The COVID-19 pandemic has thrown everyone for a loop.
Parents and kids are now spending their work and school days from home. If you're new to remote working, it's a lifestyle that takes a lot of adaptation.
So how do you stay productive?
The tips in this article will teach you how to work from home with the kids around.
1. Build Your Home Office and Keep it Sacred
Set up a separate home office away from the traffic and noise of your household.
You need some privacy, peace, and quiet to have productive workdays in your household.
Working from the couch, kitchen table, or worse, your bed makes it virtually impossible to focus. Mix that with the presence of rambunctious children and you are even less likely to have productive workdays.
A home office creates distinct separation in your home so you can mentally flip the switch that you're showing up to work and not just relaxing in your household.
Choose a spare bedroom that has a door with a lock, when at all possible. This way, children can't burst in unannounced and they will respect that you are on the clock.
Your kids won't immediately get it or respect the fact that you aren't readily available to them at all times throughout the day. Enforce this boundary to protect your professional life.
Decorate your home office to make it as comfortable as possible since it's where you'll spend several hours per week.
Invest in a quality chair and pair it with back pillows that provide lumbar support. You are better able to spend several hours working comfortably and without stress when you ergonomic chairs and desks.
Several people suffer from lower back pain because they're not comfortable with their office setup. Spring for some quality office furniture so that you don't end up in this boat.
Provide plenty of lighting so you can easily see what you're typing and working on. You will fatigue earlier in the day if you're constantly straining with your vision.
Your home office should serve as a hub of inspiration that you enjoy showing up to each day.
Include lots of storage and the best hardware available so that this workstation remains productive. Keep it sacred by not using this room for entertainment or other purposes.
2. Have Plans and Assignments for Your Kids Each Day
Having hyper and uncooperative children is the biggest fear for parents who work from home. Plan out your children's days and weeks to avoid this.
Having assignments, chores and other obligations will keep them busy. Make sure they satisfy these requirements before moving on to playtime or screen time.
Your kids are less likely to get cabin fever when they're engaged and busy. Keeping this busy cuts down on sibling fights and tantrums as well. ,
Plan their days in advance and layout these objectives so your kids know what is required of them as soon as they wake up.
They will become engaged and productive, allowing you to be the same.
3. Meal Prep So Food Isn't a Big Decision
Decision fatigue hurts so many people. Food planning is one of the biggest areas of decision fatigue since it's something you have to do every day.
Hunger also leads to brain fatigue in children and adults, and your children will become rambunctious when they're hungry and irritated.
You can beat these problems by getting more diligent about your meal prep.
Meal prepping in advance gives you the chance to take care of these decisions while keeping your children well fed. You'll no longer feel overwhelmed having to stop your workday to prepare lunches and snacks, and to figure out what you're going to do for breakfast and dinner.
Well-fed children are less likely to be cranky and you'll take solace in the fact that the most important decisions of the day are already nailed down.
Set up Tupperware, or food stations that your children can grab servings from.
Limit access so that they don't end up overeating. Make these servings easy to distribute.
You can stay on task in your home office when your children are able to take care of themselves in this way.
4. Get Up Earlier or Schedule Post-Bedtime Hours
The fact of the matter is that we all are granted 24 hours per day.
Working remotely with your kids in the house may prove difficult, but you can get an edge when you optimize the way you use your time.
Do your kids make a lot of noise during the day?
No problem. Get up a few hours earlier to knock out the work that requires more of your concentration.
You can also leave some work for night time after your kids have gone to bed.
Time is on your side. Purpose your hours in a way that gets work done without cramping your lifestyle or depriving your kids.
5. Have Someone Watch Them From Time to Time
Keep in mind that there's no shame in getting some help with watching your kids. You can't do everything yourself, and even booking a sitter or having a relative come over a few hours can make a world of difference.
You may also designate certain days where your children spend all day at the sitter or daycare.
This is money well-spent and you'll be glad you made this investment once you're able to have peace and quiet in the house.
Hiring some help is especially important when you have a particularly busy day.
6. Enforce Naps For Younger Kids -- and Yourself
Naps can make a world of difference for both you and your kids.
When your children take naps, they'll have more energy, learn better, and will be better behaved.
A child that is grumpy and moody can salvage their day with a simple nap. They will wake up refreshed and in a great mood, which ultimately makes them more cooperative.
Set a daily nap time for young children and enforce it strictly.
This develops a routine that balances your children's energy and keeps them in a good mood throughout your workweek.
Don't lose sight of how valuable a nap can be for yourself as well. Scientists have touted the benefits of even a 20-minute power nap. These naps restore brain function and reduce fatigue.
Astronauts and pilots have been known to take 40-minute naps for their remarkable and restorative results. These naps are so effective that this duration has been coined the NASA nap, which plenty of entrepreneurs swear by.
Pace out your day and take naps whenever you need them. Naps are especially important if you spend lots of time in front of a computer screen.
The blue light from computer screens can hurt your mental focus and ruin your sleep quality. Naps can offset some of this damage and keep you fresh.
7. Plan Out Your Work Days for Effectiveness
Solid planning will be your saving grace throughout your workday. Planning is important for every professional, but it is doubly important for people who work from home.
Figure out which planning method works best for you.
This could be as simple as writing in a wall calendar or calendar book. You may also prefer to use a planning app on your phone.
Prioritize goals and objectives for each workday. This lets you take ownership over your days and keeps you on task since you know where you're headed.
Set up a footrest for your desk so you can work comfortably. This helps you reach a flow state as you push through each and every hour of your workday.
Reassess your plans at the end of every workday and consider how well it worked or what needs to change.
Altering the course of your work plans can help you fix mistakes and grow your productivity.
8. Make Exercise and Wellness Part of Your Regular Life
Taking care of your health and wellness is crucial to your well-being and ability to focus throughout work.
People who exercise experience more energy throughout their workdays. You'll be better able to stay on task for hours at a time without anxiety or jitters creeping in.
Working out is great for mental health and lets you get some of your best work done.
The possibilities are endless when you're looking for some exercise plans.
Running on a regular basis helps you to prevent joint pain, improve brain function, and allows you to stay focused. You can download a running app on your phone that tracks mileage and helps you set and meet goals.
Invest in some home gym equipment and train five to six days per week to get the best results.
You'll love the way your body looks and feels, but you'll also get better sleep and roll out of bed with less effort in the morning.
Purchasing some simple kettlebells and dumbells can make a huge difference.
Even setting up a pull-up bar gives you the chance to train hard and build total-body strength.
Doing calisthenics throughout the day, such as pushups and burpees, will let you train hard without any equipment at all.
Stretch regularly as well so that your body doesn't become stiff and sore from sitting down all day. You can follow along with some YouTube yoga workouts as well to make yourself more limber and flexible.
Feeding your body nothing but the finest nutrition. This will keep your mind more productive and will help you control your energy levels.
Setting up an oil diffuser keeps you calm and stress-free throughout the day. You'll love the aroma of peppermint oil, lemon oil, and other essential oils.
9. Take Your Kids Out For Field Trips
Give your kids something to do throughout the week to mix things up a bit. Even if your kids are well-behaved, they're still children and will only be a good sport for so long.
Reward them for their good behavior by taking them out to the park or playground. This gives your children lots of exercise and fun in the sun.
Your child will avoid health problems and will be less likely to develop Type 2 diabetes throughout their lifetime.
10. Invest in the Best Collaborative Technology
Make sure that your home office has all the tech that you need for collaborating.
When you connect to video chat technology it's easier for you to streamline your meetings and broker deals. Your workdays will become more productive and you'll find more success with your work weeks.
11. Mix it Up With Breaks and Timers
Finally, make sure you take frequent breaks so you can stay fresh. Consider using the Pomodoro method to give your brain a rest from time to time.
This method requires you to set a timer to work, mixed in with short breaks. You'll keep your focus fresh since you're not burning energy staring at your screen for hours at a time.
Make sure to take some of these breaks outside so you can get lots of fresh air and sunshine.
Learn How to Work From Home Effectively
The points above will help you figure out how to work from home effectively despite having the kids hanging around. If you're going to be remote working for the foreseeable future, the tips above will be a lifesaver.
We'd love to set you up with the office equipment that will keep you comfortable.
Take some time to contact us when you'd like to buy some of the amazing office products that we offer.
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