How to Work from Home With Kids
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Don’t Stress
The first tip is to relax. Things will not always go smooth and that is okay. Just do the best that you can. I’m a huge believer that everything happens for a reason. At this moment, you are simply meant to spend a little more time with your family. Take advantage of this wonderful opportunity and enjoy. You will likely find that you are able to get just as much done, you may just need to be creative to find the time.
Reschedule Important Calls or Presentations
Murphy’s law of working from home with kids is that the moment that you have an important call or presentation, your kids will turn into wild banshees. I swear they have some type of radar to know when you need them to cooperate. For your mental well-being, try to move any call that may require you to speak to another day. If you can’t do this,try being up front and letting your coworkers know that they may hear some background noise. Don’t worry, we have all been there. Everyone will understand.
Pull out the Big Guns
Sometimes we just need to get something done and be able to concentrate on the task at hand. With kids at home that can be difficult. Don’t be afraid to pull out the big guns when you are working from home with kids. Big guns meaning special treats, activities, or shows that your kids don’t normally get. You can also loosen up the screen time limits for the day. The novelty of such an occurrence and certainly buy you some time. No judging but once I gave my kids ice cream at 9 am so I could hop on a conference call. Moral of the story is that sometimes you have to do what you have to do.
When you are going to be working from home with kids, make sure you are stocked with some things that can keep their attention. One thing that I do is stash away some of of my kid’s Christmas and birthday gifts, Throughout the year when I am working from home, I have a secret stash of toys that can keep them amused for a while. I also try to keep some special snacks on hand for this reason as well. A good snack can buy you 20 minutes at least.
Get Them Involved
Depending on how old your children are, get them involved in your work and look opportunities to teach them things. You can have them proofread your emails, double-check your math, read and summarize an article relevant to your industry, etc.
If they are on the younger side, you can have them do literally anything and say that they are “helping”. For example, If I’m reading a report I will print one for them as well and give them a pen to make notes. They always get super geeked to help their mommy work. Another time, I had my kids serve as my audience while I was practicing for a presentation. Believe it or not, doing a practice run in front of the kids did help me feel more comfortable with the material and calm my nerves a bit.
Getting your kids involved when you work from home will also make them feel more connected to you and the work that you do. Some of my favorite memories were hanging out with my parents while they were working. It really allowed me to see a different side of my parents that I really loved and respected. It also helps spark my imagination and feel super important to be hanging out at their workplace.
Communicate
Make sure that your boss is in the know. Be up front if you need to work from home with kids. You don’t want them finding out that you are at home with the kids by hearing them scream in the background of your weekly status call.The best thing you can do is to call your boss and let them know that you need to work from home with kids. Reassure them that you plan on hitting all of your targets and commitments.
Be cautious about trying to hide the fact that your kids are home. Going back to Murphy’s law of working parents, your boss WILL find out in the most awkward situation imaginable. Trying to hide this from your manager is super stressful and can distract you from what you need to do. Being honest and upfront will help build trust with your manager and allow you to relax and focus on work instead of hiding your toddler.
Tackle 10 Minute Projects
At the beginning of the day, make a list of 5-7 tasks or projects that will take 15 minutes or less. This is your game plan for the day. Most kids can keep themselves amused for 15-minute increments so you should be able to knock these tasks out without too much interruption. You are likely not going to be able to draft a 20-page report on days that you are working from home with kids, but you can knock out some smaller tasks that you may have been putting off. Some examples include: cleaning out email inbox, updating distribution lists, sending out recognition emails, customer follow-up emails, reading industry articles, expense reports etc.
Make it Up Later
If you really can’t afford to fall behind when you work from home, see if you can get some help later in the day. See if your partner can come home a little early from work, see if your parents can come and get the kids for dinner, have the babysitter come over and help out. Take this time and “turbo-work”. Knockout as much work as you can during this time period. Chances are that you will find you accomplished just as much, if not more, by laser-focusing on the tasks at hand.
What are your strategies for working from home with the kids? What have you found to work well and what doesn’t work well? We would love to hear your strategies for being productive when you work from home.
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These are great tips! You have to realistic and know what your priorities are!
Thank you! Realistic expectations are key. That was a struggle for me at first but once I realized that I can put some things off for tomorrow it made everyone much happier!
Great advice! My husband and I both work from home and our son is 4. He wants constant attention, but is slowly learning to play independently. He is also VERY good at being quiet when we are on conference calls!
I think it is really cool for kids to see their parents work and follow their passion. That is awesome that he is good on calls, my kids need to take some tips from him! 🙂 Thank you so much for reading and commenting!
It’s definitely a mindset, you have to anticipate challenges. I usually work and play in blocks of time. I will play with my 3 year old for 10 minutes, then do a 20 minute work block. And unfortunately, sometimes conference calls = screen time 😞
That is a great idea to do blocks of time! That really helps blend the day so no one feels slighted. I agree about screen time. It is really a necessity for everyone’s sanity sometimes. You gotta do what you gotta do! Thank you so much for reading!
I can’t get my baby involved as he is too small really, but it’s a good idea! Not stressing out is so important. That is what really put me back at the moment!
Thank you so much for reading!
Love your tip of getting them involved, even if young. Often I just try to occupy them but it does feel very separated from them. Will try it next time! Thank you for this great post!
Thank you so much! I have found that to really help. If I’m working something I try to print a copy for them too. They feel so special and stay occupied for longer than thirty seconds. Win for everyone! Thank you for reading!
Excellent post. It absolutely is a juggling act to work at home. In fact, as I write this I am flipping the pages of my son’s preschool workbook ;)! I loved what you wrote, ” Do not sweat it, just do the best that you can and get back at it tomorrow’. SO true!
All great tips! Working from home is such a juggling act! I loved this, ” Do not sweat it, just do the best that you can and get back at it tomorrow” because it is SO true.
Such a juggling act! You just have to be realistic and make the most of it. Thank you so much for reading!
I don’t work from home but these are great tips and shared them with my hubby who sometimes does. I often find if I try to do anything when they aren’t napping or asleep I’m easily frustrated. Thanks for being realistic.
It is so easy to get frustrated, I have found that breaking things into small chunks helps a ton! When you are intentional, you can get a lot done in 5-minute increments! THank you so much for reading and sharing!
I’m working from home this summer and my daughter will be done school next week. I’m nervous about trying to balance work and entertaining her. She’s an only child so I feel bad when I can’t take her out to do fun things.
A lot of the time I end up either dropping her off at a friend’s house or cousin’s, or having them over here to amuse my daughter. Surprisingly, two kids are easier than one because they entertain another.
It’s so tough balancing it all! I was listening to a podcast the other day (I can’t recall the name) and they were talking about how beneficial it is for children to see their parents work. They tend to be more entrepreneurial, imaginative, and appreciative if you involve them. It’s so easy to feel guilty but you are actually giving them a great gift. Thank you so much for reading!
Great tips. Found some ideas that I can put to use. Love the idea about special toys for when a parent is working best of all.
Thanks for reading! That is probably the one that is most helpful for me. As an added bonus- I’ve found setting aside their toys from birthdays/holidays makes them appreciate them more.
These are such great tips & advice!! Keep it up!! Good luck!!
In addition, I’ll definitely be using some of the tips & advice! I’m a mother of 5!
Wow, a mother of 5?! Great job Momma! You are super mom!
Great article – I work from home and home school my son. Thank you!
That is great! I’m sure you have other tips to add as well. Thank you so much for reading!
All these things!! Such good advice!!
Thank you so much for reading!
Love these! Kids always want to help so getting them involved is a great one!
Sophia x http://sophiawhitham.co.uk
It helps them feel involved and important! Thank you so much for reading!
There are some great tips in here! I used to have to take take part in a 7:30am international conference call once a week when my daughter was a toddler. I’d try to give her a lie in but if she woke up, there would be snacks and her favourite toys waiting for her!
These are great tips. Working with kids at home is such a challenge sometimes. If I know my son will be home I’ll get him a special workbook or something he’s never seen to play with/work on.
Nicole | The Professional Mom Project
THanks so much for reading! Preparation is key. I love that you plan ahead and find something for him to do.
Thanks for sharing this post. I am a WAHM 😲 and I am dealing with this everyday… I will try to follow the tips you gave..
Working from home is so tough, you constantly feel pulled. Keep up the great work Mama!
Nice post
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Aww, thank you so much! You made my day! 🙂