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Working mothers are the hardest hit with the demands of work life and home life balance during the Coronavirus lockdown. As a mom, you are expected to strictly keep the 8-5 schedule, while working from home, and still perform 100% to your expected mom duties by your family.
If you’re among the millions of moms who’ve had to trade the office workspace to the home office due to the COVID-19 outbreak, you’re probably finding it difficult to navigate the daily home routine and workflow.
Working From Home With Kids
Working from home has its benefits, you longer have the daily commute, and you get the flexibility to monitor your children and do other tasks at home, but it has its own set of challenges. Your babies are finally happy to have more time with you, yet you can’t be there 100% because you still need to keep up with the work schedule, that most probably have tripled, probably just because you’re working from home.
Apart from learning to balance motherhood and work, time management, like any other skill, takes practice to master. For working from home moms with toddlers, time management may not be a skill that will be easy to learn, because of the dynamics that come with motherhood. There are times when the baby gets a fever, and you need to stop all your plans to rush to the hospital, or you doze off as you try to make the baby take a nap so that you can get back to work.
It is easy to work from home with babies when you can work with them next to you, and their routine and your schedule perfectly falls into place. But for moms working from home with toddlers, it can be a struggle to work when the baby is awake.
Are you struggling to balance working from home and child care? Don’t be discouraged, you are not alone. While the new normal is overwhelming, you can successfully learn to work from home with kids. Here are 12 amazing tips that will help you to be productive when you have to work from home with kids.
Designate a Workspace
One of the biggest challenges that you will find with working remotely is effectively separating your work and home lives. After all, you just walk a few seconds to your desk versus an hour or two of commute. If you need to work on your desk every day, you must create a physical separation between your home and workspace.
Find a space in your house where you can create your home office. You could use a separate room as your home office. It should have a door that can be closed so that you create a physical boundary, which is essential since it reinforces the message that you need to work, and you shouldn’t be disturbed. You can use a corner in your living room if you don’t have an extra room. The workspace should be as far away as possible from distraction.
Make sure you get a comfortable chair since you will be sitting for about eight hours every day. Ensure that it has natural lighting. While it may be easy to work from your couch or bed, it will be harder to separate your woks and home life. Having a workspace will help you switch your mind to work hours and switch off at the end of the day when you leave it.
Have Clearly Defined Work Hours
Just as you designate your workspace from home space, ensure to be clear about the time you’re required to work. This will help you to do the best in your work. It will also be easier to transition back to the office when the coronavirus pandemic is over.
Hold yourself accountable and do your work during the designated time. Don’t be tempted to extend work hours, you need to put the work away and recharge so that you can start the next day well-rested and with a fresh mind. The work will still be there in the morning. You will also find time to prep your meals and spend time with your children.
Use the after-hours to communicate with your friends and family who are away, to avoid the temptation to be distracted during the day with phone calls. Be punctual when you have to start work, but also close all work programs and tabs when it is time to leave the workspace.
Create a Schedule
There is a seriousness that comes with working in an office. If you have to work from home with kids, this won’t come easily. When working from home, a schedule is the ultimate time management hack. Set your hours in advance, so that you can let your family know when you will be working. Then, make a list of all the tasks that you need to accomplish.
Another time management hack is to set your working hours around the baby’s naptime. This will give you ample time to focus without having to go and check on why the baby is crying every time. However, keep in mind that the nap schedules should be set to avoid the changes that won’t be favorable. Babies easily get used to a routine that you set out for them.
Create a Routine For Yourself and Your Family
A routine sets you up for success in your daily tasks. You should set a time to check emails, make phone calls to avoid distractions when you need to work. Track your time so that you can monitor if you’re efficient and burst the time-waster like the TV and the internet.
When working from home with kids, a routine eases the transition. Have a morning routine for you and your family to start your day in the right way. You can slow down the set naptime routines where the baby bathes then goes to sleep. Also, set bedtime routines so that the babies will go to sleep, then you can finish up any pending tasks.
Be flexible when you need to change the daily tasks and be prepared for any changes when necessary. Also, remember to keep your family in mind when making the schedule, since the time management styles may differ from one person to another. Develop ground rules for everyone so that you can respect the working space.
Create Work Transition Rituals
Your daily morning and evening commute often helps to transition you to your office and back. It makes you mentally prepared for work. Now that you won’t have the daily commute, you can use the same time to your advantage by creating rituals that help you to transition to the work and back.
Your routine could be a morning jog, home workouts, a hot shower, or a mug or tea. While it’s tempting to work in your pajamas, take the time to take a shower and get dressed in comfortable work clothes to signal your mind that its work time.
You need something to help you transition from sleep to work time and work time to home time, and a morning ritual is an ideal solution. In the evening you can go for a walk or go to walk your dog so that you can wind down from a hectic day and signal the end of the day.
Have A To-Do List
Prioritize your tasks to ensure that you’re productive. Plan the work tasks that have shorter deadlines and finish with the ones that have more extended deadlines. Start the morning with the most critical task first to minimize the rush with short deadlines. It is fulfilling when you tick off all the essential Tasks as completed in the evening.
Plan Your Meals Beforehand
When working from home, it is tempting to prepare nice meals for your family. Remember that you need to achieve the work set out for you by your manager. Instead of wasting the precious time to cook meals from scratch, plan your meals the night before. Prep the items that need chopping or cutting so that you save on time during the day. This will ensure that you use precious time working at your desk.
Take Frequent Breaks
Break your days’ work into small chunks to ensure productivity. Take short breaks after each chunk of work is done. This means that you may have to continue working even after the children go to work if you will still have some tasks pending.
You can choose to do some tasks very early in the morning or late at night for uninterrupted working hours. This helps to avoid a backload of unfinished works that may get you into trouble with your manager.
You can use the Pomodoro technique, which sets a timer for 25 minutes of work then a 5-minute break. Use these intervals during the day to avoid burn out.
Involve The Family in The Home Chores
If you have a nanny, you can delegate child care and other responsibilities to free up your time. Working from home without childcare is challenging. Share out the home responsibilities with your spouse and kids if they are older. Take shifts to watch over the kids so that you can each get some time to work without having to worry if the kids are into any mischief. This ensures that you can get enough hours to dedicate to your work.
Set The Expectations With Your Employer
If you never work remotely, chances are that the road to work from home will be bumpy. To steer away from the challenges, communication is essential. Ensure that you both agree with your manager about how you will communicate and what direct reports will be required.
Be proactive in communicating with your employer about the work at home environment. Inform them in advance if you have children at home, and you cannot guarantee that work calls will be interruption-free. Don’t hesitate to reach out in case you encounter challenges. If you don’t have regular meetings, you can discuss the best time to talk to your colleagues or manager through phone or online chat. This will cut down on miscommunication and the isolation from working from home.
Be clear about the tasks that you’re required to do every day so that you are both aligned. If your children are older, you can also inform them that you’re still working as usual, just that you can go to the office so that they don’t treat it like a vacation or a weekend. This will ease off the demands of your children.
Keep Your Children Busy
Set a schedule for your kids so that they can keep busy and give you space to work. Depending on their ages, arrange different activities for your kids, such as puzzles and games that require minimal supervision. You can also use children centered apps or TV programs to keep them busy.
Have a list of activities set out for them just in case they get bored with one. Older kids can log into their online classes or keep them busy with online quizzes. Also, just for this quarantine period, you can increase your children’s screen time just to keep them engaged and give you space to work.
Keep Off The Distractions
There are numerous distractions that you will face when working from home, especially if you’re not used to it. It’s humanly to get distracted, but you need to learn how to minimize it. Don’t try to use the new work arrangement as an opportunity to spring clean your house or your closet.
Currently, one of the biggest distractions will be the news. Continually checking the COVID 19 updates will get your anxious and immersed in the news that you may find yourself forgetting your work. Turn off social media updates and restrict watching the updates till evening or after the workday. The news will still be there after 4pm.
Final Thoughts
In this COVID-19 pandemic, most working moms have been forced to work from home, it can be a challenge to be productive. You may have crazy targets, but then your baby is so clingy to you that you find it hard to crack a balance. It’s a tough balance to meet your employer’s expectations while minimizing distractions and taking care of the children who are now at home all day.
Creating a wall between the workspace and the living space are challenges that moms across the world have to grapple with during COVID 19 pandemic. Try out these 12 essential tips for working from home with a baby and share your thoughts in the comment section below.
