Being a stay-at-home parent can be both extremely rewarding and extremely challenging. And while parenting is already a full-time job, you might also find yourself needing to make some money on the side – or even just eager to try out a new hobby.
In this article, we’ll give you some general tips on how to work part-time as a stay-at-home parent. We’ll also run through some of the best side hustles, from renting out your garage or driveway with companies such as Stashbee to those in need of storage or parking space in Birmingham, London, and beyond to set up your own blog or graphic design business.
There’s a wide world of side hustles to explore, and finding the right one for you is a great way to break out of any ruts you might be stuck in.
General Tips for Working as a Stay-at-Home Parent
1. Keep a healthy work-life balance
It can be all too easy for stay-at-home parents to feel unproductive. The hard work of parenting all too often goes underappreciated by partners and others in your life, and it can sometimes feel like society is constantly pressuring you to go out and do ‘real work’.
Don’t let this get to you. Remember that parenting is real work, so you shouldn’t feel guilty about not having a traditional 9 to 5 job.
2. Prioritise what’s important
This is part of maintaining a healthy work-life balance, but a little more specific – and hopefully helpful.
Rather than trying to do everything, work out what’s the most important to you and schedule your part-time work around that.
Crucially, you need to include some time in your schedule for rest and recuperation, as well as fun and socializing – burnout is just as possible when working from home as it is in a high-powered office job.
3. Curate your space
To help keep stress levels down, dedicate one room in your house to your part-time work. Doing this will help you stay focused and help you signal to yourself that you’re in ‘serious mode’.
And, by the same token, it’ll help you to relax when you go to other parts of the house. Don’t let work follow you around!
Part-Time Jobs for Stay-at-Home Parents
1) Rent out your space
It’s not exactly glamorous, but renting out your spare room, garage or driveway can be a fast, simple way to get some extra money.
It’s less effort than letting extra rooms to holidaymakers or tenants make it easy to register as a host and get started. They’ll take care of the booking and payment processing, and they have a strong customer support team to help you out if anything goes wrong.
Perhaps the biggest benefit for stay-at-home parents, though, is how hands-off it all is. Once your guest has moved their stuff in, you don’t need to do anything more than sit back, relax and let the payments rolling in.
2) Try your hand at graphic design
If you’re looking for something more creative, trying your hand as a freelance graphic designer might be just what you need.
Whether you’ve always harbored dreams of becoming an artist, studied graphic design at university, or just enjoy doodling, getting into graphic design can be a really fun way to scratch that creative itch and make some money at the same time.
Source: Lifehack
This one might sound a little intense, but it can be surprisingly easy to get into social media work.
After all, most of us in the modern world are already intimately familiar with the big social media sites, and it makes sense to get paid for at least some of the time you spend on Facebook.
It can also be fun to engage with a platform in a different way. As a social media specialist, your aim will be to promote your client and their business, so you’ll be consciously trying to make the content as engaging as possible.
Put that social media experience to use and start getting paid for it!
4) Take online surveys
Perhaps the simplest option on this list! Making money by completing online surveys can be an excellent way to fill time while you watch the kids.
It can also be something of a relief to get paid to sit down and switch your brain off – especially if you’ve been putting all your brainpower into finding ways to keep the kids occupied after a year of on-again-off-again lockdowns.
Source: Business – Insider
5) Start your own blog
Finally, if you’ve ever had an interest in the written word, why not start a blog?
Everyone has something they’re passionate about, and anyone who enjoys writing will know how good it can feel to string sentence after sentence together in praise of something you love, whether it be a niche topic like the best fountain pens in the world, or something as popular and universal as cooking.
Of course, independent blogging is probably the hardest item on this list to monetize. While you can quite easily get paid for freelance writing, that usually involves typing up a copy to very specific briefs provided by clients.
Some top tips to keep in mind for a successful blog include:
- Keep your writing consistent. Regular updates on specific topics are a great way to build an audience.
- Engage your audience. The best bloggers respond to comments and foster discussions, helping to turn their site into a community. Before long, your readers will be racing through your content so they can start chatting below the line – and they’ll thank you for the opportunity.
- Set up advertisers. Whether you’re linking your own Amazon affiliate link or connecting with third-party advertisers via Google AdSense, advertisements are the easiest way to turn your blogging hobby into a bonafide side hustle.
Hopefully, this article has spurred some ideas on how to make money from home as a stay-at-home parent.
Source: Pathways Consulting Group
Remember, there are far more options than just the five listed here. So long as you take care to keep some time for yourself, there’s no reason being a stay-at-home parent should hold you back from exploring new and exciting ways to make money.
