Schools are closed. You are working remotely. Your children are home. Now what? If you’re not used to having your children home during the day, here are some useful tips I have incorporated into my daily routine.
Analyze your workflow
When are there times throughout the day where you can truly focus?
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- Early mornings while they are perhaps sleeping later now
- During nap time
- Sitting next to them at the kitchen table or a common area while they are doing their school work, coloring, or doing a puzzle. Bring your laptop, phone, or iPad and work on your tasks. You can feel present with them and sometimes just your presence is all they need.
- Giving them things to do throughout the day that gives you even more focused time, for example:
- Now is a great occasion to institute chores, if you haven’t done so already. Perhaps they can swiffer, vacuum upstairs, empty the dishwasher, take out the garbage or just clean their room.
- Creating a daily flexible schedule with your children
- Have them start a journal of this season in their lives.
- Wrap up your day in the evenings (i.e. items or tasks that don’t require calls/conferencing) while they are reading, playing a game or otherwise engaged.
Consider the location
Consider the location of your workspace when you have video calls. You may need to move to another part of your home that’s quieter. What’s behind you? You may simply need to move another way. For instance, against a wall as a backdrop so that others on the call cannot see any activity in the background behind you.
If you don’t utilize earbuds or a headset during calls or video conferencing, consider using them. It will block out background noise for the person(s) on the other side. Use your mute button when you are not speaking.
Communicate and work!
After you evaluate your day, you can find or make pockets of quiet time. Then communicate them to your family. With a few adjustments, you can have a very productive work life. You got this!
