Working from Home with Kids
It’s been a lot of years since I went into an office to work (precisely 9) and over time, I’ve learned a LOT about working from home. Here’s some tips!
Figure out if you’re going to stay up late or get up early (spoiler alert: you’re going to have to do one or the other) … I have gone back & forth between the two, but I know that if I’m getting up early, I go to bed early and visa versa.
Prioritize your tasks! I make a long list of things I need to get done & number them 1-3 and then once those three are done, I start at one again. This helps me to not get overwhelmed and easily stay on task with my most important things coming first.
What can you do with kids around? Need to package & ship something? I do that when the kids are around - they can either help or I’m easily able to pause what I’m doing to assist them. Taxes & bills? That takes way more focus and concentration so I save that for nap time, quiet time (we’ll talk about this next), or those mornings/nights.
Quiet time! Just because naps are no longer in your house doesn’t mean you can’t still get that middle of the day work sesh. Give them an expectation like “everyone is having quiet time in their room for 30 minutes. when the timer goes off, we’ll go to the park!” They’re way more likely to participate when they know there’s a reward at the end and that they have an expectation. We try to save TV shows or screen time for those quiet times and it works pretty well!
HIRE HELP. If you can afford it (even if it’s a stretch!), hire someone to help even just for a couple hours. I always feel extra motivated to work hard when I know that I’m paying someone to watch the kids. It motivates me to make my time=money. Also remember - there’s zero reason to feel mom guilt - you’re contributing to someone else’s income and getting time for yourself to have purpose and build a business.
Would love to hear more in the comments! PS….looking for a side hustle? My oils business has changed our life and given us a ton of opportunity & freedom while still being home with 5 little ones! Come join me!
