When we each decided to start working from home, we both made a well thought out decision that was the best for our families at the time.
Then this blog was born…the same day as Meghan’s twin boys!
And…well…we haven’t really looked back or slowed down since!
Staying at home with twins is wild…babies, toddlers…and, yes even school-aged twins! With our role as full-time parents during the day, and bloggers/authors by day/night, well needless the say, the line between can easily become blurred.
But let’s get real for a second here, working from home does have some pretty awesome perks! We can be at home in pajamas on a conference call with a client who has no idea that we haven’t brushed our teeth or put on a bra. But, we would be lying if we said there weren’t days that we miss the day-to-day camaraderie of working with amazing teachers full time!
We are grateful for the opportunity to be home with our boys and super lucky that we get to run a business as best friends!
Along the way we have learned a few things that help us manage parenting full time while working from home. Most importantly, we keep it simple.
Tips for Balancing Life as a Parent While Working From Home:
Schedule:
We’ve said it a million times in so many of our other posts, but we will say it again. Babies, toddlers, and even school-aged kids thrive on a schedule and so do working adults. We each keep a day planner and fill it in each day with work priorities as well as family priorities (laundry, feedings, naps, errands, etc).
We begin by making a list of all the things that we want AND need to accomplish, breaking the list down into what NEEDS to be done vs. what can wait if we don’t actually get to it that day. Prioritizing in this way allows us to eliminate stress with unrealistic to-do lists.
We like to cross out to-do items that are completed and put a circle around items that are in progress to help us visually see that stuff is getting done. When our boys were infants, we were sure to schedule in meals and a “short breather” for ourselves into each day, because those necessities took back seat a lot of time. Even if we didn’t stick to the schedule, at least we had an idea of what needed to get done.
Now that our kids are older, our days have more flexibility. So whether you like a day planner, a scrap piece of paper or a dry erase board, it helps if you write your to-do’s down!
Get Crafty:
Working from home as a parent in charge of little humans requires us to get creative with our time. Meghan’s boys stopped napping while we were in the middle of writing our first book! Jenn’s boys had just wrapped up Pre-K and were home for the summer. We had deadlines to meet and zero time during the day to make that happen. We had to think on our feet and figure out how to get the work done.
Meghan joined a local gym with childcare and poached wifi in the lobby. She would work out and then spent a little time working there afterward. Were there days where she didn’t use the gym, just the daycare? Absolutely! A girl’s gotta do what a girls’ gotta do.
The moral of her story is…get creative with your time. If you are a night owl, then, by all means, work late after everyone is in bed. Find a strategy that works best for you, giving you the time and flexibility you need for your family while allowing you to get your work done.
Set Goals:
Setting both long term and short term goals not only helps to keep you on track professionally, but goal setting also helps to quantify accomplishments along the way!
As former teachers, backward planning is part of our mindset. Now as bloggers and business owners, we get together to set annual goals, and then work backward to set quarterly, monthly and weekly goals we want to achieve. Write your goals down in a place where you will see them often. Meghan writes them on a “whiteboard” wall in her office and Jenn keeps hers in a note on her phone.
Keeping your goals in a place where you will see them often will make you more likely to accomplish them.
Now, we recognize that life ebbs and flows with parenting as children grow, as will your life as a parent working from home. Here are a few tips for managing work at home as your kids grow.
Tips for Managing Work at Home As Your Kids Grow:
Babies
Toddlers-Preschool Aged Kids
School Aged Kids
