Note this is not my child in the image but it serves to illustrate a valid peril of working from home. If you have children they are adorable and I’m sure wanting to spend more time with them is a big part of why you want to work from home however children can have terrible timing. They upchuck all over you when you’re trying to write blog posts or work on programs. They start yelling because they desperately need something while you are in the middle of something. You can’t even remember what you were in the middle of because they are so loud. They poop diapers and need feeding.
Now to be entirely fair my child is still very young so there are a lot of things I haven’t figured out yet. While I was pregnant though and considering my options I read loads of articles on the subject of working from home with children and these are a few highlights I would like to share with you.
From “17 Strategies to Survive Working From Home With Children” by Allison Martin ( https://www.thesimpledollar.com/17-strategies-to-survive-working-from-home-with-children/ )
“1. Be realistic
If your children constantly demand attention during non-business hours, do you really expect them to sit in a corner with a pile of crayons, coloring books, or an iPad for hours at a time while you work?
Even as an adult, I am sometimes easily sidetracked during work hours by phone calls, text messages, email alerts, social media (the ultimate time-suck), or a light bulb that suddenly goes off in my head — just to name a few distractions.
And remember, you are the main attraction for your little ones.”
She raises an excellent point that part of your success of working from home will depend on your children and how you’ve raised them. Happy self sufficient children who can play near you without constantly needing attention will make working from home considerably easier. I’ve found that when my little one is having a bad day I barely get anything done and he is one of the most cheerful easy going babies you’ve ever met.
From ” Working from home with children: Tips to make it work” by Marie Elizabeth Oliver ( https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/on-parenting/working-from-home-with-children-tips-to-make-it-work/2018/08/30/026242b4-9462-11e8-810c-5fa705927d54_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.ac12e167e1b6)
“Basecamp chief technology officer David Heinemeier Hansson, who co-wrote the bestsellers “Rework” and “Remote: Office Not Required,” has run a remote team for the past 15 years. He enjoys a leisurely breakfast each morning with his children before working from his home office. He says the key to success while working remotely is to maximize focused productivity and prevent multitasking overload.
“I have an iMac computer in my home office,” he explains. “Everywhere else, I carry my iPhone and tablet and try not to use it to answer work email. It’s a way of delineation, so you don’t sit on your laptop all day long.”
Hansson says one of the biggest mistakes he sees people make when they start working remotely is working too much. “People are so eager to prove themselves that they are working all day and night,” he says. “We actually have to train them not to do this.”
Not all personal interruptions are bad, he emphasizes. Spending spontaneous time with your family is one of the biggest perks of remote work.
“You can take a 15-minute break to console your kid without it having an impact on your work,” says Hansson. “It leads to a happier environment and more harmonious work and home life.””
After all isn’t this one of the perks of working from home. You get to be there for your children a little more often.
The post The Perils of Working from Home: Part 2(Children) appeared first on Gilded Octopus.
