5 Must Have Tools for Work at Home Moms

If you’re a mom, you know the phrase “work at home mom” is rather redundant.

We refer to moms who stay home with their kids and don’t have a revenue-generating job as “stay at home moms,” but we all know that’s the crowd with the toughest job of all.

You’re required to have flexible hours, meaning you’re on call 24/7.

You get no sick days, no vacation days, and no option to put in your two week notice if it all becomes just too much.

Of course there is that one thing that makes it worth the lousy hours, lack of pay, and absence of any benefits package.

Seeing that first step is priceless, as is being able to meaningfully engage with your kids and be their main source of influence each day.

Comforting their pains, helping them form their first words, watching them in baby gymnastics or music or art class are all priceless experiences that we’d never trade in for an uncomfortable suit and a paycheck.

But let’s face it, as a stay at home mom your plate is full.

While you may have the desire (or necessity) to transition into work at home mom status, whatever your motivation, it’s definitely not because you’re sitting around all day with too much time on your hands.

If you’ve tried working from home and can’t figure out how to juggle all the balls, or if just the thought of it is keeping you from even taking the plunge into starting your own home based business, don’t give up yet.

You can do it, you’re just going to need some tools that are unique to moms, and that you don’t often hear about when you’re researching how to be more productive in your business.

Yes, all the productivity and automation apps that help you run the mechanics of your business are great, but what happens when you can’t even get enough free time to learn and implement the things that are suppose to make your business easy?

You know, when you need automation tools to automate your automation tools. . .

Unfortunately there’s no magic button to push that saves you from doing the work, but hey, if there was, everyone would be doing it and there wouldn’t be enough to go around for you.

But there are several tools you can have in your work at home mom bag that may not be obvious, but that can be the little things that make the big difference when it comes to building a business that brings in a consistent income.

Today we’ll look at five that you may not have thought of, or appreciated how valuable they can be for your business.

1. Voice Memo and Transcription Apps

Your phone likely comes with a voice memo app, which is great for taking down those new ideas you have while driving to volleyball practice or waiting in the school pick up line. 

Don’t think you’ll remember it for later, you won’t.

Capture all your content ideas, product ideas, and to-dos in voice memos and sort them out when you’re working at home.

Even more useful are speech to text apps that will actually transcribe what you say and have it ready for you to send to someone, publish on social media, or just add to your notes on a project.

Google docs has a free speech to text feature that is mostly accurate. 

You can search the app store for other options if you like. Transcribe - Speech to Text is a popular one, although there is a small fee attached to it after a free trial. Speechnotes is another option that delivers accurate transcription.

Don’t underestimate what you can get done here.

As moms we often work in shorter blocks of time than others do, which can be a blessing.

If you know you only have 15 minutes to get something done, you can often do it in 15 minutes, where it would take 30 if you gave yourself that much time.

With a voice to text app, you can turn 15 minutes of what would be wasted time waiting for your child, into 30 minutes of productive work time.

These apps are also great for when you’re at home, but don’t have two free hands to get done all you had planned for your work day.

2. Education and Relaxation Apps

There are two apps that are especially helpful in the areas of education and relaxation, both of which are essential to your business.

Nearly all successful entrepreneurs say that reading relevant business, personal development, and even fiction books has had a tremendous impact on their business development.

An Audible subscription will allow you to pursue your business education in the car, while laying down with your kids for nap, and even during halftime at their games.

Yes, there is a small monthly fee associated with it, but it’s more than worth it. You can also check out your library’s collection of audiobooks if you’re looking for a no-cost way to get started and you have the ability to download them.

As for relaxation, we often accept that we’re moms and our days are crazy busy and we just don’t have time for a break until we fall exhausted into bed.

But taking short breaks during the day will dramatically improve your productivity.

So drop the supermom expectation and listen to your body and your mind.

You don’t need an hour, sometimes 5 minutes will do the trick to re-energize you and allow you to get focused and back on track.

Installing the free Insight Timer app on your phone will help you take these little breaks and get your brain to quickly turn off and focus on mindfulness and being present.

Insight Timer is a great choice because it has over 10,000 meditations to choose from, including many that are five minutes or less in length.

There’s also something for everyone, including just music, guided meditations, and affirmations. It's available in the App Store and on Google Play.

3. On the Move Office Supplies

For you, get a stack of 3x5 colored index cards (less chance of losing them if they’re colored) and three or four notebooks.

Use the index cards to keep a running to-do list of smaller, non-urgent items. When you find yourself with an extra 10-15 minutes you won’t waste five of them trying to figure out what you can get done.

Just go automatically to your card and knock off a task or two.

Keep a notebook in your bedroom, kitchen, and bathroom, anywhere you spend time not working.

You’ll find these “off hours” can be when your greatest ideas come to you, and you’ll want to capture them in a notebook or they will get lost in all the other stuff that’s constantly filling up your brain.

For your kids, keep a collection of “office supplies” for them that can include paper, colors, colored pencils, scissors, and tape flags.

When you need to get something done, but also need to entertain them, try engaging them in a “work” project with you.

It could involve copying words from a book, coloring a picture of something, cutting out certain shapes, or taking one of your books and putting tape flags at the beginning of each chapter or wherever they see a certain word that occurs several times in the book.

The activity will of course depend on your child’s age, and as they get older they can even help you with some of your actual work.

You’ll find engaging them in a work project with you is more effective than telling them to go away and find something to do while you finish up your task.

It also helps you resist the urge to hire your television as a babysitter.

4. Whiteboard

This is another tool that benefits both you and the kids.

Make sure your whiteboard is big enough to see across the room or as you walk by it.

List your big, must-do tasks for the day, as well as things you’ll be doing with your kids.

For example, your list may say:

Client call

Draft blog post

Social media interaction

Park

This is an easy way for you to check in with yourself throughout the day to make sure you’re focused on what’s important and staying on track.

It’s also a good way to help your kids understand how the day will go, learn patience, and provide encouragement to you.

They can see you check things off as you complete them, or can check them off for you.

Even kids who can’t read can understand that after these three check marks, we’ll head to the park.

5. Manual Kitchen Timer

A final tool that again benefits you and the kids is one of those loud, and arguably obnoxious, kitchen timers that you turn by hand and set to the desired number.

As we’ve talked about before when discussing the Pomodoro Technique, these timers are really helpful when it comes to blocking your time and working for focused periods without interruption.

They’re also easy for your kids to use, and take the mystery out of when that 15 minutes you’re talking about will be up, or when it’ll be time for you to make lunch, or even how much play time you have left before it’s time to go down for naps.

The key with tools like this is that in addition to benefitting you, they’re also easy for your child to see, use, understand, and relate to. 

In addition to those we’ve talked about today, keep your eyes open for anything else that can help your child buy into and understand a schedule that doesn’t include devoting 100% of your time and energies to him.

And remember, having you work at home will be an adjustment for everyone. To the extent that your child’s old enough, keep the lines of communication open as to what’s working and what changes you can put in place to make everyone happier.

Even beyond words, look for body language, and changes in behaviors and moods. 

Never think you have to settle for sacrificing some of your child’s happiness to make this work thing work out.

There is a way to make everyone happy, especially as your children get older and you can simply say, “If you want that Disney cruise this summer, give me one hour to finish this project!”

Ready to Get Started?

Transitioning from stay at home mom to work at home mom is an exciting time.

It can also be a time of uncertainty and stress as you’re opening your business doors and trying to rearrange the family schedule a bit. 

Kids Party Characters owner Cheryl Jacobs has created a membership opportunity that’s designed to take the worry out of starting your own business and give you an experienced mentor to come to when challenges arise.

With membership in KidsPartyCharacters.com, you get a business that’s ready to go.

You’ll have access to our 200+ costumes, our acting coach, and our casting director.

You also have an exclusive territory in which only you can book parties, as well as step-by-step mentoring and training from Cheryl on how to start your business.

If you’re looking for the easiest way to start a fun and rewarding business, membership in KidsPartyCharacters.com could be the perfect answer for you.

Book a free, no-pressure chat with Cheryl right here and she’ll answer all your questions and help you figure out the best path for you.

Want to learn more about Kids Party Characters? Join us on Facebook for daily updates about the magic we create at parties, as well as all our best business strategies that have made Kids Party Characters a six figure business for Cheryl.