Tips for working at home with children

Are you struggling to get work done with your children also at home? Consider some of these tips to help you out. Most importantly, be honest about your struggles, especially with your supervisor. We're all adjusting and now is the time to reach out for help.

Jessalyn King - 1 April 2020

Working at Home with Kids by Jessalyn King (@kingjessalyn on Instagram)

Single parent entrepreneurs have been working from home with their children for ages, but it's a different ball game when it isn't your choice to work from home, and school, daycare, or play dates aren't an option. So while taking some advice from everyday remote workers is good, since they have the experience, some of their advice is un-replicable right now. However, there are so many articles out there right now with advice from both long-term remote workers and brand new ones. I've combined the most frequent advice for you here.

Firstly, and you might have already had some good discussions with your kids, you're going to have to explain that this isn't a vacation, and how important the isolation rules are right now. Here are a few articles that might help:

  1. All articles advise to set and maintain a schedule as if your children were going to school or daycare (a they would normally) in terms of waking up and eating meals. (This is good advice for us grownups too!)
  2. At least until the novelty of having you at home all the time wears off relaxing on your screen time rules is probably going to happen. It's okay. Everyone reminds you to not worry about it.
  3. Let your kids make some choices about what to do with their day, since you're going to have to say no to going to the playground, school, or to see their grandparents, they need to feel like they have some control over their lives too. (Some good advice on this topic here, see number #5.)
  4. Here is an article with ideas for keeping young kids busy. Setting out activities and snacks beforehand is common advice.
  5. If your kids are older, have discussions with them to set your boundaries. You can set up a "stop" and "go" system with them so they know you're not to be interrupted during calls. Obviously, this won't work as well with young children.
  6. Try setting up virtual play dates with your children's friends. This can be tough if you need your technology for your own virtual meetings, but if you have this ability, your children's friends' parents will also probably appreciate the time.
  7. Splitting your focus on both working and childcare can be exhausting. A few ways to deal with this is to alternate parenting shifts with your partner (if possible, understandably not an option for everyone). Or consider working at times when your children are naturally sleeping or busy. These both will probably require some discussions with your supervisor about working slightly shifted hours from the rest of the department so you can focus on work for a bit.
  8. Don't forget to take breaks from work, and also from your child(ren), if possible.
  9. While we're still getting used to each others' situations, just let us know up front if there are likely to be interruptions from your children on a work call. We all understand.
  10. We're all (children and adults alike) a bit anxious right now. Here are some resources for you:
Extra reading:
  • This Poynter article breaks down the options in working from home with children of different ages.
  • This Business Insider article is good from the perspective of someone who already has years of experience working with his kids, but also taking into perspective the lockdown in Spain.