Would it help my marriage?
3. Would it help my children?
4. What will I lose and gain?
5. Could we survive on one salary?
6. How will your career resume look?
7. What type of job could you get if you want to return to the workforce?
8. Could I start a home business or work from home part-time?
9. Can I save money by reducing our expenses?

Take some time to think about these questions and write down your thoughts.

Make a list of pros and cons for each choice: stay at home or work outside the house. Then look at them side-by-side to help you pick what’s best for you and your family.

If the answer to most of these questions is yes, then maybe it’s worth taking a few years off to be the best homemaker you can be.

Working Homemaker

Over half of all women in the United States balance being a homemaker and working full time. Many women make this look like it is a simple task. However, it is a significant undertaking, both physically and mentally.

There is not a wrong or a right way to do both, but there are some strategies you can use to make the balance easier. Working full time and being a homemaker full time is all about balance and organization. It will take time to find balance at work and home while deciding what works for you and your family situation.

6 Tips for Balancing Homemaking and a Career as a Working Mother

Being a working mother has its challenges. You need to balance the needs of your family with those of your employer. Whatever your situation, it is important that you don’t get burnt out or develop resentment towards either one.

Here are 6 common-sense tips to help you be the best you can be:

1) Prioritize Before Balance

If you have decided to be a homemaker and work full time, you probably have a good reason for this. It’s tough maintaining a middle-class lifestyle in this economy!

Once you make this decision, you will have things that you need to make a priority at work and home. It is imperative that you have a schedule that allows you to do work items during the workday, so they do not infringe on your home time. At home, you will have a set of tasks that need to be done, so be sure to be available for those things.

When making your priority list, think about the amount of time it will take to do each task and try to plan accordingly. It would be wise to prioritize family time as well as self-care. It is easy to get burnt out when trying to do too much.

2) Say No

Trying to keep both home and work-life balance is challenging. One of the most difficult yet helpful things you can do for yourself is to learn the art of saying no.

By nature, most people want to help others and will often help even when they are drowning in their work or life. Because of this, you need to understand it is important to say no.

When to Say No

Figuring out when to say no can be difficult, but it can help as you learn to navigate working and being a disciplined homemaker. You may need to say no to extra work or even invitations from friends or family. It is challenging to say no because you do not want to let anyone down.

Remember, if you are constantly saying yes, you will be letting yourself down by taking away free time that you may have for yourself or your family.

If you are having trouble deciding if it is okay to say no, there are some things that you need to keep in mind:

• Do I want to go to this event?
• Do you even like the restaurant you are being invited to?
• Have you missed out on family time this week?
• Is your presence important or was the invitation courtesy?
• Is all your other work caught up?
• Does your family need you more during this time?
• What will you have to sacrifice to go?

Depending on the situation, you will have a lot of other thoughts and questions going through your mind, but you should never sacrifice time to go to something because you are afraid of what people think. If you live in this fear, you will find it extremely difficult to find balance.

3) Get Help

Do not try to be a superhero and carry out everything yourself. Some may be successful with this, but many will fail and feel miserable. Being a full-time homemaker and worker is tough. You need to enlist the help of family or outside help to do some of your home tasks.

Do not feel less than because you are asking for help. Asking for help is not a sign of weakness!

Find support from other mothers in your community, whether this means joining a weekend mommy-and-me class or just connecting with women at church. Motherhood is hard enough without having to go through it alone!

4) Follow A Schedule

If you are trying to balance family and work, you need to have a schedule to help prevent chaos and misunderstandings. It would be helpful to have a schedule for the entire family that details activities and plans for each week and work events. Everyone in the family should have a schedule.

Although schedules are helpful, you must remember to be flexible with the schedule. There will inevitably be times when things are canceled, or other events come up that need to be added to the schedule. Having a schedule will make the adjustments much easier.

5) Get Serious About Meal Planning

Answer the question “what is meal planning?” and you’ll get a different answer from everyone. Some might think of meal planning as preparing meals for the week or trying to eat healthy and clean, or having a set amount of money to spend on food each week.

At its core, meal planning is an organized list of meals and the ingredients needed to make them. Meal planning can help save money and time and gives you more structure and control over your schedule.

Most people find meal planning to be incredibly rewarding, as it forces you to take a look at the food you’re eating (and maybe re-evaluate if it’s as healthy or interesting as you want), allows you to plan ahead of time, and cuts down on having to think about what you’re cooking every single day.

6) Automate Household Chores

Automation is an incredible thing. It can save you time, money, and energy. The number of automated tasks in our homes has grown exponentially over the last few years!

Vacuuming with a Roomba is one of the most popular ways to automate a household chore. It’s easy to set up and you can schedule it to run at specific times each week. You can also have your robot vacuum clean multiple rooms at once! This is a great timesaver if you have pets and need to vacuum often.

Consider having your groceries delivered automatically with Instacart, Peapod or Amazon Pantry. While you may not get the best deals and or be able to focus on couponing, you will save at least one or two hours per week.

Auto-delivery of birthday and anniversary gifts is another task that may work for you. Consider using a company like Send Flowers. All you need to do is provide the date and type of bouquet you would like, and they will take care of the rest!

Balancing Home and Work

Balancing work life and home life can be a challenge, and it will always require flexibility with a little bit of trial and error. The choice to do both is not an easy one, so you need to give yourself grace as you navigate the waters of figuring it all out.