The Money Makin’ Mama Newsletter
Brought to you by the Work at Home Mom Center
Win a $25 Amazon Giftcard from the Work at Home Mom Center ~ Entries Are Totally Free!
What would you buy with a free $25 Amazon giftcard?
For our October drawing, we’re giving away a $25 Amazon giftcard and all you have to do is comment on a single blog post, which will appear at the Work at Home Mom Center on October 1, 2010. Please read the blog post before commenting, however, as there’s a special phrase, which must be found in each comment in order to qualify (this is to disqualify spammers).
Aside from your original comment, earn extra entries by doing the following:
1. Blog about the contest on your blog
2. Tweet about the contest from your Twitter account (tweets must include a link to the contest)
3. Post a link to the contest on your Facebook page
After each additional entry, please return to the contest post and comment again, with a link to where we can find your additional entry (ex: “I just tweeted about your contest on my Twitter account at http://Twitter.com/WAHMCtr”.
The contest will run from midnight EST October 1, 2010 through midnight October 31, 2010. Winners will be chosen through Random.org, contacted by email and posted on our website on Monday, November 8, 2010.
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The Work at Home Mom Center’s Tips for Avoiding Work From Home Burnout
Working from home has its privileges, but it also has its pitfalls. One of the largest drawbacks of telecommuting is the tendency to burnout after too many days of the same lonesome routine. This is particularly true for work from home opportunities performed online where there is minimal human interaction. Another drawback is the formation of unhealthy habits, such as unhealthy snacking and developing a sedentary lifestyle, which contributes to unhealthy weight gain, fatigue and poor health.
Here are a few tips to help you avoid work from home burnout:
1. Exercise ~ Engaging in daily exercise doesn’t mean that you have to join an expensive gym or spend hours sweating instead of working. However, it is important that you remember to stretch at regular intervals and engage in some sort of cardiovascular exercise for at least thirty minutes per day. To achieve this, try taking a brisk morning walk around your neighborhood before you begin working or find a yoga DVD to help you wind down after a long day at the computer.
2. Avoid Unhealthy Snacking ~ Working at home means that the kitchen is always just a few feet away. Often, this leads to extra snacking, which leads to fatigue and unhealthy weight gain. To avoid this, be sure to eat three balanced meals throughout the day. As a general rule, don’t bring tempting processed foods, sugary drinks or other unhealthy snacks into your home. Instead, stock your kitchen with fresh fruits and vegetables, and keep a healthy supply of these prepped and close to your workstation while working. Also remember that dehydration is often mistaken for hunger, so if you find yourself hungry between meals, try drinking more water.
3. Keep a Regular Schedule ~ Unless you work for an employer that schedules your shifts for you, working from home means that your time is pretty much your own. While this sounds like the life, be aware that it can also be a bane…particularly if you tend to overwork yourself or fail to structure your day in such a way that you’re able to keep up with all of your duties. Avoid this by keeping a regular work schedule. This doesn’t mean that you have to work an eight hour workday, only that a little structure will help you maintain balance while making sure you remain productive.
4. Take Breaks ~ When deciding your work schedule, be sure to take breaks at regular intervals. It’s a good idea to set a timer to be sure that you’re not overdoing it. Time has a tendency to fly when you’re deeply engrossed in a task and it’s not unusual to sit for hours at a time staring at a computer screen. While you may think this is a good thing because you’re getting the job done, the toll that these long stretches take on your eyesight, your circulation and your overall health is not worth it. Instead, be sure to take at least one ten-minute break per hour. Even better, set a timer to remind you to stop working every thirty minutes and take a ten-minute stretch or walk around the house (or outdoors if it’s a nice day).
5. Unplug for a Day ~ Forget making jack a dull boy, all work and no play will drive mama nuts! Perhaps one of the best things that you can do for yourself and your sanity is to completely unplug for an entire day. Do not power your computer up, do not worry about checking or responding to emails and don’t even think about making business calls. Instead, take a day to enjoy your family or just to nurture your own Spirit. In doing so, you’ll feel rejuvenated, refreshed and better capable of tackling your work tasks when you reconnect.
6. Find Outdoor Activities ~ Working from home often creates more free time, but unfortunately, it also creates workaholics who rarely take the time to stop and smell the roses. You, of course, will not fall into this trap, as you are going to make it a point to seek outdoor activities that you can enjoy alone or with your family on a regular basis. Not only is this good for your mental health, but it’s good for your physical health, as well. We all need a daily dose of vitamin D, of which the sun’s rays are our best source. For this reason, be sure that at least one of your daily breaks includes a minimum of twenty minutes of outdoor sunlight when possible. And, yes, you still need to wear a sunscreen! (By the way, if your home office has a window, please be sure you’re wearing sunscreen to work every day. Even indirect sunlight filtered through a window can contain harmful UV rays.)
7. Change Your Scenery ~ Working from home can be exciting, relaxing and a welcomed change of pace from the hustle and bustle of the outside world. However, after staring at the four walls of your home office day in and day out, it can also become as monotonous as the cubicle life you used to live. Avoid this by changing your scenery every once in a while. One of the perks of working from home is that you can also work just about anywhere else. Make use of this privilege by working from a local coffee shop, library or other location offering Wi-Fi. Be sure to bring your earbuds and favorite MP3s to block out the sounds of your temporary workspace.
8. Find a Forum ~ Perhaps the one thing that’s most easily missed in work at home jobs is the camaraderie of fellow employees. While you may enjoy the quiet allure of your home office, there will be times when you’ll want to discuss work-related issues, current events or even mindless reality shows with others just to make your day go a little faster. Unfortunately, most of your other friends and family members are working outside of the home, and can’t take time to engage in a little healthy procrastination with you. So, find an online forum or other social networking group of other work at home moms or self-employed individuals. Be careful not to spend too much time in these online venues, but it’s nice to have a place where you can drop in virtually 24/7 to chit chat, vent or get a little encouragement from others who understand what it’s like to work from home.
Use these tips as needed to create healthy balance and design a work at home atmosphere that works for you. For more tips on working from home, be sure to read our growing library of articles on the subject.
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Now Available in the Work at Home Mom Center Bookstore:
The 4-Hour Workweek by Timothy Ferriss ~ If you are committed to creating a location independent lifestyle and working smarter instead of longer, then The 4-Hour Workweek is a must read! In an easy to read how-to format, best-selling author Timothy Ferriss shows you how to make money online while working only four hours per week from anywhere in the world. This book is truly a game changer!
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey ~ This book should be a staple in everyone’s library, particularly telecommuters who are looking for solid principles upon which they can build a long, fruitful career. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People is a manual for striking a balance between business and personal lives, and for doing so with integrity and the highest levels of productivity.
Work at Home Now: The No-Nonsense Guide to Finding Your Perfect Home-Based Job, Avoiding Scams and Making a Great Living by Christine Durst and Michael Haaren ~ What else can we say? If you’re serious about working from home, this guide should already be in your library and, if it isn’t, we have it in stock in our bookstore…so get it today!
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Easy Income Streams
1. Examiner ~ Create a passive income by publishing articles at Examiner.com and/or refer a friend (or lots of them) for $50 per referral.
2. Blog ~ Publish a recipe blog, a craft blog, a review blog or blog on any other topic of your choosing while making money from AdSense ads, affiliate marketing or selling your own product(s).
3. CraigsList/Freecycle ~ Sell items that you no longer use on CraigsList. Also, check CraigsList’s For Sale section for FREE items that you can then resell.
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Guest Bloggers Wanted
Do you have a blog or website you’d like to introduce to our growing readership? If so, please contact us at info@workathomemomcenter.com to discuss contributing a guest post to our blog. Please do not submit an entire post before sending us the topic(s) you wish to blog about and receiving a response from us.
To be considered, all blog entries must:
Address some aspect of working from home
Be submitted in a Times New Roman 12 pt font
Be submitted within the body of an email (no attachments, please!)
Contain no more than two self-promoting links (not including your byline)
We do not accept guest posts that link to non-work at home sites. Further, the content featured on your site (or any site linked to within your post) must be original. We will automatically reject entries linking to sites with “borrowed” content.
We do not offer monetary compensation for guest posts.
If you think our guidelines are fair and you’d like to speak to our visiting work at home moms, we’d love to hear what you have to say!
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Have a comment, question or suggestion for the Work at Home Mom Center? Feel free to contact us anytime at info@workathomemomcenter.com.
