Making Work at Home Work: Successfully Growing a Business and a Family Under One Roof

I have worked at home for 24 years and yet I still learned a lot from this book, from streamlining repetitive processes to the crucial need for taking breaks, which is so hard to do when you're self-employed. It was nice just to read about someone who'd experienced -- and successfully overcome, some of the same challenges of working at home. Whether you're just thinking about working at home or have done so for a while, you'll get some immediately helpful tips from this book.

Many people would rather work at home than leave the home every day for work. I know that I would certainly rather stay home with my family each day than go to work at an outside location. However, working at home brings with it a whole new set of challenges. I've been both a work away from home mom and a work at home mom. When my daughter was born, I went right back to work full time in an office. When my son was born, I stayed home for 18 months. I also stayed home for a year while I was homeschooling. I'm now working about 3/4 time out of the house and 1/4 time at home. My goal is to stay at home full time once we can manage by growing my blog and turning it into a work at home business. Mary M. Byers showcases twelve work at home women and their businesses and talks about what they've learned about working at home. She also teaches you how to schedule your time, manage business expenses, know when to take a break, avoid stress with your relationships, manage childcare when necessary, plan for the future and work smarter so you can make more. Making Work at Home Work is a great tool for the work at mom whether you own your own business or you are a direct sales representative. For a bloggers like me who are trying to manage an income from our blogs, her ideas helped keep me on track and motivated. I really love the Appendix that she included that's filled with quick and easy dinner recipes for work at home moms. What a huge help when we are pressed for time or working on a deadline. I can't wait to try the creamy lasagna recipe! If you're a working mom who's struggling to make working at home work for you, I highly recommend that you read this book. Mary Byers will get you started on the path you need to follow to be more organized and successful.

Working at home is the ultimate dream, but is it really a reality? "Making Work at Home Work: Successfully Growing A Business and a Family Under One Roof" is a guide to working at home, and how to make sure one gets work done instead of slacking off. Schedules, expenses, and the future are all things that still must be considered; "Making Work at Home Work" is a solid and necessary manual for the person who has merged home and workplace.

As a blogger, I do all of my work from home. Or, at least I TRY to. But making time for work amidst the mothering and wife-ing I do can make me crazy. That's why I was so excited about Mary's book! "Making Work at Home Work" sounds like a no brainer...until you've tried to do it. My husband recently retired from his government job to pastor full-time, and he's found it to be a struggle as well. Mary gives sound and wise counsel in her book that is easy to follow. Part One discusses how to save your sanity, with chapters on being honest with yourself and a lot of self-examination. I found this especially helpful as I tend to allow my family life to blur with my working life... ...because I don't set boundaries and I don't treat my work as work... Part Two is filled with wisdom on Preserving Your Profit. If you're running your own business or offering a service from your home, this section is a MUST READ. Mary has truly done her homework, and she graciously shares her insight and counsel in easy to understand and read chapters. I also loved the work-at-home mom profiles, especially Amy Peterson's---and NOT because we share the last name! By adding real life examples, Mary just gives her book more credibility. Not that she needs more with me! "Making Work at Home Work" isn't just informative, it's enjoyable reading. That makes it worth a five out of five bookmark rating from me, with a tiny filing cabinet as a charm. Don't file this book away...read it!

The author did a great job tackling a subject I haven't seen before. Working at home comes with a great need for goals and balance. She did well at helping the reader set boundaries and work the smartest way possible. I would recommend it to any work at home parent