Children in the Home Business Environment
Operating a home business is seldom easy and interruptions come in all shapes, sizes and forms.
Between the family, friends and neighbors who call or come by, and the telemarketers who insist on ringing your number off the hook, getting through the workday can be a real challenge.
When you introduce children into the home office environment, your productivity and patience can be seriously tested.
For example, right now my five-year old son is pulling on my shirt and begging me to read her a story. Clearly, I’m in the middle of something important here, but how can I say no to those eyes? Ill be right back…
Ok, that wasn’t so bad was it? He’s happy, I’m happy (having bonded with my son) and now I’m back to continue my conversation with you 
What’s the lesson here? Flexibility is a major key to balancing your home business priorities with your family’s needs.
I can tell you from first-hand experience that maintaining a deep level of concentration on work in a home business for long periods of time is next to impossible. Naptime does offer some reprieve, but any break from the kids is usually short lived.
Even with older children, summertime introduces new challenges with kids running in and out of the house all throughout the day.
I would like to share with you some of the tips I have discovered to help manage your home office with children in your midst. Since children of different ages pose different challenges, I will present my tips in terms of age groups.
OLDER CHILDREN AND TEENS
We will look at older children first since they pose the least challenge to our work productivity.
Children, who are old enough to understand the idea of schedules and chores, are old enough to understand the needs of your home business. Explain to your children that you do your work at home so that you can be near them when they need you. But also be sure they understand that you must do your work so that you will have the money necessary to keep your house, feed the family and to provide them with money for entertainment.
Once your children understand the necessity of your work, then outline a work schedule and explain it to them. Do make sure they understand that emergencies are definitely an acceptable reason to interrupt your work. Then make sure they understand that between hours x and y, you will be doing work — and then hold them to respecting your schedule.
INFANTS
Infants will never understand your needs for work. But fortunately, babies do well under a schedule or routine. Instead of expecting your child to work around your schedule, schedule your work around the needs of your baby.
It is simple. Babies eat, sleep and poop. Sometimes they play. Fortunately, babies sleep more than they do anything else.
Naptime offers the best advantage for getting your work done. Get your baby into a routine of eat, sleep and play, and you will experience unexpected levels of productivity.
TODDLERS
If you have a toddler running around the house while you are operating your home business, then you may find that your hair turning gray or disappearing altogether. But, gray hair is a sign of character, right. 
I am venturing to guess that the person who devised the door lock for the inside of the house did so because he had toddlers in his own home. Inside door locks should only be utilized when you are making that important phone call and your toddler is screaming for your attention. At all other times, your door should remain unlocked with your door open.
Develop a routine with your children for meal times, naptimes, and play times. Work these times into your work schedule and adhere to them. If you fail to keep appointments with your children, your children will have less respect for your work and do more to prevent you from the completion of your work.
Don’t be afraid to let your children sit in your lap while you are working. It helps them to feel wanted and it helps them to be a part of your daily life. There are times when it is okay for them to be sitting in your lap while you work, and at other times you need them out of your lap. Don’t be afraid to tell them to get down and go play or read a book so that you can resume your work.
Permit your children to have their toys in your office. Often they will sit contently and play while you work. Just knowing you are near is enough to keep them happy.
Be prepared to take an hourly break to deal with your toddler. Try to do potty breaks at your hourly break and to do drink refills. This can help your child grow into a routine that will work well with your home business. At each break, spend a few minutes with your child giving hugs and kisses and talking with your child about what he or she wants to talk about.
Toddlers don’t always do well with the routine, so be prepared to take a few minutes when needed to give the attention that your child so desperately needs in the moment.
IN CONCLUSION
I hope these tips serve to help you in the challenge of operating a successful home business.
My home business permits me to fulfill my financial obligations *AND* see my children grow up. I would never contemplate trading my home business for another kind of business. Even with the added challenges of dealing with toddlers in my home office, the upsides far outweigh the downsides.
Growing my own home business with children around has definitely given me a new respect for all people who successfully run a home business with kids in the work environment. Kudos to you!
Anthony “The Biz Opp Mentor” is a Best Home Based Business Ideas and Opportunities Specialist so you can work at home visit: www.pluginprofitsite.com/main-18365
Article Source: ArticleSpan
Nancy – GotSmog.com – The Pollution-Reducing Blog
IPhone Jailbreaking is Terrorism
Yahoo-MSFT deal done. Not good for Yahoo. Virginia Tech studying text messaging and truck crashes.
Nancy – GotSmog.com – The Pollution-Reducing Blog
Recycled Printing, Your Opportunity to Safe Guard the Environment
Our generation is learning its lesson and paying the price with the effects of global warming creeping up on us. 12.5 million tonnes of paper are consumed by the UK population and a devastating 4.7 million tonnes of that paper ends up in landfills. Almost 80% of the original forests and trees on the globe have been cut down and degraded. Once mature trees are cut down, it is pitiful to convince ourselves that we are replacing the logged trees with saplings which will take years to take their full fledged form. Using recycled paper for printing is the best way to prevent this industry from taking a toll on the environment. Recycled printing is the process of recovering waste paper to make new paper which will be used for printing. The waste paper is broken down into singular fibres that are blended together to create new paper. The types of waste paper required for created recycled printing paper are old newspaper, corrugated paper, high grade paper, de-inked pulped substitutes and mixed paper.
Recycled printing paper has a variety of benefits for you and your company. It is cost effective, eco-friendly and has an appealing natural quality. Some types of recycled paper further delve into their natural attributes by included crushed petals, and grass to the fibre blend and incorporate vegetable and flower based inks. Because of the natural quality of recycled paper, it is often used for printing greeting cards, business cards, wedding cards and much more. The process of blending broken fibres together gives recycled printing paper a softer attribute than virgin paper and does not falter in quality. Virgin paper refers to new tree fibres that have never been used for making paper. Recycled printing paper has an enhanced opacity available in different textures, weights and colours. Recycled printing paper should contain at least a minimum of 30% post consumer waste to be considered as recycled.
It used to be that people shied away from recycled paper due to its drab and grey toned colours. This was caused by the ink in used paper blending into the fibres while they were being broken down to make new paper. Now there are de-inking processes available to accomplish white recycled printing paper. This procedure also cleans the fibre pulp by removing unwanted fillers, clays and fibre fragments.
Recycled printing paper requires less water as well as energy. In fact, 50% less energy is used when recycled printing paper is produced. Approximately 1 tonne of recycled paper prevents 1.32 tonnes of carbon emissions from entering our atmosphere. The reduction of carbon emissions, logging, water consumption and energy all have a positive impact on our environment, making recycled printing paper an ideal source for businesses. It is a social and environmental responsibility of you and your enterprise to used recycled printing paper. Utilizing recycled paper reduces waste in landfills and also the strain on our forest resources. Take an initiative to save trees and preserve the environment while running your business. Utilizing recycled printing paper reflects a prestigious environmentally conscious image for you and your company.
SoloPress is a company dedicated to quality recycled printing for a variety of stationary materials in an efficient manner required for you and your business.
Article Source: ArticleSpan
Nancy – GotSmog.com – The Pollution-Reducing Blog
US, China wrap up talks on economy, global warming – Summary – Earthtimes
Washington – The United States and China on Tuesday agreed to work together to stabilize the world economy and explore ways to cooperate on climate change as the global powers concluded two days of talks in Washington. The dialogue focused on mainly …
Nancy – GotSmog.com – The Pollution-Reducing Blog
Guitar Backing Tracks – Creating The Perfect Practice Environment For Guitarists
Why are guitar backing tracks recommended by the top guitarists across the world? This is because there is no better way to practice your solos. In fact, there are many modern day guitarists who have given awesome stage performances and solos with the use of backing tracks. Guitar backing tracks are special tracks that have been re-created by professionals or digitally re-mastered. A backing track is an audio or MIDI recording, which musicians play or sing along to in order to add parts to their music which would be impractical to perform live.
Bands or solo musicians may use backing tracks to add extra instrumental or vocal tracks to a live performance. For example when performing a song which features a string ensemble on the recording, but it is not realistic to include a string group or keyboard player in the performance.
Most of the top guitar backing tracks does not have vocals or lead and hence it is easier for a lead vocalist or a lead guitarist to play along with it.The fact of the matter is that guitar backing tracks is the bare necessity for anyone interested in pursuing the role of lead guitarist. These days there are so many bands that are formed but only a few get the opportunity to go live and some of them even fail in giving a unique performance on their live gigs.
There could be several factors for that but one of the biggest and determining factors is that most of them have never practiced using guitar backing tracks. One of the good things about practicing with guitar backing tracks is that you will get the perfect environment to practice and fine tune your lead guitar skills. The requirement of a band is omitted and you can be at peace with the fact that other members of your band will not turn up drunk for the practice session which makes it impossible for you to focus.
Remember, a live gig is not everybody’s cup of tea – you have to give your best and you have to play wild but at the same time, be in tune. Guitar backing tracks are available for different tracks and include most of the all time great numbers right from Jimi Hendrix to Aerosmith, Pink Floyd, Black Sabbath, Dire Straits, Eagles, Dreamtheater, Pantera, Judas Priest, Van Halen, Gary Moore, Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, Eric Johnson, Peter Frampton and many more. All you have to do is download them and start practicing. You need to devote time, make extra efforts, learn to improvise and just play your brand of lead guitar using the guitar backing tracks.Some of the best guitar backing tracks includes:
• Metallica – Fight Fire With Fire
• Frank Zappa – My Guitar Wants To Kill You Mama
• Eric Johnson – Righteous
• Dream Theater – Ministry Of Lost Souls
• Yngwie Malmsteen – Crash And Burn
• Megadeth – Blood Of Heroes
• Iron maiden – Ghost of the Navigator
• Pink Floyd – Comfortably Numb
• Van Halen – Eruption
• Steve Vai – For The Love Of God
Want over 1000 Guitar Backing Tracks? Visit Planet of Rock for backing tracks and jam to professional live bands! Eugene is the founder of Planet of Rock Music Studios. He is a full time guitar teacher and has contributed to publications as Guitar Player and Maximum Guitar. Professional Guitar Jam Tracks – For The Rock Star In You
Article Source: ArticleSpan
Nancy – GotSmog.com – The Pollution-Reducing Blog
Global Warming: Scientists’ Best Predictions May Be Wrong – Science Daily
ScienceDaily (July 15, 2009) ? No one knows exactly how much Earth’s climate will warm due to carbon emissions, but a new study suggests scientists’ best predictions about global warming might be incorrect. The study, which appears in Nature …
Nancy – GotSmog.com – The Pollution-Reducing Blog
Recycling Old Watch Batteries Helps the Environment
With the future of the planet at stake, many of us have developed a new consciousness when it comes to the environment. Recycling and the proper disposal of potentially hazardous materials have taken on a new and growing significance. From common household chemical to batteries of all kinds, a serious environmental health impact can be averted if these common, everyday materials are properly disposed of.
Virtually all wrist watches in use today are powered by a battery. With millions of new wrist watches sold worldwide every year and millions more currently in service, imagine how many watch batteries are changed out and disposed of every year. The figures are in the hundreds of millions so the issue of how to properly dispose of these batteries is critical. To understand just how serious the issue of battery recycling can be it is necessary to look at how watch batteries are made and the hazardous materials that are contained inside.
Wrist watch batteries are commonly referred to as button cells or button batteries. Watch batteries can contain a number of substances, including mercury, lithium, silver, cadmium and other heavy metals. Proper recycling of these batteries, which are found in other types electronic devices like hearing aids, is proving to be a profitable business enterprise. Metals like silver and lithium can be reused, though the process of recovering these substances can be expensive. Once these metals are introduced into the environment, removal is virtually impossible. Heavy metals are now found in every level of the food chain and do not break down over time.
For example, if heavy metals like lead and cadmium are introduced into a lake or stream, fish and other aquatic animals may ingest the substance. Since heavy metals concentrate in fatty tissues and organs like the liver, humans and other animals who consume the fish are also consuming the heavy metal, which then concentrates in our tissues. Our bodies do not expel these substances very easily and tend to remain in the body for years.
As human eat more contaminated food, the concentration of heavy metals increases. When watch batteries, car batteries and even flashlight batteries are disposed of in a landfill, the outer case of these batteries eventually corrodes and the contaminants inside leech into the surrounding soils and even down to the ground water. Once these substances get into the ground water, it is virtually impossible to remove them, even though filtering. A whole host of adverse health effects can result from heavy metal contamination, and can range from birth defects to cancers, organ failure and many other diseases.
It is easy to see that the risk is real and the consequences are serious. We all have a responsibility to reduce the amount of hazardous material in the environment and ourselves. Getting educated about how to safely dispose of batteries, including our old watch batteries is the first step. Whenever you need to change out the battery in your watch, have it changed at a retailer that offers a program to properly recycle the old battery.
Many jewelers and retailers will install a new battery free of charge and you will not be saving any money by replacing the old battery yourself. Some watches require special tooling to open the case that will not break waterproof seals. Some watches are designed with o-rings that can be easily damaged is the watch is handled incorrectly. Taking your watch, even an inexpensive one, to a qualified retailer eliminates the possibility that you may damage your watch, but will also ensure the old battery can be properly recycled. The risks are real and the choice is yours.
Mitch Endick is a staff writer for the quality online store RVSheetSet.com. RVSheetSet.com offers quality bed sheets sets for RV and Camper beds. Visit RVSheetSet.com today.
Article Source: ArticleSpan
Nancy – GotSmog.com – The Pollution-Reducing Blog
Five Freedoms You’ll Lose Under Government Health Care
Taking the advice of Dr. Melissa Coulthier , I’m going to stop referring to the Democrat health care proposals as ObamaCare.
Nancy – GotSmog.com – The Pollution-Reducing Blog
3 Ways Wood Stoves Save Money & the Environment
If you’re reading this article, you probably own one or more wood stoves. Or maybe you’ve started exploring today’s stove market, and wonder how easy it is to get a maximum return on your investment in radiant heating. Either way, you’re in luck. Here are three suggestions that will help you stretch your heating budget to its limits while benefiting the environment and enjoying your stove in the process.
Before we dive in, you need to know that the primary cause of inefficiency in wood burning stoves is the incomplete consumption of fuel. When wood doesn’t burn completely, overly smoky fires and decreased heat output are the results. Fortunately, by ramping up wood burning efficiency, you will be cutting down on both airborne pollution and fuel waste. Here are three ways you can use your wood stove with best results.
First, only burn seasoned wood in your stoves.
This is actually a familiar concept, similar to eating lean meat or low-fat yogurt. Recently cut, green wood, is full of moisture, which makes it hard to burn. Up to 50 percent of the weight of green wood can be moisture, which means that your stove has to work overtime to evaporate all that liquid before radiant heat is produced.
Dry, seasoned wood, by contrast, burns steadily and hot, causing top-rate heat output, money savings, and cleaner air. Therefore, when you purchase wood for your stove, buy the previous year’s harvest for the current year’s burning. If you have the foresight, you can also buy new wood and let it air dry for six months to a year (depending on the type), after which it will be ready for burning.
Second, make "Indian fires" in your stove.
Watched any Western movies lately? Back in the frontier days, Indian fires were the lean, green solar panels of back country heating. By burning small and hot, they were easily kindled, efficient to tend, and good to the environment. Today, not much has changed. Making small, hot fires allows your stove to dispense with unstable gases at an optimum pace, burning them off quickly. That results in better air quality and virtually no safety risks–not to mention better fuel economy. By carefully building a smaller blaze, you’ll be a little more involved in tending your stove. But great heating efficiency and better air quality are such good dividends that you probably won’t mind.
Third, feed your wood stove the right fuel.
This is basically common sense, but since common sense is so frequently uncommon, I’ll go ahead and say it. When your stove is blazing in the corner, it’s possible to get over enthusiastic and start treating it like an all purpose Master of the Blaze. Materials like plastic trash and junk mail can get thrown on the fire, in addition to more fuel-like items like charcoal briquettes, hunks of water-proofed wood from your decking project, etc. Admittedly, it’s kind of fun to throw all manner of things inside your stove (especially if you love pyrotechnics!), but by doing so, you can damage your stove’s inner workings, causes your heating efficiency to plummet, and release dangerous chemicals into the air. So resist the temptation. After all, they’re called "wood stoves" for a reason.
Looking for more help? AJ Vanderhorst writes about improving your home with max efficiency wood stoves. A world of warm aesthetics and hot, clean, fuel economy awaits your discovery. Explore contemporary wood burning stoves at Wood Stoves.
Article Source: ArticleSpan
Nancy – GotSmog.com – The Pollution-Reducing Blog
Sustainable Living: Peak water?
“You don’t miss your water till the well runs dry” – William Bell, musician, 1961.
Nancy – GotSmog.com – The Pollution-Reducing Blog