Working remotely could be a pleasant change for mothers as they don’t have to spend hours away from their kids worrying about their well-being, however, managing to accompany and entertain your children while also having to be present for online work meetings makes this an extremely difficult challenge.
Why you must Manage your Work from Home?
If you don’t commute all day and work late shifts at night, you would think that balancing the workload while fulfilling your parenting duties will be simple but in reality, it is not. You will have to deal with the harsh reality of trying to focus on work while your child demands your full attention, and your time will be lost in your hectic schedule.
All of this will make you feel frustrated and leave you with doubts that you might be failing at both your career and motherhood. Managing work with children takes a unique combination of productivity, innovation, and the ability to set priorities. So, let's find out how you can achieve these without any further ado!
Tips for Remote Working Parents with Kids
Don’t need to fret yourself in this dilemma because we are presenting here 7 tips for managing work from home with kids to make work life more productive and less hectic.
Make a home office.
Make a proper routine.
Manage your kids differently.
Set boundaries for your kids.
Share your experience with your colleagues.
Creative activities for your kids.
Take a break and relax.
1. Make a home office
Focusing on work when you can just do other home tasks because your boss is not watching you at your home is the biggest challenge many parents encounter when working from home.
Your main objective is to keep your focus on your projects while working. In this circumstance, setting up a home office or workplace will assist you in developing your focus. Decorating achievement medals, trophies, and polaroid pictures of your dreams and your little ones will also encourage you to keep working and fulfill your dreams.
2. Make a Proper Routine
Without a system in place, working from home with kids is nearly impossible. You should establish a productive routine. Here are some ideas:
Wake up early and take a walk outside in the fresh air and breath. Prepare yourself for the day.
Make your family eat breakfast together. Don’t work multiple shifts in the kitchen this will waste your time and will exhaust you before your work time.
Layout a plan for your child according to age.
Go to your workspace and start your professional day.
Don’t forget to take a break after every hour.
Don’t let your frustration and anger fall on your children and stay hydrated.
Seek the help of your partner when needed.
Give quality time to your children and explain your work to them so they don’t hate you for your undivided attention.
Eat your meals on time. Remember, if you’re not healthy, then you cannot achieve anything.
Sleep properly and summarize the productive activities you’ve performed today.
3. Manage your Kids Differently
As a mother, you would have to manage your kids differently according to their age. If you're newly married and blessed with one baby yet, you're lucky as it'll be easy for you to manage work from home. But if you're blessed with 3 to 4 kids, you have to manage them accordingly.
Working with Babies
If you have a baby less than 1 year then you need to adjust the nursing time and since babies sleep half of the day, you’ll get lucky if you manage to work while your baby is still asleep. But if this not happens you can always choose a nanny for your baby until your work is done.
Working with Toddlers
Working with toddlers is most difficult, especially when you don’t have a nanny for them. Toddlers are furious and jump toward any dangerous objects in the home like electric switches and sharp things. Working while keeping an eye on them so they don’t hurt themselves is the most difficult period for parents. The trick to making them sit immobile for a limited time beside you is to encourage some screen time for your kids. Too much screen time is dangerous but limited educational screen time can help them learn new words and you can also work without losing your focus.
Working with School Kids
Working with school kids is not so difficult. You just need to give them some quality time before they begin their new day at school and then you can relax and work all day and achieve new goals.
But the day isn’t over yet, your kids will come back home and will require your attention or help with homework. So, it's better to do all the hard work tasks in between and relax your mind for 10 minutes at least so you won’t frustrate yourself later with parental duties.
4. Set Boundaries for your Kids
Remember your work is your priority as much as your children. Always looking for your children’s needs is good but unnecessary attention can make them clingy and can spoil them. So set some major boundaries for your kids when it comes to your work. Explain to them gently that you can not be disturbed in your workplace for unnecessary reasons. You can even mark the dead end for them so they won’t cross it unless it's too important. You can also instruct them not to shout and scream while you’re on a work call with a client.
5. Share your Experience with Colleagues
Opening up to your fellow workers about how you’re managing work with kids can help you mentally. You might gain some piece of advice from them.
Remember, you’re working hard and deserve to socialize with your friends too. So, arranging monthly dinners can be a way where you can get out of your workspace and live your beautiful life.
6. Creative Activities for your Kids
Screen time is not always necessary to divert your kid’s attention while you’re working. You can also encourage creative activities for them and let them create new art while you complete your meeting.
For instance, giving toddlers blocks to build with, and giving kids paper and colors to draw new pieces will be helpful.
7. Take a Break and Relax Yourself
No one is going to judge you if you just pause all the workload from your life and decide to enjoy yourself with your family. Your kids need it too. Going out on vacation solves everything or you could just have a nice spa day all to yourself.
Takeaway
People commonly believe that managing work from home with kids is easier than working in an office setting. Nevertheless, every profession takes the highest level of commitment and effort, whether you're a housewife, working from home, or working on-site.
You will need to strike a balance between your personal and professional lives while still managing to parent. You may make your life a lot simpler and easier by using a few tactics and ideas and by sticking to a schedule.
If you're a Parent managing from home with kids, let us know your routine in the comments section below!
Comments