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Getting work done in the summertime isn’t always easy. You’ve got the distraction of the great weather and fun things to do, plus if you’ve got kids out of school…well, you know what I’m saying. A lot of your planning can go right out the window.

Here Are 3 Great Summertime Resources for You:

Surviving Summer at Home: This isn’t specifically for work at home parents, but Christina Lemmey has put together a great free resource to help you keep the kids occupied, having fun and staying out of trouble this summer. NOTE: It’s for elementary school-aged kids.

Hot Summer Seminar Series: Take a little work-related break each Wednesday night. Kelly McCausey has a great line up speakers to give you ideas to heat up your business this summer.

Let Us Do the Work for You: Outsourcing Sweetie Platinum gives you access to my team of workers. Relax, let the kids go wild or go out and have some fun…we’ve got you covered. New Platinum spaces open Friday.

Stress less this summer and get more done.

EDITED: Hey, if you know of a great resource that can help online business owners this summer, post it…even if it’s your own.

I’ve been ordered by Carrie Lauth of Natural Moms Talk Radio and Natural Mom PLR to tell you why, as a mom, I love working from home.

I made a similar post in April, but you know…I find new things I love about being an at-home parent that earns a living from her computer.

1. Obviously, there are mommy benefits like being able to be there when my kids need me, seeing them off to school, greeting them when they get home and volunteering at school.

2. Biz-wise, I get to pick what I want to do, when I want to do it and how I get it done. I can also watch TV when I work, take a nap, bring the laptop onto the patio and snuggle with my puppies.

3. Hubby thinks it’s pretty cool too. Since I don’t qualify for Employment Insurance benefits, he gets a full 35 weeks (about 8 1/2 months) parental leave when the baby is born. Don’t worry, I’ll keep him busy.

Overall, this is a pretty good gig.

So what about you? Feel free to participate and link to your post in the comments or just write your WHYs in the comments area.

But to keep this meme going for Kelly and her WAHM 2.0 blog, I will specifically tag:

Deb Gallardo
Aruni
Teresa Smolinksi (a.k.a. Treece)

Get to it!

Here’s Twitter comment from Dewald Pretorius that got me thinking about just how lucky we at home entrepreneurs really are. Dewald was having a fun evening, goofing off on the ‘puter (and sampling some wine…lucky guy) and he wrote:

But hey you know what? Who cares if it’s Friday night? Who cares if it’s the 3 AM on Wednesday or the middle of a Sunday afternoon? This is the BEAUTY of being your own boss and setting your own schedule.

Now, I don’t recommend working every single day all day…so I absolutely get Dewald’s point. But if someone skips work Tuesday - Thursday and decides to catch up on a Friday evening, I think that’s AWESOME.

I think it all comes down to responsible scheduling and balance. Use this amazing freedom to your advantage and work proudly whenever you decide to do so.

Heavens no, I haven’t taken up a new career, but I have been forced into a laying down position for a large part of the day. It’s either lie down or scream in agony. It kind of sucks.

As you might know, I’m just over 6 months pregnant and this little gal inside is growing too much and is making my uterus push against my ribs on one side, causing extreme pain at the top of my ribs all the way through my back. I can usually stand up or sit for about an hour and a half before my body says enough (well, really an hour, but I try to ignore it for a while) and lying out flat eventually relieves the pain.

Anyway, if you’ve ever had this pain during pregnancy or know someone who has, it’s no fun. I had it with previous pregnancies, but this is much earlier and much more extreme.

By the way, baby is totally fine and healthy…it’s just mama being pushed around.

So here I am, trying to ready myself and my business for the big day in August, but it’s making it tough especially since I have plenty of other obligations to take care of in my day besides business.

Well, I’ve devised a work-in-bed plan, that is working out half decently thus far. Should you ever find yourself flat on your back, you might find some of this helpful.

Actual time on the computer is carefully planned out as it is extremely limited. Before I turn the computer on, I know exactly what I’m going to do, get it done (with a bit of yelping along the way) and then computer goes off.

Thank goodness for Smart Phones. My Nokia E61i is like my best friend right now (but I still sorely miss my Sidekick which is the most rockin’ phone with the best keyboard EVER) since it allows me to lie down and get some typing and web surfing done.

I’m leaning on my VA. Prior to this, my VA has always received most of the daily correspondence, so thank goodness for that. Providing customer support isn’t terribly easy when you’re grouchy and have limited time to do it in. I’m also able to forward other correspondence to her, so she can answer in the way I specify. I just type out cryptic, gruff messages on my phone and she rewrites them into eloquent, polite responses on my behalf.

Planning Content, Products and Blog Posts. I’m doing more work on paper before I begin, which means I’m not doing so many things willy-nilly. Sure, I’m lying on my side, writing kind of messy…but I’m the only one who has to read my notes.

Thumb-Typing My Reports, Articles, Blog Entries Etc. I’m using my phone to type these while I lie down comfortably and just hook my phone up to my computer later to further edit and publish. I can surf the net when I need research done without getting up off my duff.

Overall, it’s helping me ensure that I am more productive in my time. Sure the thumb-typing and handwriting slows me down a bit, but it gives me more time to think and ensure I’m spending my time more wisely. It also keeps me away from those usual distracting tasks we all seem to do while on the computer (you know checking stats, visiting forums, pretending that social networks is working, etc!).

All right, now that this blog post has been pasted from my phone and edited and published on my computer, I’m off to rest. Talk to you soon.

Alejandro Reyes is still at it and he has posted some more Twinterviews on his Internet Business Blog. I hope you’ve been enjoying the series.

Here’s a link to the previous interviews (including mine, if you’re so inclined).

Warren Whitelock

Tony Blake (watch out, this dude is certainly “colorful” on Twitter)

Michael Martine

Listen enjoy. Then see you on Twitter.

If you’re following me on Twitter, it’s no secret that I LOVE it. I see tremendous business and personal benefit to it and outside the random visits to a few forums, it’s really the only social networking site I participate in.

Well, Alejandro Reyes of Success Fool has been conducting short interviews with Twitter users and asking how they use Twitter.

If you’re interested in learning more about how others use Twitter successfully, here’s a list of interviews he has posted to date:

with me (Alice Seba)

Kevin Riley

Sherman Hu

Justin Brooke

Feel free to share your thoughts on the interviews and how you use Twitter.

Today is a special day in the home of this at-home mom entrepreneur. My youngest turns 5 today and has he prepares to become a big brother later this year, I’m taking time to ponder my 3 thoughts why it’s da bomb to be a business mom at home.

1. I can be there when I’m needed: sick days, volunteering at school, play days, cuddles and more.

2. Even though I’m largely at home for the family, I’m able to focus on my own intellectual and financial pursuits through my business.

3. I can show my kids an alternative career that is an amazingly creative outlet, doesn’t involve a commute, a huge gas bill and working for a mean ol’ boss.

We’ve all gotta have reason WHY we do what we do (whether we have kids or not). What’s YOURS?

(Edited 2 sentences above for clarity - I hope!) 

Another great lunch with Diana Walker and Vera Raposo. Good food and good conversation. When’s the last time you got out to meet some fellow IMers face-to-face?