Working at Home Archives

3 Ways to Motivate Yourself When You Work at Home

May 8, 2018 by Selena Robinson Leave a Comment

Whenever I tell someone I work from home, their response is usually “Wow! I wish I could work at home!”

Well….they’re right and wrong about that.

Working from home definitely has its perks. I can set my own schedule, I take breaks when I feel like it (for the most part), and I have instant access to my house and family.

But there are also drawbacks to working from home and one of the biggest is needing to motivate myself to get stuff done. I have no boss standing over my shoulder and no workmates to inspire me to be productive. It’s all on me.

Which is exhausting.

Image c/o: photographee.eu / depositphotos

3 Ways to Motivate Yourself When You Work from Home

To be fair, I’ve had a lot of practice at working on my time. I was homeschooled from seventh grade onward and the responsibility for getting my schoolwork done was completely on me. That was my first experience at setting my own work schedule.

In addition, both of my parents were entrepreneurs, so I got to witness firsthand why self-discipline is so essential to making a self-employed business work.

Personally, I’ve worked from home since 2009. Over the years, I found a few work at home productivity tips that are simple, effective, and easy to adapt. I use them regularly and they do not fail to get me moving, no matter how much I’m dragging in the morning.

Take a look at the three work at home productivity tips I use to get my day started over at With the Huddlestons!

3 Work at Home Productivity Tips – With the Huddlestons

Do you work at home? How do you get your butt in gear when it’s time to work? Share your tried-and-tested work at home productivity tips in the comments!

Thinking of a second career after having kids? Don’t miss this post!

Do you homeschool and work? Take a look at how I make that work for me!

Plus, get ideas for starting your own blog on my Blogging Smart Pinterest board!

3 Powerful Reasons to Invest In Your Education As a Mom

December 5, 2017 by Selena Robinson Leave a Comment

How many hours a week do you spend supporting your child’s education? Five, ten, more?

If your kids go to public school, you likely spend a lot of time helping them get ready for school, arrive on time, complete all of their homework assignments, and prepare for end-of-year testing. If you’re a homeschooling family (like we are), then you probably spend even more time preparing, supporting, and providing your child’s education.

Can I ask you something though?

How much time have you spent on your own education? When’s the last time you learned something new? What was the last book you read that taught you a new idea? If it’s been a while, you’re in good company.

As moms, we spend years giving of ourselves to our children and, along the way, we can forget to take care of ourselves: our physical health, our emotional space, and even our intellectual development. It might seem like an indulgence, but continuing education for moms is actually a worthwhile endeavor.

Whether you prefer learning through books, online classes, or in-person workshops, there are three powerful reasons to invest in your own education as a mom.

Images c/o: rawpixel & monkeybusiness / depositphotos

3 Powerful Reasons to Invest In Your Education As A Mom

1. You’ll expand your own perspective.

You’d be surprised at how much more we know about life than we did the last time you went to school. I know I was. I went back to college in 2013 – 14 years after graduating – and found that what I learned completely reshaped my views on historical events, society, and culture.

The world has changed quite in a bit over the past 20 years. Learning about new discoveries, inventions, and ways of doing things can do wonders for your personal outlook.

2. You’ll improve your teaching skills.

As a homeschooling parent, I am constantly teaching my children. What I learned by going back to college has made it so much easier for me to teach advanced concepts to my own kids.

My seventh-grader, for example, was recently learning about the cell. As she tried to memorize mitosis and meiosis, I actually remembered what those processes were and could help. How? Certainly not because of the science class I barely passed 15 years ago. But my biology class a few years ago prepared me for this topic and then some. I even remembered what the Golgi apparatus does!

Even if your kids go to public school, you will not be able to escape science, math, and advanced English topics. As your kids study them and complete projects, you’ll be in a much better position to help when you’ve invested in your own education.

3. You’ll set an excellent example for your kids.

Most of all, though, investing in continuing education for moms will show your children that you personally value learning. You’re more than just an adult who barks at kids to “get an education”. You’re a mother who loves to learn and takes education seriously.

I cannot tell you how many times I’d look over from completing a college assignment and see my daughter pretending to type on the computer and write papers just like Mom. That always warmed my heart.

What’s more, if you use adult education to begin a new career or advance your current one, you’ll be living proof that education is worthwhile. My kids have seen me go back to college and start a brand new career as a result. Because of that, they will always know that continuing education equals career advancement.

If you’re thinking of investing in your own education by going back to college online, Ashworth College is definitely worth your consideration.

Ashworth College is one of the premier online education providers for adults. The college offers over 125 different programs, including Early Childhood Education, Accounting (my original college major!), and Veterinary Technician.

Since Ashworth programs are flexible, you can go back to school without upending your busy life as a mom. You can go at your own pace, completing the program you choose in a timeframe that works for you.

And because Ashworth’s tuition rates, on average, are five times lower than other online education providers, you won’t have to worry about going into debt.

Unsure about how to proceed? Don’t worry! Ashworth will support your program success along the way, ensuring that you finish your program and make progress toward the career you want.

Visit the school’s website to find out how Ashworth College can help you invest in YOUR education!

See more about online learning can help you discover a brand new career below!

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Ashworth. The opinions and text are all mine.

How to Restart Your Career After Motherhood

February 16, 2017 by Selena Robinson Leave a Comment

I’ve never regretted my decision to have children. Motherhood has been tough and demanding, yet I have loved every day of it. But I didn’t love what it did to my career.

Before I became a mom, I had a budding career as a tax accountant. In February 2004, I received a promotion – my third in six months – and began managing the entire payroll department of the upscale staffing service where I worked. Two weeks later, I discovered I was pregnant.

After looking into daycare rates in our city, we realized that it made no financial sense for me to continue working after our child was born. So I opted to become a stay-at-home mom. And that’s what I remained for the next several years.

Once we had our last child, I started thinking about returning to the workforce. But my resume had an eight-year gap and I had no recent job experience or training to land something new. Worse, I didn’t know what I wanted to do or how to get started finding it out.

Over time, though, I discovered how to reboot my post-motherhood career. And now, I’m working at a job I love, on a schedule that works for me, and still staying at home with my children! If you’re wondering how to restart your career after motherhood, these three tips are a simple way to begin.

Photo by Daxiao_Productions / depositphotos

How to Restart Your Career After Motherhood

1. Find your passion. Being a mother places an extreme demand on your time. That means that you won’t have the time you had before to pursue a brand new field. What will make up for that time crunch?

Passion. If you are truly passionate about what you are pursuing, you’ll stick with it, even when you’re exhausted or under pressure. How do you find your passion?

Think: What gets you excited? What topics do you read about or talk about the most? What do you look forward to doing each day? Those are good starting points for finding your passion. And once you’ve found your passion, you can start choosing a potential career field.

2. Research the market. Once you’ve found the sector you’d like to work in, dig a bit deeper. What does it take to be successful in that field? Does the amount of time and effort required fit with the lifestyle you want to live?

For example, I wanted to return to my first love: writing. But I also wanted to stay at home and continue homeschooling my kids. Obviously, becoming an English professor was not in the cards, because of the rigor of attending graduate school. So I had to adjust my career goals to ones that would fit well with the kind of life I wanted to share with my family.

3. Get an updated education. Many career fields that did not require a college degree in the past now do. And this is where years away from the workforce due to motherhood can really start to show up.

I had been to college in my teens and graduated, but my chosen discipline (Accounting) didn’t fit my new career goal (Writer). Further, a lot of the information I had learned had been updated and revised. I wondered what else I might have missed as I spent the years doting on my kids.

So I went back to college using online distance learning. I completed my English degree and now work from home doing the job I love – writing.

If it hadn’t been for online schooling, I probably wouldn’t have been able to pursue the career I wanted and that’s why schools like Ashworth College are such a great asset for busy mothers.

Can’t find a babysitter? You don’t need one with Ashworth. You can “attend” class right from your home on the computer, using a class schedule that works for you.

Plus, Ashworth is affordable. Compared to similar schools, Ashworth’s tuition costs, on average, five times less. Which means you can graduate debt-free, something I, frankly, wish I would have done.

Whether you’re a mom of many or a mom of one, a veteran mother or a first-timer, it is possible to restart your career after motherhood. If you take the time to find out what you’re passionate about sharing, do your research, and get the kind of education that will prepare you for your next career, you’ll be on your way to a rebooted career you love!

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Ashworth College . The opinions and text are all mine.