How I Make Working From Home As A Single Mom…Work.

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Hey mamas,

Are you suddenly faced with the prospect of being a work from home mom? With all the changes in our world right now (thanks a lot corona virus…) a lot of moms are now looking for ways to work from home. The good news for you is, I am the OG work from home mom and I can help you out!

So if you need some tips and inspiration because you are now forced to be home, or if you just are curious in general, I welcome you to my post sharing all about how I make working from home (as as a single mom) work!

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How I Make Working From Home As A Single Mom Work

So, confession time. Being a single mom is hard…like, super hard. I guess that isn’t really much of a confession, is it? Whether you’re a single mom or not, I’m sure you know quite well how hard it is. But, for me, it’s harder than I ever anticipated.

When I was faced with the reality of raising my son on my own, without his father being in the picture I thought “ok, no big deal, we’ll be fine. Women raise kids on their own all the time. I’m strong, I can do this. Who needs ya!” But now as my son is getting older…I’m struggling to make it all work without much support around and it’s not getting any easier, especially with a tough little stinker like my son.

Now add working from home to this and well….I’m sure you can already see my sanity flying right out the dirty window…but it’s a choice I made the moment I found out I’d be expecting this little bundle of….joy (in a sarcastic tone). I had always planned on being a work from home mom, it’s something I firmly believe in. I have always felt that mothers belong home with their children, and if a second income was needed or if she simply just wanted her own “thing” other than the whole housewife stereotype, then a little work from home business is a  perfect idea.

But I just never thought I’d be alone, with no husband to help support us. So…here I am, sticking to my guns and my beliefs about motherhood and after nearly 10 years and many unsuccessful tries and wasted time on failed ideas, I now have my own home business running this blog!

Image via Pinterest
Image via Pinterest

I love working at home for many reasons other than just my firm belief that it is the right thing to do as a mother. It allows me to homeschool my son, which is also hugely important to me and it also gives us more time together each day and more freedom and flexibility to just live life and not worry much about schedules or me having to leave him with strangers.

It is my job to teach him, raise him and help him grow. So, I have to make it all work. No matter how stressful, how difficult, how soul-crushing, headache-inducing or social life destructing it all is. Every second is worth it to know that I am doing what is best for my child by giving him me, all day, every day. So how exactly do I make it work? Let me break it down…or at least try to anyway…

Financially:

This is one of the biggest issues with working at home being a single parent. Without another person bringing home the bacon, it’s all up to me to provide for the two of us. Some months are not exactly worry-free, in fact, most aren’t. But since we live with my parents, that helps a great deal in that department. I still have to pay for all our separate bills, food, clothes, and pretty much everything else.

So pulling in enough income to keep us going is quite the struggle. My blog is still growing, and I  have a long way to go before I can say I am a successful blogger, but with my super skills at budgeting, and finding all kinds of ways to save money and pinch those pennies I think we do pretty well. We never go without.

I hustle like a mama should, work hard and go after my goals. With time and plenty of sweat and tears, we will make it. It’s a work in progress people. So as long as we have pizza and Netflix we’re good. ‘Cause…those are the important things, right? 😛

Time Management:

As for managing time for work, school and free time I have a pretty simple system. I mainly work at night. Partly due to having bad internet because we live out in the remote country and partly due to needing to focus on work without constant distraction and having to stop and scream at my rambunctious and sometimes seemingly possessed 9-year-old.

So, every night I stay up long past even when most night owls have slipped into dreamland, and I get shiz done. Then during the day, there is more time for homeschooling lessons, daily chores, and even some writing. I also give thanks to using a day planner to creatively put down all the daily to-do’s, shopping lists, tv show schedules, appointments, reminders, and goals.

How I work from home as a single mom|neveralonemom.com
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I use fun stickers and washi tapes to make it something I actually want to take the time to do. Using a really well put together planner with lots of room and space for writing is a must for any busy mom or businesswoman.

 

Plan Outings:

Another way I make it all work is by panning out the specific days to leave the house and run errands. Knowing what day you’re going out days ahead of time really helps. Usually, once a week we make our trips to town, which for us is over an hour’s drive being out in the remote country. We go grocery shopping, drugstore runs, pet store, department store, thrift store and everything else in one full day out.

Then plan next week’s trip or decide we don’t need one and skip a week. It’s great to spend a day out remembering that I am in fact a human, that there are other people out there and feel how nice it is to not wear sweatpants for a day. It helps with so much! (considering recent changes this has now become way more interesting!)

Lastly, I make things work by my sheer motivation. I stick to my reasons for doing everything I’m doing and no matter what the obstacles, I make things happen and keep our little family going. I enjoy being a crazy mompreneur. Well…sometimes, and every sanity losing moment is well worth it.

Image via Pinterest
Image via Pinterest

For more insights on working from home, being a single mom or tons of other tips, stories, and advice I love to share, please “like” and subscribe to my blog! You’ll get motherhood quote freebies! And don’t forget to find me on social media and subscribe to my mailing list!

Much love, your girl,

Jess XO

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16 Comments

  1. Erin_ForTheLoveofCrust

    August 22, 2016 at 8:06 am

    I love this. I’m not a single mom, but I am a work from home mom and I understand some of the struggles. For me, time management is tricky, but I am working on it and trying to get in a more consistent routine for the sake of my blog and my family.

    1. neveralonemom

      August 22, 2016 at 1:02 pm

      Yes, the time management struggle is real. I hope you are successful in finding ways to make it work. Thanks so much for the comment!

  2. Suzy @ In The Lyons Den

    August 23, 2016 at 5:27 am

    You’re an amazing mother and woman! I work, have kids and a husband and I am constantly busy so hats off to you for juggling it and making it all work. It is tough but we do it for our kids. I know several people who were raised by single parents and they have such admiration for their parents because they now know how much more they needed to put in. Working from home and homeschooling must take a lot of organisation so well done! You are doing such a great job. 🙂

    1. neveralonemom

      August 23, 2016 at 4:09 pm

      Aww thank you so much! It’s really hard, but like you said it’s for our kids. You’re so kind!

  3. Emily Bendler

    August 29, 2016 at 10:02 am

    I am super impressed. That’s a lot on your plate!

    1. neveralonemom

      August 29, 2016 at 1:51 pm

      Thank you! It is a lot, probably why I can’t see straight most of the time! LOL. You’ve got a lot on yours too, so high five girl!

  4. Alyssa Knee

    August 29, 2016 at 4:02 pm

    I’m not a single mum but I love the idea of working from home and I am hoping that I can build my blog into a business so that I can have more time at home when bubs is born. I think people assume that it is easier than it seems but like you said it is a tonne of hard work, and even more so when you’re a single parent. I commend you!!

    1. neveralonemom

      August 29, 2016 at 4:12 pm

      Yes! That’s awesome, I hope that works for you! Thanks! 🙂

  5. amylubooks

    August 29, 2016 at 6:43 pm

    I love the honesty you portray in this piece. I admire how hard you work to provide for your family and make time to be the best mom you can be too.

    1. neveralonemom

      August 30, 2016 at 1:38 pm

      Thank you so much! I really appreciate that! 🙂

  6. catherinemryan

    August 30, 2016 at 1:27 pm

    I work from home, too, but am lucky that my mom watches my girls a few days a week so I can legit work. I find that being in a different room – i.e. downstairs rather than trying to write at the kitchen table, which is at the heart of the house – really helps me focus!

    1. neveralonemom

      August 30, 2016 at 1:37 pm

      That’s great that you have support from your mom! I may live with my parents but unsupported. I can’t leave my son unsupersived, so he’s always underfoot distracting me, a part of why I do some of my work at night! Yay WFH mommy-ing lol.

  7. melissa velazquez

    October 11, 2016 at 7:55 am

    I am a single mom working from home too. Here’s a virtual hug because it is a lot harder than people think. I actually just recenlty posted about it too. Great minds!

    1. Jess10

      October 15, 2016 at 8:22 pm

      Yes! Virtual hug back, and a high five! 🙂

  8. Amandela Harris

    September 21, 2017 at 7:40 am

    OMG I love this. It struggle with the thought of leaving to go to work everyday and being away from my daughter. I mean in the end the sacrifices I make to make ends meet do not seem to outweigh the benefits of being away most of the time. I am not okay with not taking advantage of the opportunity to raise her by allowing her to go to daycare. I miss her tremendously and I admire that you stepped out on faith and you are making it work. The fact that you are a single mom doing it by yourself is heroic in itself. I would never want to do this journey alone but I am so glad that in you make it work. I love the idea of virtual hugs. I heart you and I hope we can stay in tune with each others blogs.

    1. Jess10

      September 21, 2017 at 6:00 pm

      Thank you! Bug virtual hug and heart back! I’d love for you to subscribe to my new blog by signing up at http://www.neveralonemom.com

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Never Alone Mom