The realities of being a work from home mum

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Choosing to be a work from home mum may sound like a great idea initially - you get to spend time with the kids, avoid the dreaded commute, make a little money and feel a sense of self worth and confidence as you run your own home business.

However, before you take the plunge you need to think realistically about what it's going to mean. Being tied to the house by both work and your kids can lead you to feel pretty isolated. If you're doing work that doesn't involve many phone calls you can find yourself missing adult conversation and if you're busy you may find that you just don't leave the house for days on end except to drop off and pick up the kids from school. Could you really hack it?

If you're the kind of person who thrives on social contact and interaction, being a work from home mum may prove more stressful than you think. After a week of working at home writing reports for your previous employer you may just find that you're beginning to talk to yourself or are glad when the phone rings and it's a salesman giving you a pitch on double glazing - it's human contact after all you tell yourself.

To beat that feeling of isolation as a work from home mum you need to figure out a way to have more contact with the outside world. When you're scheduling your daily tasks make sure you've got a least two on your list that demand contact with others. It may only be two phone calls but it's a good start.

Make yourself get out of the house at least once a day. Go post some letters, go to the corner store to pick up some milk or just hang some washing out in the garden.

Try to organise a working lunch now and again, to meet a client, a former colleague or to network with new potential sources of work. See if any of your clients would like you to work at their office one day a week - it'll feed your cravings for social contact and make you glad to get back to your home office at the end of the day.

You've got to work hard to be a successful work from home mum - both in terms of your finances and your happiness. Don't let a feeling of isolation make you regret your decision to work at home, make some effort and you can have the best of both worlds.

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