Pre-pandemic, working from home might have sounded kind of luxurious. Kicking up your heels on the couch while you leisurely check your email in your PJs, children playing independently in the next room with educational toys?
YEA RIGHT.
The reality of working from home isn’t very glamorous, especially when you add kids and busy family life to the mix. Throw in virtual learning or the child care challenges lots of us faced during the pandemic, and working from home is about as relaxing as a root canal.
I’m no stranger to the craziness that comes with working from home. But, I’ve learned how to make it work as a business owner and mom without losing my head. (Most of the time!) Here is my ultimate guide to working from home!
Set a (Tentative) Schedule
Setting a schedule is the most important thing you can do for yourself and your family when working from home. I have young kids, so I totally understand if you might be thinking, “How do you stick to a schedule when kids can be so unpredictable?” I promise you can.
If you spend all day flying by the seat of your yoga pants and trying to knock out work and parenting as you go, you’re setting yourself up for disaster. Without a plan, you’ll be a lot more likely to feel overwhelmed and behind the ball on everything.
Do yourself a favor and plan out your day. Work smarter, not harder. Decide how many hours you’re going to work and what those “office hours” look like. Will that 30-minute episode of your kid’s show-of-the-moment be dedicated to answering emails? What can you accomplish before or after they go to bed? Can you bring in a sitter even for just a few hours or a few days a week to give yourself focused time to knock out that big project?
Of course, even the best laid plans have a way of falling apart once in a while. But, going into your day with a flexible schedule will help you accomplish more and stress less!
Keep Things Separate
Moms are the masters of multitasking, ya’ll. We can get a million things done in the time it takes the average human to tie their shoes. That said, just because you can multitask up a storm doesn’t mean you should when you’re working from home.
Trying to do too many things at once (i.e. “multitasking”) has actually been shown to cause anxiety and impair cognitive function over time. So instead of trying to do it all at once, let yourself focus on one thing at a time. Separating your roles as a mom and a professional is key to feeling a sense of work/life balance. If it’s office hours, focus on work. Once you “clock out”, let your attention be on your kids. Nothing feels worse than working on one thing while you’re mentallly stressing about the other thing. You’ll get more done, and you might feel a little less mom guilt along the way.
Start by setting up a dedicated “office” space for yourself. If you have an actual room you can make your office, fantastic! If not, designate a kid-free corner of your house as your workspace. Bonus if you can shut a door! If not, noise-cancelling headphones are a must-have to help you block out household distractions.
Do your best to limit the time you spend working to that spot. I know, I know, it might be tempting to haul the laptop with you while you supervise that massive lego project or while you’re poolside being made to witness and critique the 200th cannonball. But you’ll be more productive if you can work in one designated spot. And when you’re done, leave it there, walk away, and turn work off.
Naps Are Your Best Friend
Seriously, what’s better than shutting the door to your kid’s room and knowing you have an hour or two of freedom when you’re working from home? That’s if your kid naps, and if not… You have my sympathies.
If you do get to enjoy that magical nap window at some point in your day, make the absolute most of it! Whip out the schedule I suggested you make and target naptime for the tasks you need undivided attention for.
Planning a Zoom? Need to make a few phone calls? Getting in the zone to focus on that important project? Use naptime. You know things will be quiet and that you can really get crunchin’. (Speaking of crunchin’, naptime is also great for enjoying snacks you don’t want to share with your kids. Just saying!)
Prepare Busy Activities
If only parenting were as easy as telling your kids you’re working from home so, just to play all day quietly, don’t make a mess and, how about don’t randomly decide you can’t find a toy you haven’t seen in months and won’t rest until it’s located.
For most of us, that’s probably not the case. So, if your kids are at home with you while you’re working, plan how you’ll help keep them busy, entertained, and even learning during windows you need to be productive.
Depending on how old your kids are and the interests they have, busy activities can look different. One Google search will show you about a million activities for kids to do at home.
Get some ideas, take stock of what items/equipment you already have at home and what you might need to get, and try to create an activity or two every day that you know your kids will have fun doing.
One word of advice, though: The elaborate Pinterest mom activity setups are amazing, but don’t let them stop you from the basics. Coloring, reading, puzzles, and other simple activities are just as fun (and quiet) for kids! Oh, and give yourself a break if they get a little more screentime in the summer. It’s a billion degrees outside, after all, and they won’t need therapy because they watch some extra Pixar. You’re not Mary Poppins (or maybe you are, but I’m not!)
Manage Your Expectations for Working From Home
In a perfect world, you’ll knock out all your communications, busy work, meetings, and follow-up in a day working at home. In the world we actually live in, that might not be totally doable. And that’s okay.
As you plan your days and the work schedule you hope to keep, focus on the priority tasks and projects. What do you absolutely have to do today? What can wait until tonight? What can you push to tomorrow if you need to?
Going into your day knowing that things happen and that it might not all go as planned will help you feel less stressed and overwhelmed when your to-do list isn’t totally marked off at the end of the day. Do your best, prioritize your work, and remember that tomorrow is a new day.
Ask for Help
Look, I don’t care how superhuman you might feel… or want to feel. Working parents do it all, and working moms? We’re as much superheroes as any of those Marvel guys as far as I’m concerned. But no one can do it all, all the time. So if you feel like you’re getting stretched, need more time, or hell, just need a break: Ask. For. Help.
Maybe you happen to have parents or in-laws nearby who’ll be happy to drop in and give you a hand. Maybe your spouse can step in to help where you need it. Maybe daycare, summer school, or other childcare options will be the best fit for you. Figure out what you need for yourself, and ask for help.
It doesn’t mean you can’t do it all, and it doesn’t mean you aren’t still a superhero working parent. It just means you’re human and you need quiet time just like your kids do. Remember that you can’t pour from an empty cup, so if you’re running on empty, be kind to yourself and take a much-needed break.
If you’re running (or thinking of starting) your own business from home and still feel like you’re not making the progress or the revenue you’d like, check out my Side Hustle Revenue Roadmap or my Supercharge Your Business course to unlock the mindset and marketing secrets you need to take your business to the next level.
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