Interview with a Work-From-Home Mom

The working mother is in a class by herself.  She basically has two full-time jobs, and any time not spent at work is generally spent with her kids.  It can be a real struggle to balance those two and make time for yourself.

Meet Lyndsey Zorich.  She is a super stylish mom of three young kids, and a fashion blogger who regularly posts pictures of her outfits on her website L. Avenue.  She works from home which presents a unique set of challenges.  “My kids are here a lot of the time when I’m working, so it’s really hard to not get distracted,” she says. It can be hard for the kids to understand too, especially younger ones, that although they can see Mommy, she can’t play with you right now.

How do you keep distractions at a minimum?

Plan your day around the kids’ schedule so that you are making the most of the time they’re away.  Tasks that have to be done at home should be completed while kids are at school or napping.  If you have help after school, go mobile and take your laptop to the nearest Starbucks to get in a few more hours of work.

 Inside Lyndsey’s Closet

Although Lyndsey has a small office tucked in a back corner of the house, her real “office” is her closet.  Her business is clothes, and this is where the magic happens.  When we met to organize her closet, one of her first requests was to have a dedicated space in her closet for outfits she’s shooting.

We kept the front part of the long hanging space completely clear for that purpose.  We also talked about how to prevent this open space from becoming full of items that don’t belong there.  I could just imagine this prime real estate being filled with clothes coming back from the dry cleaners or new purchases.  We also discussed moving photo shoot outfits back to their right spot following the shoot. If you put things away every day, it takes no more than 5 minutes, and it never gets too out of control.

Another issue in Lyndsey’s closet was not being able to see everything.  She indicated she was most likely to wear the items that were right in front of her, which was resulting in amazing clothes not getting worn – a travesty!  We moved jackets, jeans, and vests to the top row, where she indicated she’d be sure to look for those items, and organized tops by short-sleeve or long-sleeve on the low rod with the most visibility.

Other tips to save space:

Switch out summer and winter seasons if you’re short on space.  Lyndsey uses a hall closet that is ideal for this purpose, but other options include under the bed, high shelves in your closet or your kids’, and the attic.

Get rid of items you don’t wear.  A new school year and changing seasons are natural times for a good clean-out and decluttering of your home, but that can be overwhelming and time consuming.  Have a pile, shopping bag, or bucket in each closet where you can put items that are too small or out of style as you find them.  If you haven’t worn it in the past year, it’s time to go.

Acrylic magazine holders are the best solution for clutches and small bags.  

How to maintain your closet once it’s organized?

This is the hardest part.  I can’t stress enough that it takes daily upkeep.  If you have a housekeeper or anyone that helps around the house, it requires constant communication with that person.  Don’t feel badly about telling your housekeeper that your workout top should be folded and not on a hanger.  She can’t read your mind and, in my experience at least, most housekeepers want the instruction from you because they want to make you happy!