by Silvia Dekumbis

Created on: June 01, 2011   Last Updated: June 02, 2011

If you are ever given the opportunity to work from home you need to learn about the different challenges that will await you before making that decision.  While a professional environment at your workplace will remind you of your responsibilities and tasks to complete your job on time, self-discipline and organizational skills are an absolute must for your work-at-home job.

I work from home because I always dreamed- about being home with my kids.  I thought that being around my family all the time would be beneficial to them and to me.  Unfortunately, my kids and husband wouldn't quite understand what I meant when I said that I was working.  I was always interrupted.  Somebody needed help with homework or they were hungry and needed something to eat.  To make a long story short, I wasn't able to complete my work and had to rethink how to better organize my family.  How could I make them understand that I was working and needed that space?

Soon I realized that I had to become extremely organized and I created to-do lists.  The first list reminded me of my professional goals for the day.  My second list helped me organize my family life so that I could still work uninterrupted even when the kids where home from school.  I became a working machine.  I had never worked so much before.  I did all the chores of a housewife and even made a good living with my work-from-home job.  It wasn't long before I somewhat noticed a few signs of slight burn-out and I had to consider something else.

I gave myself a few options.  I could go at the rate that I was going and suffer a burnout.  I could quit my work-from-home job and return to the 9-5 rat-race.  I could become a housewife and learn how to live on a very tight budget.  Or I could teach my family how to pitch in with house-duties.   The last option sounded best to me but not exactly to my kids.  Nevertheless, I created to-do lists for my two sons.  Upon completion of their duties they would be awarded points which they then could turn in for a favorite activity at the end of the month.  Finally I had something that worked for me as well as them.

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