One of the biggest challenges of being a home business owner is getting work done when everybody else has a break. This happened to me quite a bit when my then-husband was in school. Much of the time he had a break at the same time as my son. It’s hard to get work done when everyone around you is on vacation.
There are times that you can take a break as well, but for many home business owners the reality is that there is always something to do. It doesn’t matter whether you are at home or if you are on vacation somewhere far away.
More Distractions at Home
As you might expect, having everyone home adds more distractions. If you are used to having most of your family out of the house, it can be difficult to get work done when suddenly everyone is home.
One way you can still get something done is to get up at your regular time to work. I struggle with this sometimes because I know I don’t have to get out of bed to get my son to school. But I still try to get out a little bit earlier so that I can get something done.
In some cases it might make sense to see if you can work outside the home for a portion of the day in order to avoid some of those distractions. Try going to a co-working space or a local coffee shop to find a little space and reduce the distractions that you have.
What About Travel?
There is a good chance that if most of your family has time off work and school they will what to go someplace. That means that you may have to travel with them even if you still have work to do. If possible, try to get work done while on a plane. Or, if you’re driving somewhere, let someone else drive while you work on your projects.
Again, this is another situation where I like to try to get up earlier and at least get a start on my work. I don’t that at some point I will want to go and enjoy time with my family so I know I need to get something done.
Consider Working Ahead
If you know that a school break or work break is coming from members of your family, it is possible to prepare by working ahead. I know that I like to work ahead when I am aware of what’s coming up. Whether I know that I will have a busy week, so I know I needed to get things done early on, or whether I know that there is a break coming up, I try to work ahead so that I don’t have as much to do. This requires a little more planning, but it also means that I have more time to relax during breaks.
You don’t want to miss out when the rest of your family is on vacation, whether they go on a trip or whether you just stick around town, you want to make sure that you can arrange things so that you can at least spend a little time with them.
