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Balancing Homeschool and Work: Flexible Jobs for Single Parents
Trying to juggle homeschool with work as a single parent can be stressful. Working from home can relieve some of that stress, especially if you are doing something that can be scheduled around your family’s schedule. For this reason, I will be concentrating on jobs, side gigs and business ideas that allow you to create your own schedule.
First, let’s look at ways to balance work and homeschool so they are easier to manage. Here are some tips:
- When possible, organize your work around your family’s schedule.
- Embrace a relaxed homeschooling style. Roll with whatever each day may bring. Try to avoid schedules when possible. . If things don’t go according to plan, make the most out of what you are able to accomplish.
- When they are old enough, teach your children to be independent. Teach them how to help themselves, how to help with cooking and chores. This will also prepare them for when they are grown and on their own.
- Be organized and efficient as possible. Try not to put things off unless necessary. Put aside time to plan each week. Keep a planner for yourself and each child. This will also help them know what is expected of them.
- Keep work and family time separate. Don’t forget to take time for yourself.
I began my journey of working from home more than 20 years ago, long before we decided to homeschool. Each company I mention here has been thoroughly researched and is trustworthy. I’ve had the pleasure of working with several of these companies myself.
Call Centers
This company hires independent contractors in the US to participate in voice chats with the blind and visually impaired for the purpose of helping them complete everyday tasks.
Customer service – It is possible to set your own schedule here in blocks of time as small as 30 minutes. You are an independent contractor.
Customer service positions – This is a company where you will be an employee instead of a contractor. Some of their positions allow you to make your own schedule. While other positions are a set schedule.
From their website,” The NexRep Marketplace provides work from home independent contractors with a direct link to customer service and sales opportunities with great clients.”
From the website, “Every Independent Contractor has the flexibility to set his or her own schedule between the hours of 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. local time, Monday through Friday. A minimum of 25 hours per week is requested.”
From their website, “When you sign in (any time, 24×7), you will be offered calls of customers looking to make hotel reservations. You won’t need a phone; the call will be delivered through the Chrome browser via your internet connection and headset.”
You will be an independent contractor and able to make your own schedule with this company. These are customer service positions.
You will be an independent contractor and able to make your own schedule with this company. These are mostly sales positions.
They have customer support, content moderation, community management, and social media marketer roles.
From the website, “ACD Direct specializes in nonprofit operations including a wide range of donation and customer service contracts for PBS and NPR stations, child welfare, veteran, spiritual, and animal advocacy organizations”.
You will be an Independent contractor. They hire for telephone and chat support.
They hire for a variety of projects. Some of the positions allow you to set your own schedule.
The roles include lead generation, appointment setting, cold calling, customer service and surveys. No previous sales or telemarketing experience is required.
From their website, “Find work from home jobs at GigCX Marketplace that suit your schedule and give you the ability to work from home worldwide online.”
This is a phone job where background noise doesn’t matter. You are calling apartment complexes pretending to be a renter to gather information. You can make calls on your own schedule, provided it’s between the hours of 9am and 6pm.
Virtual Assistant
Work from home task-based virtual assisting – Log on anytime and if there are tasks you can do, you can claim them. There are almost always lots of tasks available. It’s ideal if you want to just work a few hours a week from home because they don’t have any requirements around that.
Work from home as a virtual assistant for Time Etc. This is flexible work provided you can work Monday-Friday, at least five hours a week.
Transcription
From their website, “Transcribing involves more than just typing fast or accurately. Certainly, that’s a big part of the job, but just as important is having a “good ear”, hearing accurately, even when more than one person is speaking, and being able to follow formats with accuracy. What follows is a list of things you can do to hone your skills before you seek work in the legal transcription field…”
From their website, “Quicktate transcribes voicemail messages, memos, letters, legal files, medical files, recordings of phone calls, conference calls and other audio files. Submit audio files using the Quicktate iOS app, voice recorder, email, or API, and then receive the completed transcription back online, by email, in Evernote, or via API.”
From their website, “3Play Media contractors earn weekly paychecks working remotely from home providing captioning and transcripts.”
From their website, “The transcripts we produce are mission-critical parts of market research projects, and completeness, accuracy and reliability are absolute requirements.”
From their website, “Join the TranscribeMe professional freelancer community and start working on projects from anywhere, anytime.”
From their website, “We provide automated transcripts to save you around 60% of the typing effort.”
From their website,” Our transcriptionists come from all walks of life. Some transcriptionists are generalists, while others have prior experience in specialized fields, such as law or medicine.”
From their website, “Transcription HUB invites transcribers and editors to join their remote freelance transcription team.”
Technology
Positions vary – AI services, data annotations, ad rater, etc.
They have a variety of jobs from customer service, search evaluator, rater, marketing, etc.
From the website, “Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a rapidly advancing technology that is transforming the world by automating tasks, optimizing processes, and revolutionizing industries such as healthcare, finance, and transportation. Through DataAnnotation, you will help train AI chatbots to contribute to the development of sophisticated AI programs. You can work as little or as much as you want every week. You choose when to work, how much to work, and which projects you’d like to work on. Work is available 24/7/365. Projects on the platform run the gamut: from survey-style work, to interacting with chatbots, to creative writing tasks, and much more. There are also projects that require subject expertise.”
Research Studies & Surveys
A good side gig where you can make enough money to buy groceries, pay bills, etc.
Another good side gig where you can make enough money to buy groceries, pay bills, etc.
Miscellaneous
Work at home curating boxes for Stitch Fix, picking out clothes. There is a 15 hour a week minimum, but you can work them around your own schedule. They only hire in certain US locations, which vary.
From their website, “Poplin welcomes service-and-detail-obsessed people into a career as a Laundry Pro. It’s the perfect gig for a domestic diva who takes pride in their work but wants to be home.”
Business Ideas
Write An eBook
Self-publish an eBook on Amazon, similar websites or your own website.
Sell On Marketplaces
Sell new or used items on Ebay, Amazon and other similar marketplaces.
Handmade Crafts
Sell Handmade crafts on Etsy and other marketplaces.
Home Bakery
Start a baking business (or other food items) from home. Homemade dog treats are another idea. You would need to check with your state laws on this one.
Travel Agency
Become a travel planner. Help people plan their vacations.
Hair & Nail Salon
This may require school and licensing depending on your state laws.
Bookkeeper/Tax Preparer
This is another one that might need school and licensing depending on your state laws.
Life/Career Coach
Help people with their life, social and work skills.
Resume Writer
Help people with writing their resumes.
Personal Assistant
Assist businesses with their administrative tasks.
Content Creator/Influencer
Create a video channel on Youtube, Instagram, Tiktok, etc.
Alterations Service
Sew clothes and home items. Offer alterations and sewing services.
Graphic Design Service
Start a graphic design service, creating logos, marketing materials, websites, and more.
Virtual Event Planner
Organize and manage virtual events such as webinars, online workshops, and virtual conferences.
Sell Gift Baskets
There are so many places online you could sell these. These would be great for birthdays, holidays and special occasions.
Laundry Service
Start a laundry service cleaning other people’s laundry.
Check out the work from home section of the website here to find more resources and information on remote jobs, side hustles and entrepreneurial ideas.