It can be very nice when you work from home and can properly focus when you need to, you are far away from office obstacles such as noisy chats between your colleagues and from that air conditioning set to the lowest possible temperature which gives you chills on your neck.

We all love to focus and task but what if you have a little companion at the house. Children are very active and that’s good as they cannot keep the energy locked in their bodies, they need to play, scream and get dirty, this is all good for their sanity. So we do have a work which we need to complete and potentially next door we have a little battle going on, how to stay sane, stay productive and make some fun in the mean time.

Make a family plan

You have to sit down with your other half and write down priorities and ideally block time for certain tasks, kids even when they are at home, they cannot spend 8hours per day playing while you are working, make sure there is some learning involved too. Schedule your time the way that you won’t miss anything at work and also kids won’t be left alone to procrastinate on their own.

Make use of your most productive time during the day and if kids make noise, consider noice cancelling headphones, I’m using Bose NC700 (you can check BLOG article about them here) and could not be happier with this purchase. You can ultimately work next to your kids playing and you would not hear what they are doing or even what they are screaming. Make sure your second half has her/his role too, you cannot possible split your focus and concentrate on work and kids at the same time, you need a fair split of parents duties.

Make sure there is routine in your day, breakfast should be a time which you spend with your family, your lunches and breaks you can also dedicate for your loved ones. Just make sure there is some sort of alert on your phone reminding you to go back to work.

Make sure to set clear boundaries

Make sure there is a policy in your home such as:

• try to be quiet when your parent is working
• shut doors means do not come in!
• if needed put a sign on the door that you are working, it could be a good reminder so the kids can pause and reflect on whether they really have to interrupt you now!

Swap duties with your partner

If you are both working, consider different times of work when possible, if you won’t be able to find agreement, you will need to look for babysitter. Kids cannot be left alone as their creativity, when not managed may lead to broken things at your home. That’s certainly something you don’t want to happen. Try to get most work done when kids are asleep in the morning that way when they are awake you should have some spare time available for them. Make sure your partner comply with the plan and that you both have clear duties.

Finally, simply enjoy your kids

Enjoy them till they are young, they will grow up faster than you think and then you will regret that you haven’t spent much time with them, plan that quality time with kids, if they want your attention and you are working, make sure you compensate them after you finish work, you can go for a walk together or see their favourite movie. Dedicate time for your kids, this would also be a good work/life balancer for you.

There is one more thing to remember – do not raise voice on your kids when you are stressed, they would not understand why you are doing it, if you have any problems holding your emotions do try meditation, it really helps and I covered it extensively in this BLOG post. Last you want to do is hurt your child.

What sort of plan of action you have when kids are at home and you have work to do? Let me know in the comments below.

All the best,
Lucas