If you’re a stay-at-home mom who wants to be a work-at-home mom, you’re not alone. Many parents dream of working from home and having more time with their families. However, it’s not easy to find a work-at-home job that allows for the kind of flexibility you need when you’re home all day with children. In this article, we’ll discuss the pros and cons of being a work-at-home mom and how paid surveys are a popular choice for moms who need a kid-friendly, adaptable schedule.
The Pros and Cons of Being a Work-at-Home Mom
Millions of parents who work from home find themselves feeding the baby with one hand and typing with the other. It’s not unusual for a mom to leave her workspace dozens of times an hour to wipe little noses, prepare meals, or break up a squabble among siblings. Working from home with young children can mean bouncing a little one on your lap while you try to have a professional call with a client or team member. It’s a challenge.
And when it comes time for a bit of self-care? Forget it. There are no quiet lunch breaks or workouts in the company gym. As a work-from-home parent, your productivity button is stuck on “go” all the time. Yet millions of working parents are leaving their jobs to be home with their kids. Let’s talk about the pros and cons of working out of your home:
The Cons:
Some potential disadvantages of being a work-at-home parent include:
- A Sense of Isolation: It can feel like you are on an island unto yourself with no coworkers to interact with.
- Lack of Benefits: Not getting perks like paid vacation, health insurance, and other benefits
- Interruptions From Outside: You get pop-in visits and phone calls from other adults who think that working from home means you have all the free time in the world.
- Interruptions From Inside: You’re already well aware of these interruptions. Teething babies, dirty diapers, tantrums, and other disruptions can make it hard to concentrate on your work.
Despite the disadvantages of being a work-at-home mom, many people still pursue this lifestyle, and with very good reason—the pros generally far outweigh the cons. Being home with your children as they are growing up is a gift not everyone gets. Many moms who work away from home feel deprived of all the memorable “firsts” in their children’s lives—the first steps, first words, etc.
The Pros:
You will always be there for your kids: It’s torture to be stuck in a cubicle when your child is sick or having a hard time. Working at home means you will always be there when they need you.
- Enjoying All the Little Moments: Raising children is one of the great joys in life. However, when you are absent for a good part of the day, you miss out on huge chunks of time with them. An at-home job prevents this regret.
- You’ll Never Be Bored: The office work routine can get boring, and showing up to work each day at the same time to do the same thing is tedious. Working from home with kids means that every day is different than the day before. You may be tired, but you’ll never be bored.
- Less Stress: You’ll avoid the mental break from deadlines, bosses, and the overarching expectation of constant productivity. Life can slow down to whatever pace works for you.
- You’re in Control: Although working at home when you have children might seem even more frenzied, the truth is that you are in control of how you want to plan your day, your time, and your work.
What Are the Best At-home Jobs for Moms (And Dads)?
The truth is there is no one-size-fits-all occupation if you’re a parent who wants to work from home. Before you decide to ditch the commute, the boss, and the work wardrobe, you’ll want to have something lined up to help make ends meet.
You also need to ensure the job will work with your children’s ages, too. For example, if your remote job requires you to have a lot of zoom meetings, it’s going to be challenging to work them around a fussy baby or clingy toddler. On the other hand, if your children are older, they will usually understand the concept of waiting until you are finished with your important call.
Some of the best ideas for working at home include:
- Paid Online Surveys
- Writing for the Web
- Starting a Blog
- Remote Tutoring
- Selling Your Crafts Online
- Becoming a YouTube Influencer
You can read about many of these ideas in some of our other articles. But for today, we’re going to focus on the first work-at-home opportunity—Paid Online Surveys.
Working From Home as a Survey Participant
One of the top ways of earning money from home as a stay-at-home mom is through paid online surveys. But why is this such a popular side gig for at-home parents?
The Advantages of Taking Surveys for Cash
The primary benefit work-at-home moms need with any job is flexibility, and paid surveys offer this for sure. With surveys, you have no set schedule, so you can work anytime you want. For example, let’s say you decide to start working on a survey at five am before the kids wake up. You get about 45 minutes of work done, and the baby starts crying. No problem! Just walk away from your computer, take care of your little one, and come back later.
Perhaps you only have small bits of time each day—15 minutes here, an hour there, 20 minutes in the evening—that’s okay too! You don’t need to meet any specific quotas with surveys; you can do them any time you want. Fit them in during naptime, playtime, and mealtime.
Maybe you’re a night owl who works best from midnight to two am. Again, no worries! The best paid survey sites are open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year.
Work Wherever You Want
Along with scheduling flexibility, people who want to take surveys to make money can work wherever they want, as long as they have an internet-enabled device and wifi or a data connection. This means you can use a smartphone to complete surveys, too.
Perhaps you’ve just dropped your six-year-old off at karate class, and you have to stick around for 45 minutes until it’s over. Pull out your phone and make money while you wait!
How Much Can Stay-at-Home Moms Make With Paid Surveys?
Paid online surveys will not make you rich, no matter what you have read. Unfortunately, there are a lot of scam survey sites out there advertising unrealistic earnings. These fraudulent operations only exist to steal your identity—that’s why it’s so important to find a legit survey site.
Once you find a reputable site, you can earn anywhere between .50 to $3.00 for each survey—sometimes more, sometimes less. Survey earnings won’t break the bank, but they will allow you to afford some of the small necessities in life—baby wipes, toddler socks, or a well-deserved caramel iced latte for Mama!
Using Surveys as a Stepping Stone To Other Online Opportunities
You’ll earn extra cash, but you won’t make up for a full-time income with surveys. However, you can use surveys as a stepping stone to other side gigs that might be more profitable.
For example, maybe your ultimate goal is to start a money-making blog. The only problem is that setting up a blog costs money, and there’s no room in the budget to pay for hosting and other setup fees. You could use the money you earn from paid surveys to fund your new venture and never have to dip into the family savings.
Another way to use surveys as a stepping stone is that they help you learn more about internet business in general. Think of it as a chance to get paid to learn about how market research and e-commerce work. The experience could pique your interest in other remote freelance careers and set you on a whole new path in your life!
How Stay-at-Home Moms Can Get Started With Paid Surveys
The great news about making money taking surveys is that it’s super-easy, and you can start anytime. In fact, it’s so simple that you can get set up and start earning in the next ten minutes. Here are six simple steps to getting started with online surveys:
Find a Reputable Survey Site and Register
Remember what we said about scam sites? There are also some excellent legit survey sites that have been around for years. Once you find the one you want to work with, go through the quick registration process.
Confirm Your Registration and Have a Look Around
Once you sign up, go to your email and confirm your registration. Next, you’ll want to log in and have a look around your survey dashboard. This is where you will find all the surveys available to you.
Complete Your First Surveys
The first surveys available to you will be profile surveys. These help the company get to know you better. That way, they can send you the surveys relevant to your interests.
Start Completing Regular Surveys
When you’ve finished your profile surveys, you will likely be familiar with how to complete regular surveys too. Dig in anywhere that looks interesting to you. Answer the questions thoughtfully and honestly. This will ensure you get credit for your hard work.
Request Your Earnings
Each site has an earnings threshold—usually five to ten dollars. As soon as you are ready to cash out, choose how you want to be paid. Most sites have several different payment methods. You can typically withdraw your earnings via Paypal or another online payment processor.
Some survey sites also allow you to take surveys and earn gift cards that you can use to purchase household necessities or other items online.
Repeat
Now that you’ve earned enough to cash out your earnings for the first time, you don’t need to stop there. Taking surveys can become a regular part of your daily routine, earning you extra cash each week.
How to Balance Paid Surveys and Kids
If you are a stay-at-home mom who wants to make money online, you can’t beat paid online surveys. While taking surveys won’t replace a full-time income, it can help you fill in the gaps, contribute to the household budget, and even afford a few little luxuries. Plus, surveys easily fit into a mom’s already crazy schedule.
So, how can you balance paid surveys with kids? That’s easy. You won’t have to! You’ll soon discover the flexibility of this side hustle makes it perfect for any parent who is working from home while simultaneously raising children.
