Working From Home With Kids
To effectively balance work and parenting, particularly from home, involves good planning and structure. A well thought out plan will save you grief and provide you with a happy outcome. It takes effort and planning. The following tips offer points in which you can incorporate into your work from home with kids plan:
work from home with kids routine
Set A Routine: A daily routine provides structure and allows you to experience an effective flow to your day. Whether you vary the particular activities or not, ensure you have a consistent start and end time to the day as well as fixed break or nap times to keep the digestive system and sleep routine in harmony.
work from home with kids schedule
Create A Schedule: Use a whiteboard, chalkboard or large enough paper and place somewhere practical for easy viewing. Involve your child/children to help build this out. Like a typical calendar format, assign your work, breaks and other daily activities. This is where your balance things out. In your work calendar, block out the times you need for re-occurring meetings, breaks and your planned out activities with your child, then apply accordingly to your daily schedule
work from home with kids activities
Schedule Structure & Activities: A schedule should include the right activities to keep your child engaged, whilst also allocating enough time to work on school and educational learning. Some examples to consider:
Breakfast, snack and lunch. Get your child to help decide what to prepare on the day/week. Keep the menu as healthy as possible
Prepare daily meals with the your child
Build in break times to interact and check-in with your child/partner
Indoor & Outdoor time. Include outdoor activities to expand on your options as well as taking advantage exercise, fresh air etc.
School work or educational learning (depending on your child’s age and situation)
Creative play and crafts
Grow a garden. Not only does your child get to learn about growing a garden, so do you, and you get the benefits of consuming what you grow
Painting. On paper, cardboard or on the craft’s created
Chalk. Great for drawing on a large scale, ideally for outdoor use to wash off and reuse, or alternatively a chalkboard
Puzzles
Building. Lego, blocks etc
Chores with rewards. Insensitive your child to help with the dishes, hanging clothes, cleaning toys, sweeping/vacuuming the floors etc, will not only help you maintain your home, it will
Limit TV/tablet time. When used agree that in between or following a favourite show, you add content for educational purposes such as science, animals, environment, maths etc.
Pets. Getting a pet can not only keep you child comforted and distracted, but also introduce responsibility
Setting expectations for your kids
Set Expectations: The effect of setting expectations is that your are more likely to meet those expectations. It helps to avoid complaining, tantrums and instil cooperation. Prior to the day or week ahead, take your child through the schedule and explain what the day/week will involve.
work from home workspace setup
Set Your workspace: To work effectively from home you’ll need to right setup. A great resource “Work From Home Essentials” is a good way to piece together your optimal setup.