I love working from home. I have a lovely office (garden shed) at the back of the garden where I spend a lot of my time during the week. I am able to schedule my day to make it work around me and the kids, I get to take lunch when I want to, and for the most part because it’s just me on my own I get a lot done, so by the end of the day it’s been productive. That is of course until it’s the school holidays and then I gain two tiny colleagues! So now I need to create the impossible, I need to look after the kids out, but I also need to work. I have tried so many ways, techniques and have listened to copious amounts of advice on how to best juggle everything so I decided to share below with you to hopefully ease some of the pressure. I just want to point out that not one size fits all and depending on your family routines and work routine it might slightly differ for you, but I’ve come up with the best ways that I found worked for me and honestly believe can help you.
Get Organised
I know this may seem like I’m pointing out the obvious here, but trust me, if you can put together a schedule for the week ahead, it will save you a huge headache. If you are anything like myself, I find coming up with impromptu activities really hard, the more I try and think up last minute activities the more stressed out I get. So, by making a schedule it will give you some kind of structure and also means you are much more likely to stick to it. I’ll sit down on a Sunday evening for around 30 minutes or so, grab a piece of paper and write down my plan for the week ahead. I personally find this easier than having a schedule on the computer because I can stick it on the wall with bright colours, this also means the kids can get involved to. If you work best with a diary online or spreadsheet, go for it, there’s no right or wrong way of doing it you just need it written down somewhere.
Early morning exercise
Let’s face it, kids have a huge amount of energy so need to get out of the house to burn that off. It will make your life almost impossible if you are trying to do a specific task and the kids are full of energy. If my two do not get out first thing in the morning they start arguing with each other, they are more disruptive and they then start hassling asking me for snacks because they’re bored! I simply go out first thing in the morning straight after breakfast, this varies each day between going for a long walk or just simply getting outside in the garden. The other bonus to getting the kids outside on a regular basis is that it can also improve your child’s health and wellbeing. Being out in the sun can raise their Vitamin D levels and the more time they spend outdoors means more physical activity which is great for all areas of health. So, if you can, straight after breakfast go for a walk or simply go out in the garden, either one will do yourself and them the world of good and trust it really does make the world of difference!
Early bird or night owl?
A good way of fitting in work when the kids are at home is to firstly work out whether you are an early bird or a night owl. I’m very much a night owl, so getting up at 06:00am to do an hour or so of work before the kids are awake just wouldn’t work for me. But if you are an early bird, it’s a great way of getting a sneaky couple of hours in. I tend to work for a couple of hours in the evening once the kids are in bed. I find that I am calmer in the evenings and I am able to get a lot more done. Give it a go even if you only manage an extra hour a day, that’s 5 hours across the whole week!
Designated working area
Try and keep work separate from everyday life. Set yourself a designated working area. This doesn’t mean you need to have an all singing all dancing office, it could just simply be a table and chair in a specific area of your house. By doing this it will allow you to be able to switch into and out of work mode. I used to work wherever there was a free space in the house and It was so distracting. I would start working on something, then in the corner of my eye sat the humongous washing pile. So of course, me being me, I couldn’t let it sit there piling up, I had to go and do something about it. I should be working but now I’m distracted by the washing and because I am now in the kitchen I might as well empty the dishwasher whilst I’m here! Before you know it you’ve lost a couple of hours. So do set yourself up a designated working area it really will help your mind to focus on the task at hand.
Set your own expectations
This is one of the most important if not the most important points! Make sure you set your own expectations. Don’t focus on what other people are doing, focus on what you are doing and what you need to do to get the job done. Put it this way, realistically when the kids are at home, you’re not going to get done what you used to and it’s best to let that go quickly, if you haven’t already. If you are a new mum and have a newborn baby, working from home means you can probably only deliver one thing for the day and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that, it’s an accomplishment. Be kind to yourself and make sure you celebrate those tasks if they get done and forgive yourself when they don’t! It will take a couple of go’s to work out exactly what you are realistically able to fit in each day and that’s ok because once you have found your rhythm and what works for you, you are plain sailing from there. Just remember everyone is different and will work in different ways.
