Working from home when you have kids can present a whole host of challenges like endless interruptions and distractions but it certainly can be done.
In this article, I’ll run over a few of the best ways of getting your work done when you have children (and your wife/husband is not there to help of course).
Gain Two Extra Hours a Day
My most productive time is early in the morning. Getting up at least a couple of hours before everyone else gives me a great head start to the day. Having a plan for these couple of hours is essential so make that list the day before.
I design and sell wall art so If I get some orders late in the day then these will be the first thing I’ll be doing in the morning. If not then it could be working on a blog post or a new product but having the plan certainly helps.
This could work the other way also. If you’re a night owl you may need to use a couple of hours at night when everyone is gone to bed. If this is the case I would recommend using the night light on your computer as staring at bright screens a couple of hours before bed will make it extremely difficult to get to sleep.
To turn on the night light settings on a windows computer simply type settings in the little magnifying glass search bar which is located on the bottom left-hand corner of your desktop. Go to display and you’ll find the night light there.
I’m not sure what it is for Mac users but feel free to comment below if any of you guys know.
If your computer doesn’t have a night light you could purchase a pair of night light glasses to keep out the blue screen light.
Set up your Work Space
Having your own workspace where you can be at ease really helps. This could be a spare room in the house or even a desk in the bedroom but essentially somewhere that you can close the door when needed to create a boundary between your work and your home. This will make it easier to take client calls and when needed keep the door open so you can listen out for the children.
If it is a spare room I’d invite you to paint it some nice bright colours, add some inspirational or motivational pictures to the wall, and don’t skimp on the chair and desk.
Also if working from home full time it would be useful to purchase a laptop. Be fit to go mobile with your work when needed will help you accomplish a lot more tasks. This way you can work while being in the same room as your children.
Use Naps to your Advantage
My youngest daughter Emily is only two and still takes her little naps at around 11 am. These would last anywhere from one or two hours which is another perfect opportunity to get some work done. If your child is still taking morning or midday naps then use the time to your advantage by getting your most important jobs done.
TV Hour
Some parents will say that this is taking the lazy way out, let them watch television or play a computer game and they'll be quiet! But didn’t you watch television when you were younger?
When I was my child I was watching He-man, Transformers, The Looney Tunes, and Land of the Giants to name a few. When I was a little older I’d love coming home from school and watching Game master, Batman the Animated Series, Fun House, and Knightmare
.
At the weekends it was the Tasmanian Devil, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the weekend game shows like Strike It Lucky, Bullseye, Family Fortunes plus the weekend movie or videocassette (don’t you miss them video stores like Xtra-Vision and Blockbuster).
Now I’m sure if you think back you can remember quite a few television shows you loved yourself, take a moment to do so. Now you'll agree with me that it was a lot of television!
These days people are losing their minds if the kids watch television for an hour a day!