Don't Let Your Productivity or Peace of Mind Suffer Working from Home with Kids. Great Tips and Tricks to Make Work from Home a Pleasant and Happy Experience for the Entire Family (2020)

Though not a norm earlier the current pandemic has made work from home the sole option for several companies. However, working from home with kids can rather be a challenge.

While It can be handy for those of you who have really small kids and who were earlier not able to spend enough time with them, but it can get tricky to maintain a healthy work-life balance. Work from home is more difficult than it looks – being productive at your work when you have kids right across your room is surely not easy! Here are the pros and cons of this situation which might paint a clearer picture.

Work from home has saved us from the hassle of travelling in crowded vehicles every morning and night. Now, you won't have to get up early in the morning so that you can catch your bus or train in time to travel to work. You can stay at home and do your work in whichever corner you want without worrying about the stressful and depressing time of commute.

No matter how friendly and amazing your workplace is, it can never compare to the comfort you get when you are at home. The comfort of lounging around in your joggers and t-shirts is simply relaxing which you can never get in your formal attires. Also, you can lay around on the sofa or on the bed or anywhere you want without worrying about office protocols and rules.

Apparently, working from home with kids not only saves a lot of your time but money too. The time you used to spend in commuting back and forth and in getting ready can now be spent with your family. You can also say goodbye to transport and fuel money as you aren’t travelling anymore. This way, only a little portion of your salary is being spent.

The stress of getting up early on a Monday morning to reach office is just terrible. But thankfully now you can say goodbye to it because work from home comes with flexible working hours. This means you can get up whenever you want and start working as per your convenience. No more Monday blues and no more stressful Sunday nights because you are always at home.

The best thing about this whole work from home fiasco is that you can spend more time with your family which was never there earlier. Weekends were either for friends or for sleeping and you never really had a life before. But now you can watch your kids play and you can spend more time with your partner too.

One of the major setbacks of working from home is the lack of human interaction. Those of you who are living with a family won’t feel much of a change, but for those of you living alone you can feel major issues when you are working from home. Although there will be calls and timely presentations and video chats but none of them can compensate for one to one social interaction in real life.

You have to admit the fact that work from home isn’t as easy and manageable as it looks. In fact, there are too many distractions when you are working from home. You can’t help it but to give up on your work for household chores like laundry, dishes, cooking, etc. In fact, you get so tired of doing all this work that you start to procrastinate on your office work which can ruin your professional reputation.

When you do not have anyone supervising you and keeping an eye on your every activity, you tend to become lazy. This is why one of the most common issues with work from home is less productivity. It is important to have that little bit of pressure on you so that you can get done with your work in time without making any excuses or unnecessary procrastination.

When you are working from home, you do not have proper office gear like ergonomic chairs, standing desks, fully lit office and other things. But when you are at home, you just lay down in any place you like and start working. This can affect your posture and your lifestyle too. You may even suffer from back pain because of the long hours of improper posture and your way of sitting.

Working from home with kids can be very troublesome for employee to client communication. Of course, there are other mediums like video calls, emails, etc. but still you can explain things in a better way when you are sitting right next to that person. If you do not focus enough then you can miss out on important topics too which can be really bad for business.

One of the most important and useful tips for working from home with kids is to finalise a schedule that suits everyone. The only way to manage everything is by organising things in a way where you can devote equal time to everything important.

You need not to be too harsh on yourself and make sure that you are setting only realistic goals for yourself. It is okay to chill with your family more and give a little less time to your office work sometimes as long as you can manage everything the next day. You should also come clean with your partner about your priorities and the challenges involved in working from home.

You two can split the work so that everything can get done on time. While making the routine for your family do not forget to include your kids too as they will be having their online classes too. And do not forget to add plenty of family time in the schedule.

It is completely wrong to set high expectations with yourself. You are as vulnerable to different situations as everyone else is and there can be days when you do not feel like putting your 100% towards your work or family.

If you have already set high hopes from yourself then you are going to be really shattered when you do not follow through on your set plans completely. This is why it is important for you to focus on a more realistic and practical approach only.

You can’t deny the fact that you are less productive at home as compared to the office and expecting yourself to complete goals before time can be misleading for both you as well as your coworkers. If you want things to go smooth and simple then don’t be too harsh on yourself. You would not want to stress too much and fall ill, and this is why you should create simple goals one at a time.

One thing that you should understand and accept wholeheartedly is that you can’t manage it all without the help of your partner. Working from home with kids is the biggest challenge of all especially when you have toddlers because they just can’t sit in one place. This is where you need to lay-out a fully functional plan with your partner on how you two are going to manage work and personal life all at the same time and under the same roof.

With kids being home all the time, your responsibilities and tasks are bound to increase and you have to get used to of it. When your partner is working, you can do as much household work as possible and vice versa. Whether it is about feeding kids or checking their homework, you two should divide these duties equally to keep your mind sane.

It is totally fine to come clean with your boss about all the struggles you are facing right now. You need not to be too upfront about it but make sure that your message of juggling between work-life balance should be delivered well.

As you are going to be home all the time now, you have the liberty to work even at odd hours. If you are comfortable with working late at night when your kids are asleep then you can ask your boss to change your work schedule a bit. You can also contact your HR about it and talk about how you are not able to manage your kids and work at the same time.

Do not forget to have an action plan by your side before you report your problem. You should have a proper solution about it too if you do not want to become a liability for your office.

You need to understand the fact that you are not going to get this lockdown period again in your life (most probably). After everything is over and you are back to work from the office, you are going to miss this so much. So, if you want to know how to work from home with kids then you should stop and relax for a while. Let your kids and yourself enjoy this time as much as possible. You need not be too strict about everything as it can create a bad impact on your child and he/she may face communication issues too.

Enjoy painting and playing with your kids. Try out some fun activities as they will work as really great bonding exercises. Let your kids talk to you about all the things they want because this time is all you have to be their best friend.

If both you and your partner are working then you can have alternate working schedules. This means you can have free time when your partner is working and vice versa. This way you can manage the responsibility of your kids and your home really well.

Also, make sure that you try to manage everything nicely when your partner is working. Try to make as less interruptions as possible so that your partner can be productive at his/her work and finish it on time. The best idea would be to assign a specific room as workplace. This way you can reduce your kids invading that room and everything can work smoothly. Try to make your kids understand that it is not good to disturb their father/mother when they are working. Looking out for each other is the only way to go through it.

The kind of problems you are facing when working from home with kids is something your co-workers might be facing too. This is the time for you to talk to them about the difficulties you are facing to manage your work and kids at the same time. Also, you can warn your co-workers way ahead about all the interruptions your kids are going to cause during the conference call. No matter how strict a schedule you make for your kids, chances are that they are not going to follow it at some point of time.

Warning your co-workers in advance will help them understand your situation. Also, if you are changing your working schedule and working during odd hours then do not forget to inform your colleagues about it. This way they will not be waiting for you to respond as per your earlier schedule.

After all the tips and tricks on how to master working from home, you must not forget about your individuality too. You can feel too exhausted and worked up amidst all this chaos at your home and this can take a toll on your mental health too. This is why you should never compromise with your “me time”. It is not necessary to have 1-2 hours for yourself but enough time to focus on your health, your choices and lifestyle decisions on a daily basis.

Your personal time can include having a cup of coffee on your own or taking a walk on the terrace by yourself. It can also include a long shower after all the work or maybe a session of relaxing yoga. You just need to find your happiness in all these little things to make sure you do not go insane when you are trying to keep everyone else sane.