Parenting

At home with success
You can find joy, autonomy and success as a parent and a professional from the comfort of your own home. Kaye Langit-Luistro tells us how to make it as an entrepreneurial parent.

Henry Alviz is the owner and graphic designer of his home-based design studio, which has been creating brochures, logos and flyers for multimedia productions for 5 years now. He is also a father of three.

"I'm there for my kids whenever they need me," says Alviz. "I have the distinct privilege of seeing them grow up right before my eyes."

On the other hand, Melody Remorca finds satisfaction in home-schooling her kids aged 12, 10 and 4 months. She "feels right at home" juggling her responsibilities as parent and teacher - and even finds the time to occasionally work as a professional storyteller in schools, museums and private functions. "If I'm booked for 3 consecutive days, I make sure that I'm with my family for the next 2 days to balance things out," she says.

Integrating work with home life is not an entirely new concept. Until the industrial revolution in the 18th century, which divided societies into public and private domains, men and women worked from the home - tanning hides, churning butter, sewing clothing. Traditionally, home-based endeavors meshed well with childrearing. In fact, Alviz has discovered that such intertwining of work and parenting, even with the initial hardships of adjusting to difficult clients and unsteady income and workflow, can be extremely rewarding financially.

Here are some tips on how to be a successful work-at-home parent/professional:

Save and spend wisely. "You have to live within your means," says Hector Jimenez, the chief operating officer of a communication consultancy firm. A 20-year study done by Thomas J. Stanley, Ph.D., and William D. Danko, Ph.D., on how people become wealthy validates this principle. They later published their findings in the phenomenal bestseller The Millionaire Next Door.

"Entrepreneurial parents make up less than 20 percent of workers in the United States but account for 66 percent of millionaires because they live well below their means by wearing inexpensive suits and driving American-made cars," write the authors. "They are also fastidious investors who allot nearly 20 percent of their household realized income each year. These millionaires allocate their time, energy and money efficiently in ways conducive to building wealth and not by accumulating designer clothes, shoes or racing cars."

"My family puts all our spare change in a piggy bank," says Ruth Dizon, mother of two, "and we are quite surprised at how much they add up at the end of the year."

Maximize time. " Jot down everything you've done for the past 2 weeks so you get an idea of what your routine is like," suggests Carmen Go-Vargas, a counselor for a radio program. "Then you can start working on a realistic schedule that will effectively answer your needs as a parent-professional."

Break down your daily routine: Do I tend to run my errands in the morning or in the afternoon? When does the baby nap, eat or take a bath? The answers to such questions will come in handy when planning your schedule.

Alviz has his hands full taking care of his kids - giving them baths, changing their clothes, feeding them, sending them to school in the morning and picking them up in the afternoon. Still, he manages to keep a 9-to-5 schedule most of the time. To maximize time, he works when his kids are napping or playing. But there are times when he just has to pull an all-nighter to beat a deadline. "My creative juices simply flow during crunch time," Alviz says.

Train kids. Experts say that training babies to enjoy their playpen will help it make easier for parents to work. Just make sure you don't rely on the playpen too much.

Dizon uses lots of "books, paints, crayon, writing materials, art and crafts stuff, everything to make [my kids] busy while I'm at work." Of course, there will be times when these aids won't work. Do not fret. Take the afternoon off to bring the kids to a mall, a nearby park, gym, museum or art gallery. Adjust your schedule to work earlier or later hours like when your kids are sleeping or playing.

Allot quiet time with your spouse. "There's really that elusive balance between family and career," says Dizon, "and couples sometimes fail [to maintain this balance] because they don't know what their values and priorities are."

Says Clem Guillermo, managing director of an international mission organization that provides counseling through radio broadcast and literature, "You are a husband or a wife first, a parent second, an entrepreneur or employee last."

Observe boundaries. Make your loved ones appreciate your newfound independence as a work-at-home entrepreneur by devising reasonable ways to divide your personal errands and professional duties. Assign several hours each week to accept personal "requests" (invitations, favors, etc.) from relatives and friends, but develop the courage to say "no" if your workload does not allow it.

You can also get two phone lines for your home - one for business and another for personal calls. Encourage your family to call the home line to keep the office line free for business calls.

Feed your soul. Being a work-at-home professional can get stressful at times. Experts recommend reading books that help focus your mind on peace and inner strength. Keep a journal of your fears, anxieties, dreams and successes so that you may be able to hear your inner voice even if you're buried in tons of paperwork and household chores.

Remember: Do not be ashamed to acknowledge your limitations as an entrepreneurial parent. Cut yourself some slack. Soon, your dream of achieving a successful home and work life will come true.