Summer is in high swing and I am guessing that your productivity has gone done. With children out of school, vacations, and nice weather it can be very difficult to get work done. Working at home you probably rely on your children being in school to get work done.

You have two choices for the summer. You can either cut back the number of hours that you work or you can find ways to become more productive. For most people cutting back on work (and thus their paycheck) is not an option they can choose.

So how can you become more productive in the summer? Today we will discuss ten ways that you can make the most of your summer work schedule.

1)Get up early. Most likely your children want to spend all of their waking hours with you and will not give you time to work. Use the time when they are sleeping to get major projects done. You will probably be able to sneak little ones into your day here and there. This might mean cutting back on the number of hours you get to sleep every night, but as long as you are not doing it every morning you will probably be okay.

2)Hire a Mother’s Helper. School is out for everyone in your area, including for high school students. Many of them are probably looking to earn some extra cash this summer. You can hire them to play with your children while you are home. Your kids will like having someone that is a bit older to teach them new games and you will still be around in case they need you. Find someone that is willing and able to prepare lunch and snacks so that you will not be pulled away from work.

3)Plan Your Day. Create a schedule for everyday and stick to it. If you have activities planned every day you will probably have 20-30 minutes here and there that you can sit down and work on your own projects. Make 10 am free play with modeling clay so that mom can work time.

4)Go Out. Take your children to the local library or perhaps a restaurant with a play center. Any place where they can play while you can watch them and set up an on the go workstation. Our library has a great play area with puzzles, crayons, and blocks to play with. You could even combine lunch with letting your children play at a play area while you work. There are many restaurants in my area that have some sort of indoor play area.

5)Take Your Kids to the Park. You may have all kinds of fun things in your backyard but your kids can still get bored doing the same old thing all the time. They will love the new landscape and you can set up a mobile office at a picnic table. Plus some fresh air will do wonders in getting more work done.

6)Be Prepared. You never know when your children might become engrossed with building with their legos or cooking a seven course meal in their play kitchen. Have tasks ready that you can pick up at a moment’s notice and start working on.

7)Prioritize. Decide what needs to be worked on now and what can wait till later. For instance phone calls to clients will probably need to be returned during regular business hours. Writing an article or preparing orders to ship can be done after your children go to bed for the evening. You want to figure out ahead of time what you can work on when so that you are not scrambling to get it all done.

8)Invite Friends Over. A great way to entertain your children is by inviting a friend over to play. They can run, build, create and talk to each other, all while you are crossing tasks off your to do list. They may take breaks to ask you for snacks and drinks but they probably won’t be asking you to play with them.

9)Play Dates. The opposite of asking a friend over would be your child going to a friend’s home. Obviously this would depend on your child’s age and their comfort level (and yours) of going to another’s home. This could give you several uninterrupted hours to work.

10)Relax. It is summer after all. Spend time with your children. Go to the beach, ride your bikes, go for a nature hike. The main reason you are working at home is to be with your kids, so take advantage of them being home for the summer. School will be back in before you know it and so will plenty of time to work.

What are some of the ways you get work done in the summer? Do you find you don’t get as much done?

Warmly,
Mia