One of the toughest things about working from home is...well, working from home. Especially during the summer. I'm here because I want to be the one that drives my kids to and from their activities and plans fun events with them. But I'm torn because in the midst of all the summer fun, I still have deadlines and work requirements. Here are a few survival tips that are helping me stay sane this summer:
- Lighten the load whenever you can. I have a couple of smaller projects that I'm deliberately putting off until my children are back in school. Giving myself permission to do so has made me feel less guilty about the fact that they are not done yet.
- Ask for help. Little things make a big difference in keeping things running smoothly. My kids are now helping by folding laundry, sweeping the floors and emptying the dishwasher. Though none of these tasks takes much time, they produce valuable work time for me during the day if I don't have to do them all myself.
- Communicate regularly. I often have phone interviews lined up--and that means I'm not available to my kids. I let them know what the day is going to look like ahead of time when possible so that they know when I'm available to them and when I'm not. It's less frustrating for all of us if I don't have to interpret sign language when I'm on a call!
- Hire help. When work and family compete for my attention during the day, I've hired friends' high school or college age children to help. They've picked up my kids and brought them home after day camps and one is even taking my son golfing (since neither my husband or I golf). This has eased my stress on several occasions and enabled me to help a young person earn a little extra cash.
- Be kind to yourself. I know that I'm living this summer imperfectly. But I also know I'm doing my best to juggle competing demands. Instead of feeling guilty or critical regarding what each individual day looks like, I choose instead to take an overall look at the summer. And so far, it's been a good one!
What strategies are you using to make it through this summer?
Each of these points hit home for me. I am not only working at home, but am a single parent and my son is homeschooled. I routinely have a couple of young teenage girls from church over to help out with organizing or cleaning a specific area of my home or to assist with specific projects.
ReplyDeleteWe also have two other young girls that come over to either play with my son or specifically to get me out of my bubble and do something with all the children, especially those girly things I don't always get to do with a 6 year old son ;)
My son is always asking for the "plans for tomorrow" so that he is up on my expectations for him.
By biggest issue is allowing myself to let go of certain things - but when I do, the blessings are great! I am so much more productive when I set specific goals for each week and have a general plan for when the other things will get done. That way, even when 90% of the job isn't done, I actually feel the freedom to have a popsicle with my son on a hot day, because I know the work WILL get done!
Thank you for reiterating these points for me - I need reminders as often as possible!
~Jessica
http://gardenoffrancis.com
Summer season is really tough for the working people. By having some useful tips which has been shared here you can make this summer enjoyable.
ReplyDeleteOne of the benefits of working from home is being able to watch after your kids. But sometimes it could be one of the distractions too when it comes to work. These tips are great. I just hope I'm able to do it in the near future. Thank you for sharing.
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