Overloaded? How to Determine What Type of Help to Hire

By Melissa Batai

WAHMs often have a difficult job juggling childcare and work. As babies grow older and sleep less or your workload increases, you may find it increasingly difficult to get all of your work done. Fortunately, this is a great problem to have because it usually means your business is healthy.

If you're considering bringing on help, try this test to see how much and what type of help you need:

1. Track all of your time for a week or two. Tracking your time is tedious, but doing so can help you identify places where you spend your time but don't bring in income. (Social media updates and e-mail can be notorious time drains.)

2. Identify financially where it's best to outsource. Do you spend 4 hours a week cleaning house? That's time you're not making any money. If you make $50 an hour, why not hire a housekeeper to clean your house for 3 to 4 hours for $75? You're still coming out ahead working 4 more hours at $50 instead of cleaning.

The same can be done with your workload. Do you spend 3 hours a week promoting your business on social media? Why not hire a virtual assistant to do that so you can instead do your most productive job and make more money?

3. Consider all the ways you can outsource. You have many options when it comes to outsourcing--hiring a housekeeper, a babysitter, a virtual assistant.

How would you like to spend your time? If you'd prefer to spend more time with your kids, then make hiring a virtual assistant or housekeeper your priority.

As an entrepreneur, it's best to outsource so that you can spend your limited time doing what you're best at and what makes you the most profit. If your hourly wage is higher than the hourly wage you'd have to pay if you hired someone to relieve some of your work burden, the decision then just becomes what do you feel most comfortable outsourcing?

Melissa, a mom to three little ones (ages 7, 3 and 1) blogs at Mom's Plans where she writes about living a fulfilling life on less and focuses on cutting expenses, budgeting, paying down debt, saving money and once a month cooking.

1099 Top 10: Ways to Boost Your Income

We like to regularly share our favorite posts from the Work at Home Mom niche. Some articles may come from Moms, but all of them will be great. Enjoy!

• Are you looking to work from home so you can care for young children or have a flexible schedule? The Work at Home Wife gives 5 ways to supplement your income while staying home.
  
  
• My Multiple Incomes Shares strategies for snagging advertising deals for your blog. Just make sure to take only legitimate advertisers so you don't inadvertently damage your PR.

Picks & Promos: Image Reviewers and Bloggers Needed

Welcome to our weekly Picks and Promos spotlight, where we highlight some of the job opportunities that we have found for 1099 and other employment from home.  The second is a sampling of great deals, giveaways, and promotions that are perfect for work-at-home moms!

Picks

• About.com seeks Topic Writers and Guides
• Shutterstock seeks Image Reviewers to Work from Home
• Words Without Borders needs a part-time education Editor

7 Tips and Tools to Relieve Carpal Tunnel and Repetitive Motion Pain While Working From Home

Not long after I had my 4th child, I suffered from horrible hand pain.  It lingered in my fingers, mostly in my joints, and I became frustrated after my doctor couldn't find or diagnose anything specific.  I went to months of occupational therapy with no help.  Then, after 2 years, the pain went away.

After my 5th child was born, the pain came back.  This time, it was mild when I wasn't typing or doing something repetitive with my hands (such as sewing or writing).  It became unbearable when I would sit for any length of time and type.  Even clicking the mouse caused me numbness and pain in the same areas I had experience before.

I tried a number of solutions, some with no results.  Others, however, did wonders for my pain.  Whether you suffer from wrist, shoulder, finger, or hand pain -- if it is worsened with you work at your desk, these tips and tools may help you, too.

1.  Breaking up your work.  You shouldn't be sitting at your desk for longer than 20 minutes at a time anyway.  It's bad for your back, eyes, and your waistline.  By setting a small timer (I prefer Online-Stopwatch), you can set up mini sessions of work and then get up and give your body (and painful areas) a break.