“Balancing Diapers and Deadlines” – Review

My kids are long out of the diaper stage, but there’s more to balance than ever, and that’s why I was excited to review the class Balancing Diapers and Deadlines from Lisa Tanner Writing.

I haven’t taken this type of online class before.  It’s a go-at-your-own-pace thing with a box to check when you’ve finished a module and some printable activity components.  I really liked that structure.  The sections have outlines table-of-contents style, so you can see what you’ll be learning, and there are buttons at the end of each page to go directly to the next one.  Each page is it’s own module, so if you’re working through more than one at a time, that’s really convenient.

The action steps at the end of the modules give you something concrete to think about and work toward.  It can be easy, I think, to read someone else’s advice who has it all together and has figured it out and feel like it’s impossible to get there, even when you’re reading their ideas about how to do it.  The action step gives you something positive to do to work toward the goal of the chapter – an achievable, definable plan for making progress.  I like that.

 

The purpose for this course is to help you find ways to balance a busy home life while running your own work-from-home business.  The author is a homeschooling mom of eight, complete with animals, lessons to teach, and a house to manage, so she has experience at multitasking and getting things done.  Knowing that your teacher has accomplished what you’re trying to learn is always a plus, and it sounds as if Lisa Tanner has really made her business and schedule work for her.

Because the idea is to run a business from home, it’s important that your home already be running smoothly before throwing a business into the mix.  To that end, many of the modules and ideas in this class are to help you do just that.  There are ideas for streamlining meal plans and basic, everyday decision making so that those routine tasks don’t eat away at your brain power.  How to handle household chores also take up a big part of the early sections of this book.  Who can concentrate on their creative work when the floors are sticky and the laundry stinks, right?  

One of the biggest themes I see in this course is how to get your family to come alongside you in your work in nearly every way.  From helping them understand your purpose and goals for the business to helping around the house to actually acting as a virtual assistant or secretary, the author makes a case for having your family very involved.  

This is really important.  If your kids don’t understand the time you spend on the computer or you can’t work there uninterrupted, your work won’t be it’s best.  I think, though, that many of the ideas shared in these sections are going to work best for larger families; at least, some of them wouldn’t work in my house, with my two, middle-school-aged kids.  That’s only logical, since the author is sharing what works for her, at her house, with her family; but if you’re coming from the perspective of a smaller-family Mom like me, I think that’s an important factor to consider.  I can see how some of these ideas might have worked when my kids were a bit smaller, too, but they’ve outgrown important aspects of them for now.  

My kids are both big enough to help with my work, though, and ways to involve them more is something I’ve been kicking around, so I appreciated reading about the ways that Tanner’s kids help her.  I’m not sure which parts I might pick up yet, but she definitely gave me food for thought.

The author provided sample routine ideas for how to get household chores and school lessons completed, but one thing I would have liked to see more of is what her work schedule looks like.  She gave great examples of how to fit bits and pieces of her work into the busy parts of her day, but does she ever have a larger chunk of time when she’s able to sit down and do some focused work?  I would have liked to see an example of that kind of schedule.

My favorite modules were the ones talking about sustainable growth and being creative with your time.  I think that Tanner provided really clear ideas and goals that should be transferrable to any type of home business here.  The absolute best, though, is at the very end where she talks about not comparing yourself to someone else.  Your plan for your home and business will look different from mine, and that’s okay.  I love the assurances she shares in this chapter.

If you’re struggling with how to find time to run your home-based business, check out Balancing Diapers and Deadlines from Lisa Tanner Writing.  I bet you’ll find some really sensible ideas to smooth your path.