Having a brief stint working from home, I realised that a WAHM must possess criterias below in order to stay creditable, discipline and able to stay productive both for work and family:

Must-Have Criterias

Discipline
We have to be discipline if we want to be trusted by our bosses/client and our family too. When we are working from home, we have to be able to deliver our work on time as how we would be expected to be doing when we are working from office. We should stick to our deadlines and time-table as much as possible. At the same time, we should also try not to be overworked and neglected our family time.

Commitment
We have to be committed to our deliverables just as we stay committed as a wife and mom. We cannot expect others to pardon our late delivery or any poor quality work in order to succeed in our WAHM career.

Time Management
We have to learn to juggle our balls(work, family, personal) well to succeed. Being WAHM, some people might think we have all the time in the world and start asking us to run errands for them, etc. We have to learn to say No, if our time does not allow that. Otherwise, it might turned out to be a snowball effect and such requests will be never-ending! We have to let others know that we are also working just like them, the only difference is that we work from home but we too, have our deliverables to meet as well!

Integrity & Accountability
We have to be accountable for our work. Same applies for our family household chores like cooking, preparing the kids for school etc. Sometimes we might need to get some external sources for help like a temporary sit-in babysitter or even packed meal in order to meet our target or deadline. But make this as fun and as less frequent if possible! I am sure not only you benefited from this arrangement, your family might actually love having this special occasion of packed meal once in a while. Make it like a picnic or restaurant-like meal with a movie at home, a picnic, etc. My DH simply love the once-in-a-while pizza delivery when I am too tired to cook So no guilt or whatsoever!

Accessibility
We have to make known our accessible time or accessibility. For example, make it known to others(colleagues, team member, clients) what time you’ll be online for online support or online meetings. And make it known to your kids(if they are old enough to understand) that from this time to this time, mommy would be working so if there is no urgent matters, they should learn not to disturb your working hour. And an answering machine would certainly be a helpful tool if you really need to be away for errands yet phone calls need to be handled! Technology does makes our life easier! So make full use of it!

Understanding and Respect
To be a successful WAHM, it is BEST if we can have the blessings and support of our life partner(a.k.a. husband/wife). Even though we might not get the support from our parents or parents-in-law as for some they might think that it is a waste time and money spent on higher education we have gone thru’ or maybe they felt that you are just wasting your time and talent being “at home”, but at least you have one and most important ally that is your “LIFE PARTNER”!!! That matters a lot!

And respect counts a lot too! First respect yourself, of your choice to be a WAHM. Respect your Work from Home Biz/task. Perform it with your BEST effort!

WAHM working condition and environment
If possible, set a corner or room dedicated for your WAHM task. If you bake cookies as your biz, then kitchen would be your “working” space. If you are doing online support, then make the workstation corner/study room as your workplace. Place a “Do not Disturb” sign or make it known to your family members that once mommy is in there, mommy is on “working” mode. So anything that does not require urgent attention, no one should disturb mommy at that specified time.

Clear Priorities
At times, a WAHM starters might be overwhelmed by the load of work-from-home job and work as mom and housewife 24/7 never-ending tasks. As both might clashed and more often than not, it might make us lost our priorities. And if we set out to be a WAHM in order to create a work-life-balance, yet we neglected our family and worked even harder, spent even more time “at work” , then we should really question ourselves and reschedule our priorities!

These are some of the must-have criterias I felt a WAHM/D should possess or nurture? Do you have any to add on my list? Please feel free!

Let us share our tips, experience, secrets on how to become a better and more successful WAHM!

Cheers!

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