Do you work from home and have a baby, toddler, or older child? We all love our children but tackling a job with kids can be stressful, especially if you’re a single mom. You can successfully work from home with your children once you know how to properly deal with the situation by planning for each day of your workweek. Failure to be proactive towards stress will make your days harder than it needs to be.
Effectively prepare yourself for a successful work week when doing remote work and avoid decreased productivity, depression, or even worst, losing your job. If you feel that your children are safer and happier at home with you, lack the means of having someone to watch your child, have children around you, work from home, and plan to have a child, keep reading. This post was made just for you. As a mother and freelancer with a 6-month-old baby, I will share with you some of my best tips on a stress-free work week with kids, along with advice from other Moms that have been working at home happily with their children more extended than I have.
1. CREATE A SCHEDULE FOR YOURSELF AND KIDS
When I decided to start working from home again after three months with my baby, I didn’t have a schedule, and I found that I procrastinated and kept on putting off work because my baby demanded so much of my attention. It just felt impossible to finish anything, man I watched a video from Morgan Stradling on YouTube about working from home with kids, and she explained how important it was to have a schedule for your kids.
I instantly remembered how vital this was and that I had some adjustments to be made. I had a schedule for myself and feeding my baby, but I didn’t have a plan for baby activities at the time. Children are more likely to seek your attention when they get bored. Create some new activities for your child, and be sure to pay close attention to how long it usually takes for them to get tired of something so you can know when to provide them with a new activity.
2. MAINTAIN A COMFORTABLE WORKSPACE
Do you have a home office? If you work from home, it would be ideal to have a home office and a separate room for older children. Setup a baby monitor or any camera system with audio so that you can work in your office comfortably while monitoring your kids in their room or playroom.
Be sure to check in with your child by visiting them every 10-15 minutes if you have a baby, playing a musical video, for example, Little Angels or Farmees on YouTube will occupy your child. Place your baby in a swing while they watch the video, and your child will be okay for 20-30 minutes or so once well-fed with clean diapers.
Graco made the swing that I use. It is practical and very affordable.
If your child is no longer an infant and has a playroom, it is necessary to set toys to feel inclined to play. Amanda, writer of messy motherhood blog, shares on her site how she keeps her son entertained in his playroom by rotating toys, making toys easily accessible, keeping the room organized, and avoiding too many toys at once.
If you have a small space and work in the same room as children, do your best to get more space and in the meantime, use toys that do not have audio if you’re taking calls.
Try to invest in some high-quality noise-canceling headphones. This option by Jabra is an excellent choice.
You may also try working while holding your baby from time to time if he or she wants attention. Interact now and then; remind them that you love them. Explain your situation to your boss. Try to get a job that does not require taking calls.
3. TAKE DEEP BREATHS DURING TOUGH TIMES
Just imagine trying to take a phone call, and your baby keeps screaming or singing when you take a phone call; next, she starts taking your headset off your head after you took her up to stop crying or babbling, and when you try to put her down she pulls your hair and doesn’t end the antics along with fussing until you start to play with her, give a snack or nurse. Breathe, Mama, take some deep inhales and let it all out.
Each time I face a challenging situation, I like to breathe it out until everything feels better so don’t forget to take deep breaths. Suppose you have a hard time dealing with the situation and can’t find it in yourself to calm down. Imagine a moment where you were at the epiphany of happiness, close your eyes and feel the emotions you felt in that moment. Once you feel better, open your eyes and keep the feelings from the moment.
4. PLAN MEALS FOR A WEEK
Most people work 8 hours a day whether you are working at home or not, and some people get a 30 minute to 1-hour lunch, and those who are lucky get an additional ten or 15-minute break. That is not a lot of free time while working; therefore, mothers that work from home have to ensure that meals are easily accessible for themselves and their children by doing weekly meal prep or at least three days of food storage. It all depends on how much space you have and what you can afford.
Check out these meal prep containers, hand-picked by me.
If your storing food for your baby, it’s best to use food in the fridge within 48-72 hours, but if you want the food to be good for up to 2 or 3 months, you can try storing baby food in a Ziploc bag after taking them out the ice tray, or you can store them in a silicone ice cube tray like this
Snacks, Snacks, and more snacks! Provide some healthy snacks that kids can munch on now and then. My baby loves to scream and try to talk. Honestly, it’s adorable, but it stresses me out when I am taking calls or doing a live session. Thank you, Lord, for baby biscuits and fruits. I sometimes use these strawberry apple spinach teethers made by Gerber.
5. WAKE UP EARLY
Whether you work from home or not, it’s best to start your day early. Wake up early so that you have more time for yourself and less stress throughout your day. It’s easier to get stressed when you feel overwhelmed, and like you’re running out of time.
To maintain self-care, a healthy diet, and a clean environment, you must wake up at least 5 or 6 am. It all depends on your situation, wake up and plan your day with a to-do list of all the things you want to get done for the day.
6. WORK WHEN CHILDREN ARE BUSY, ENTERTAINED, OR ASLEEP
It’s best to get some work done while your kids are sleeping, playing, or busy doing anything that grabs their attention. Sleep train your baby, don’t let your baby sleep too long during non-work hours, and ensure to do the same on your days off.
Sleep train your baby. If you work for 8 hours with one break, try to have your baby sleeping the longest during your work time, and this might mean only getting 4-5 hours of sleep along with some short naps for yourself. It is a challenge to work at home with kids, but it’s not impossible
‘I think every working mom probably feels the same thing. You go through big chunks of time where you’re just thinking, ‘This is impossible – oh, this is impossible.’ And then you keep going and keep going, and you sort of do the impossible.’
Working from home with children is hard; it gets easier the older children get, and it takes patience, so much patience. With the right attitude and plan, you can excel in your career while saving money on childcare. Do you work from home? How do you manage to get work done with the children during COVID-19? Leave your comments, and don’t forget to share this with a fellow Mama. Thanks for reading.
References:
Straddling. M. (2020, March 20). How to work from home with kids (10 Tips for working at home with kids, toddlers, and babies. https://youtu.be/MDN8pmJImVQ
Amanda., Setting Up a Playroom So your Child will Play with Their Toys. Messy Motherhood. 2021; Retrieved from https://messymotherhood.com/setting-up-playroom-so-your-child-will/
N.A., 30+ Inspirational Working Mom Quotes for Hard Working Moms. Proud Happy Mama. 2021; Retrieved from https://proudhappymama.com/working-mom-quotes/#:~:text=HARD%20WORKING%20MOM%20QUOTES,-‘It%20doesn’t&text=’I%20see%20you%20there%20mama,when%20it%20feels%20never%20ending
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