COVID-19 Working From Home
We are in a brand-new world family. With COVID-19, many of us are having to work from home, not only to protect ourselves, but others around us. Add having little ones to the mix and we are trying to balance continuing to work from home and provide the care and attention our children need. For some, its new territory. For me, I’ve been working at home for about 6 years. That said, it has never been harder than when my kids are home with me.
I love my girls and I love their enthusiasm and curiosity but not when its towards my computer and my work. I can tell you working from home will be difficult and it’s going to be difficult with the added challenge of ensuring your kids are doing their schoolwork.
Here are some tips for you from my time working remotely:
Get yourself a space to claim as your office. I can tell you I love nothing more than sitting on the chaise of my couch with my TV in front of me with the latest episode of Bravo in front of me, however that is not effective for work. I know so many of us are pressed for space in our homes so if you cannot dedicate a guest room or nook in your house for your office, at least get off the couch and work from your dining room table. Take the time to get yourself setup, logged into all the systems you need to use, etc. You need to take the time to ensure you can do what you need to do for your job.
Set a schedule. In a normal situation, I would say to get a schedule and stick to it. Working from home, which for many can seem so glamorous because you can work in your sweats and sneak in an errand or two with little notice by coworkers, is not. I have found that because I did not set boundaries with my schedule and due to the fact that freelancers live in a feast or famine world, I worked way more than I ever did when I worked outside the home. When your home is your office, it becomes very hard to distinguish work time and personal time. Many times I would be sitting on the couch at the end of my night with my husband and would grab my laptop and start working, which takes time away from my family and gets others in the habit to text, call or email me at whatever hour because they knew I would probably be working. That said with what we are dealing with today, it’s not going to be that easy. You need to figure out a way to schedule your work, meetings, children’s schooling all in one. Take time in the beginning to create a schedule. Some of your children’s independent time or quiet time may need to be when you have your meetings. When my babies were really little, nap time was the time I could sneak in some phone calls and meetings because I knew I could get some quiet time.
Mute the noise. Speaking of meetings, utilize that mute button! This is not a tip just for working from home but really for conference call etiquette. It is so distracting to try to listen to your coworker when another is not muted and their dog starts barking, or you hear them shuffling papers or typing on the computer. Everyone will be thankful you found your mute button and also no one needs to hear you tell your kids to shhhhh.
Necessary meetings. One last thing about meetings (it’s a passion topic of mine clearly) — make sure the meeting is necessary. Think about what you are calling the meeting for. Can it be an email? If so, send the email. Your coworkers will thank you and maybe when we are back to a post COVID-19 world, we can continue analyzing if that meeting, we are about to call is necessary to reduce the number of meetings we are in.
Establish a routine. One of the hardest things about working from home is getting your routine down, and right now you will certainly need to be flexible and agile with your routine. Don’t stress it but do work towards establishing a routine. Kids thrive truly on routine; they need it and you will need it. Get up in the mornings just as you normally would. Do not use this time to begin sleeping in or start later in your day. Keep the same hourly schedule. It will come in handy later. Do what you need and can do in the morning. My morning routine includes working out, getting in at least 40 oz of water, a cup of coffee and then getting ready for my day. I have recently started working in an office outside of the home and although I could still certainly wear leggings to go to the office, I try to dress up a little Monday-Thursday to get my mindset work ready. Personally, I have found for me, I need to start my day super early (think 4am workouts) to be productive and not lose the morning when I am most productive. Its SO hard to get up early and get in that routine, but honestly it has saved my sanity and been a way to find that 25th hour in my day I so desperately need.
Take breaks. It is so much easier to eat and work through lunch, etc. when you work from home. Your kids will need outdoor time or play time so take it with them. Relish in the idea you and your kids will be home together so use it to create some memories. I get it it is going to be SO hard to keep kids home with nowhere to go outside the home. My girls ask me daily to go somewhere, even if its Costco (seriously!). However, your kids will never be this little again and this too shall pass like everything else so we have to try to make the most of it when we can. At work you get a half hour or hour lunch, and 2 15-minute breaks (at least technically you should!). Take them! Schedule that time in.
Clean eating. This is a strange one as we are all stocking up on all the frozen pizza and dino nuggets the supermarket has to offer to survive COVID-19. Personally, I need to eat clean and healthy in order to feel good about myself and keep my head clear and easy to focus on the challenges in front of me. It is going to be harder to eat out, so use this time to try new healthy recipes. Sneak veggies in your kid’s meals even if they are baked in a chocolate muffin – at least you know they are there! Put healthy snack options in baggies and your little ones may eat them. I once saw a meme or tip from a mom to put dinner in a snack bag and maybe your kid will eat it. When I battle my girls at dinner time, I honestly wonder if that would work. What I do know works is putting that dinner on MY plate and then it will for sure be eaten by them!
Limit distractions. This one will be difficult. My girls have recently figured out that they can battle each other with who can screech the loudest. There is little I love more while working than my Beats by Dre headphones. They block out so much noise and I can truly just focus on what is in front of me. If someone is home with you who can look after your children or they are older and can care for themselves with minimal minute to minute supervision, invest in noise cancelling headphones so you can get in the zone and get things done.
Keep in touch with your colleagues. Remember to check in with them too. In today’s world it’s so much easier to IM someone or jump on a video call, so use that communication to check in with each other and help each other out. We will only get through this if we work together.
Communicate – maybe even overcommunicate. Some think out of sight, out of mind. Personally, I find in working from home situations it’s more like out of sight – more wonder if you are actually getting what I need done. It is essential when you are working from home to let people know if you are available for a meeting or are not, and what you need help with or your status on a project. Clear communication will make this time that much easier on you and your boss and colleagues.
Do something for yourself. We moms can easily fall into the trap of taking care of everyone around us and thinking of ourselves last. Whatever it is that you can keep for yourself, do it. For me, I need to workout. Right now, you won’t be finding me at the gym and I don’t have a ton of space at home to keep a small gym. Well I am walking outside. Just a little around my neighborhood, but we are heading to get fresh air. In New Jersey we have been blessed this winter with a very mild winter and that groundhog predicted early spring and its looking that way! For times I need to workout and it’s too cold out or its raining, I use the little space I do have. I used to have Beachbody On Demand. Honestly, I loved it. The only reason I stopped was because I started training more at the gym and wanted to start lifting heavy. If you can afford to purchase it, I would recommend it OR a free option is to go to YouTube and find some home workouts. YouTube is full of home workouts. I love Fitness Blender for that! Another way to get moving is to have a dance party! My girls LOVE music especially Latin artist Bad Bunny. They ask for his music all the time so we try to have dance parties on Saturday mornings. Now that we are all home, I suspect there will be a lot more Bad Bunny and dance parties in my future! Thankfully he just put out a new album!
Utilize streaming services for the kids. Many educational streaming services are offering free or heavily discounted services for the time being. Take advantage of them so you can put on an educational program while you get that meeting in or you finish up a deadline.
Hit up the dollar section of Target. Or any dollar store, AC Moore is closing, hit them up too. While you still can go and grab things to keep your kids entertained so you can get work in. Crafts, new books, a journal, a sketchbook, etc. Get a bunch of new things to keep kids entertained but don’t give it to them at once. Rotate the items in and out. This is also a pro-tip for moms of kids to do with their toys too. I would LOVE to get to a place to remember to do this with their toys, but honestly my time has been so limited that it’s just not a high priority so I rely on them losing a toy under their bed or something and then finding it a month later as our method of toy rotation.
Give yourself a break from social media. Social media can be a great place to connect and a fun place to read funny memes but it is also the biggest time suck. Place limits on the amount of time you are on social media or your phone. This is only going to slow you down and make you less productive in an environment that is already filled with distractions.
Don’t be so hard on yourself. Working from home if you have never done it before or know that you work best in an office is going to be hard. And even harder is all this uncertainty of the coronavirus and social distancing. Some days will be easier than others. Some days you will be at your wits end because it will be difficult to manage schooling, parenting, babysitting, working, and keeping a home semi together. It’s fine, we are all in this together and we will get through this. Be honest with your boss if you need an extension on something or you need help. We are all in uncharted territory right now and we can only get through it if we support each other.
Well family, these are some of my tips for working from home and working from home with kids. Feel free to leave a comment or drop us a line if you want to chat more about WFH or about distance learning! I am here to help you all get through this time and get through it together!
