Let’s be real. When people say, “sanity saver,” they typically mean last ditch effort before you lose your mind.  These 5 sanity savers to work at home with kids is just that.  It’s a chance to take a breath and keep truckin’.

Being a parent can be really hard.  Then, if you’re trying to work at home and create a business at home, it can get even more complicated.

How do you juggle, diapers, toddlers, boo-boos, playtime, naptime, meal prep, house cleaning, and grocery shopping while trying to launch a product, make a sale, or land that next client?

Sometimes, it feels impossible. But it’s not.

So, take a deep breath mama and let’s roll through these 5 sanity savers.

5 Sanity Savers To Work At Home With Kids

1. Timing is everything.

Before the husband, the house, and the kiddos, there was just you (cue the choir of angels), and you could do whatever you wanted when you wanted. Life was simpler back then.   Now, not so much.

As a wife, mom, and everything that comes with those two mammoth monikers, you know that your time is not your own. In fact, generally, your waking time is spent caring for others and let’s be honest, sometimes your sleeping time is spent that way too.

So, during this life stage, it may be hard for you to carve out 3 hours of work time. You may not even be able to carve out one hour of work time. It’s ok. Try to plan out 20-25 minutes of work time three to four times a day.  I can’t take credit for this idea. Rosemarie Groner, from the Busy Budgeter talks about how she used this type of plan to take her business from $18/month to $100,000/month.

It’s a good plan. If you know what you need to accomplish, breaking it up into bite-sized 20-25 minute chunks 3-4 times during the day makes you feel like you’ve actually accomplished something.  It’s amazing.

2. You need a plan.

Now, if you’re going to break your work time into manageable chunks, you need to know what work to do with each time block BEFORE you sit down to work.  With only 20-25 minutes, you ain’t got time to plan. You need to already have a plan or this sanity saver is a bust.

Once a week (I chose Sundays), sit down and plan out everything you want to accomplish during the week. Then break each of those tasks down into 20-25 minute chunks.  So if you’re writing a blog post, the first 20-25 minutes could be the outline, and the next two 20-25 minute segments could be writing.  Finally, your last 20-25 minute time block could be your graphics.

Now, you can do this with jewelry making, graphic design, writing, accounting, marketing, etc. It works for all tasks, and it’s a great way to keep your sanity with the kids while also feeling like a productive woman who’s handling her business.  It’s amazing when you strike that balance between good mom vibes and successful woman, and having a plan will help you get there.

3.  Protect your schedule.

Protecting the schedule is one of my key sanity savers when working at home with kids. My schedule allows me to know what’s for dinner, what kids get for snacks, what I need to work on each day, and how to prep for the next day.  I protect my schedule because it’s what allows me to not only run my business but also to take care of my family.

When my schedule is wonky, my day is wonky and my family is wonky.  We may not eat on time because I don’t have the dinner foods prepped to make a quick meal. When my kids don’t eat on time, they get HANGRY and then there’s a lot of chaos in the home.

If I don’t know what I’m supposed to do during my work segments, I waste time and then I don’t feel productive. Sometimes I may try to squeeze in a few extra minutes of work but then I forfeit time with my kids, and they notice.

If you’re looking for sanity savers to work at home with kids, look no further than your schedule. Not having a schedule is an issue and not protecting your schedule will cause issues.

Having and protecting your schedule is a sanity saver to work at home with kids.

4. Ask for what you need

Ok. This is probably the hardest thing to wrap your mind around as a mom, but you’ve kinda got to stand up and ask for what you need.

That means if you have a partner, you can ask for time to accomplish what you need.

Please do this. Don’t feel badly about needing to ask for what you need. So many of us moms just get used to doing it ALL, but it’s so important that you recognize what YOU need.

Then you need to ASK the people who love you and support you to help you from time to time. It doesn’t make you a bad person. It makes you a healthy person who takes credit for their own needs and allows other people to support them.  When you work at home, this is a huge sanity saver to work at home with kids.

5. Slow and steady wins the race

These are tried and true words of wisdom. At the end of the day, you don’t want to miss time with your kiddos and family, and you don’t want to jeopardize time spent on your business.

So, you just have to come to terms with the fact that you may not be an overnight success but you will be a success.

The great thing though is that you when you are a success, you will still have the same amazing family and you’ll keep all of the sane in your sanity.

Final Thoughts

You can be a work at home mom without losing your sanity. These 5 sanity savers to work at home with kids are amazing to help strike a balance among your marriage, kids, home, and your work.  It doesn’t have to be hard. Keeping the crazy at bay just requires you to take ownership of it all — even noticing what you need and taking that seriously to ask for help.

You can do this.  Did I miss a crazy amazing sanity-saving tip to work at home with kids that works for you? If I did, let me know in the comments below.