Working from home with kids is arduous; as an Instagram influencer and an active blogger itself, I find it challenging to manage my household chores, work, all at once!
Tweaking my routine was necessary, but how to do it effectively was the question! As a parent, you just don’t have to manage your schedule but also have to look after your kid’s routine. After all, they are highly dependent on you for their learning and playtime.
Even though you might be working from home previously, this lockdown has made every member of the family come together. The unexpected and tedious work can make you stress a lot. But for me, the lockdown was a blessing in disguise as I got to work according to my flexibility.
However, if you manage all the chores wonderfully, don’t forget to reward yourself, because you deserve it! In the lockdown, I always try to finish my tasks within the deadline. As my kid stays busy till noon because of her online class, I try to build up a routine that doesn’t affect my blogging and other members’ work!
Here are some more tips that you will find effective while working from home with kids!
Prioritize your schedule at any cost!
It is important to sort out things according to their importance before starting your day. This will help you to aim better at time worthy work. Also, take out time to interact with your kid without you getting interrupted.
If you are living with your partner, try to build up a routine together; this will help you both to coordinate better throughout the day. But if there are more members of the family, it’s your take to look after or consider the important things.
It’s challenging to work from home with kids if you are a single parent. Your child will have lots of expectations from you, and that’s normal too! You need to be flexible in this case. I work part-time with a firm; although I have lots of flexibility, sometimes I need to work a bit more to meet the deadlines. Sometimes, I complete my work by morning, or in the evening, mostly from 4:30 to 8.
As mentioned previously, I planned a time table for me, according to my kid’s routine. Being a working mother, I plan my shooting times at the noon period, for 2-3 hours, so as to get the best light! Sometimes, I need my kid to help me with my rehearsals; hence, it gets easy for both of us!
Make sure that you, as a parent, know what your kids want and expect the most from you even while working from home!
Communicate with family members
Communication is the key to connect yourself with all the members or kids in your family. Also, try to build a good bond with your team members as well, to help you in the difficult times. Let them all know what is struggling you, and be assured that they will help you in the best way possible!
If you want the best flexibility at your work, be proactive with the members or grandparents. They are the best resources to help you out with the problems. Keep your kids occupied with different activities, like craft, or reading books.
A helpful partner is a blessing too, and I am glad that I got one. We managed to divide our work, so that we give our kid ample time. He works till 7 PM, and after that, helps me out with the household chores.
Set up snack time with family!
Working from home doesn’t mean that you have to put out your time just for the job dedicatedly. Set up the work boundary and in your free time, try to spend quality hours with your family. Tell your kids about your routine, and your boss as well. Take frequent breaks to give time to yourself.
Also, as my husband and I wrap up the work early, we always dig out time in the evening for an hour just for our daughter. The lockdown made many people homesick, but thanks to our open terrace. We spent quality time, each evening, on the terrace to stay fit and healthy.
Keeping a DND mode while working from home is a must!
Early birds are more productive!
Now, this is something everyone won’t be able to do, as they have their own reasons. Being a parent itself, I find that waking up early in the morning is the solution to all existing problems. When you wake up early, you get ample time to finish your household chores and plan the routine for the day.
You can skill up your work from home by just keeping track of yours and your kid’s activities. It will also help you to start afresh and stay focused all day long because you can read out your emails, check out on calls early!
Be gentle with yourself and your kid!
Don’t push your limits; if you do it, you can end up stressing yourself. Only you know your work and body better. If you aren’t able to cope up with problems, take a break, spend time with family, and relieve yourself.
Once to meet the deadlines of my work, I worked day and night, and it messed up my sleep schedule a lot. Hence, I take projects according to my plan and priorities.
Your kid just wants your attention, and they may not understand what you are going from. Take it easy; don’t compare your routine with someone else’s. Even in a lockdown, try to do some extra activities with your kid to keep them active, healthy, and involved.
Lastly, I would suggest setting up screen time. Being a blogger, I try my best to limit myself, to keep me healthy. I have started using apps that have an inbuilt timer to help me track the usage.
If you own a business, or you are an influence or a blogger like me, then see to it that you have set up a schedule that doesn’t affect anyone. Upscale your productivity with these five amazing tips for working from home with kids and enjoy parenting as well!
I completely agree with you, working while the kids and family members are still asleep is a great tip! I also wake up early in the morning – it gives me a lot of time to work and plan my day. Thank you for writing this motivating post. Keep writing 🙂
Working from home, managing kids these both things are important and need to be well managed I really like the tips you have mentioned and I too believe that if you start your day early you can manage everything
Working from home is not easy as there is no time limit, so it becomes really important to have proper time scheduling so that you can have a balance. Great post with some great tips.
These are some practical tips to make work from home easy and productive. Snack time with family and early rising works well for me.
Making a list of things to do, waking up early has always worked for me. I try to keep my weekends free to reboot myself.
oh this is a task i have been managing since 2012. and I started working from home since then. but yes early bird is more productive but I am definitely not one. i love my sleep.
These are some great tips and I agree working from home required a set of adjustment specially when all are staying home. Taking out quality time to spend together as a family is must to get de stressed and following a schedule always great.
Its always tough to manage work and kids at the same time. But the current situation is tougher due to no househelp and anxiety levels.
With everyone working from home and not getting enough personal space can be tough. Loved the way to made easy pointers and checklists on how we can manage home and kids simultaneously
These tips are very useful when someone is already suffering from time crunch and missing peace of mind due to mad rush.
Your tips are definitely very helpful for moms who are managing both work and home simultaneously these days . Helpful posts dear .
Loved reading this Jyoti. Even though handling kids while working from home is difficult, it’s definitely something that can be worked upon with some good amount of planning and management. I really liked the tips you have shared here.
I agree with you, you have to prioritize and set guidelines if you have to manage everything (and get enough sleep 🙂 ) I find waking up early difficult, but you are right, when i do manage to do so, i manage to get a lot more done.
Loved the pointers you shared. The challenges of work from home was quite unseen until now. This post is great for all, parents or not to have a good work setup and routine.
In this pandemic, the entire schedule has been changed and I agree waking up early and planning before hand gives us ample time and keeps everyone happy around.
Tough times indeed. Everones patience is running out. Handling the online classes while holding a job and numous chores at home, is not easy. I salute all you moms who ae managing so well.
Working from home and managing kids & house is no easy task but yes with proper planning and setting a routine does help in mastering the art. Thanks for sharing these wonderful tips to help with managing home & kids simultaneously.
These are so useful tips specially when you are doing work from home. And yes it s always good to wake up early.
I become gentle with kid and myself also I try to prioritize the work rather than procastinating it or sulking about it.
The plight of a work-from-home body is that of a zombie. The plight of a work-from-home mommy is that of an evil spirit who has been woken up from the sleep of a zillion decades. So, you know what I mean. The tips you have suggested have been pinned. I have taken a screenshot and saved as my screensaver. I’drather live life of a human that the one who is waiting for the graveyard (sic, pun intended)