Memories of working in the corporate world and having my daughter in daycare are still fresh in my mind. The times she got sick and I would go to my manager and let her know I had to pick up my daughter were made even worse because she would roll her eyes and huff something like “so I suppose I HAVE TO DO ALL THIS WORK NOW”. I wish I could say I’m being dramatic, but I’m not.
When it came time for me to return to work, I was reticent about working for somebody else and having to go through that juggling act again.
My husband and I decided I should try working from home with my own business. Being my own boss and working from home has been a fantastic decision for our family. It means that I get to be here for our two children. I can take them to school, pick them up from school and if they’re sick, I’m home already so it’s no big deal. The pros of being a work at home parent are many, but there are also cons.
The cons include trying to work at home while the kids are here, isolation, being distracted because you’re at home (washing, messy house, door to door salespeople) and school holidays.
School holidays can be difficult because your clients aren’t affected by the holidays. They are still expecting work to be completed despite the fact you have your children home with you for two weeks (or longer over Christmas).
So how do I work around this? Well – we have a rule in our house on the holidays. The kids are allowed screen time in the morning for a set amount of time and then again after lunch. I use this time as my official work time. This means that when I hear them up at 6am on their screens, I force myself out of bed and into my study to work. That way we’re all on screen at the same time and we all turn off our screen at the same time. I repeat the process after lunch when they jump back on. To make this work I do a lot of list making and prioritising beforehand. Anything that can wait, will wait. I focus mainly on the imperative tasks or the frogs I have to eat.
This way, I get to spend quality holiday time with them without constantly worrying about the to-do list or my emails because I’ve tackled a lot of it first thing in the morning. Anything I didn’t get to in the morning, I know that I can do after lunch.
I also communicate regularly with any clients whose expectations I need to manage closely. Most of my clients are aware that I work from home and I let them know when holidays are pending and what availability I will have. And that’s it! That’s how I manage working from home and the school holidays. Nothing flash or fancy, just moving my work time to align with their screen time.
If you have any suggestions or stories on how you manage to work from home while the kids are on holidays, I’d love to hear them in the comments below! Until next time, stay engaged, be present and have fun.
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