Working remotely with family at home can give a significant impact on your work life. You have to prepare several things to anticipate problems you might encounter while on remote work with your family. From chores, kids, spouses, and other family stuff to neverending online meetings, work projects, and conferences, those are things you are going to face all at once while working at home.
As more businesses adopt the remote lifestyle, the boundaries between work and family life have blurred. It is not easy to achieve work-life balance, there is always a possibility of an inconvenient thing getting in the way. Therefore, below, we provide tips to help you make remote work more convenient and comfortable.
Why is it Important to Organize Yourself With Your Family When You Work at Home?
Working remotely means you will get to spend more time with your family. As your number one support system, it is necessary to make yourself comfortable working around your family. They are the people you are going to see and deal with 24 hours of your day and 7 days of your week. So, it is important to set an organized life while working with family at home.
In addition, there are so many benefits of being organized that you will get if you practiced one. It improves your productivity, makes you more motivated, and also reduces stress! However, as many advantages as this habit have, not so many people–especially remote workers–know how to achieve an organized work and family life.
One of the problems you might encounter when you work at home is somehow it’s easy to mix home and work stuff which can lead you to get distracted. As a working parent with kids, especially when you don’t have a helper and do all the chores by yourself, doing that thing every day will be exhausting and tiring. This is why you need to discuss household chores’ responsibilities with your spouse, but if your family has more budget, consider hiring a helper. After you ensure that the chores’ responsibilities have been managed, making it is easier for you to focus on your job while working remotely at home.
5 Tips For Balancing Remote Work With Your Family at Home
Work-life balance means you can handle your personal life and work life at ease. When you have enough time to take care of your family yet still finish your job properly, it is sufficient to say that you already achieve a healthy work-life balance.
By practicing a healthy work-life balance, you can get plenty of advantages, such as you are more likely to have the mental clarity and emotional strength needed to give your kids the devoted attention they deserve to grow, learn, and flourish. Having a well-balanced family life can also help you enjoy life, manage stress, and avoid burnout while working at home.
Here are 5 tips to help you achieve a healthy work-life balance while working at home.
- Schedule routines for you and your family
- Separate your workspace and personal space
- Set boundaries at home and at work
- Stay connected with your colleagues
- Give yourself a pleasant personal time while not working
Schedule Routines For You and Your Family
It is important to establish a routine in your working day. You can start it by organizing your activities in order of priority. When you maintain this routine every day, your kids will adjust faster and it will make your work life easier.
After you schedule a routine for yourself, create one for your kids and family too! You can assist your kids in some fun and educational activities throughout the day. Split the childcare duties with your spouse, so both parents will not miss the important moment of their children’s lives.
Once in a while, you can also schedule a family night where you can strengthen the bond with your family.
Separate Your Workspace and Personal Space
Dedicate a workspace to help you gain more productivity and focus on work without having it interfere with your personal life. This will allow you to physically and psychologically separate your personal and professional life. It will also make it much simpler for you to leave work “at work” at the end of the day and devote your time to your family. You can also limit distractions when you have a separate workspace.
Plan Important Meetings Wisely
If you have daily conference calls or regular meetings with coworkers, make sure to plan those sessions during a quiet time of day to avoid being interrupted too much. This may be in the early morning when your kids are still sleeping, or when they can watch TV or do other activities that you already planned.
When you already know the schedule for daily your meeting, you can plan your activities the night before, starting from the most important to the least ones, so when it is time to attend the meeting, you can focus on your work. If somehow you cannot be present in a regular meeting and it cannot be rescheduled, you can ask your coworker to record the meeting, so you are still able to catch up with things that were discussed in the meeting.
Stay Connected With Your Colleagues
Working at home without the presence of your colleagues might be odd at first. It is easy to miss a conference meeting if you are not communicating regularly with your coworkers. However, a variety of excellent apps makes it easier for you to communicate and stay connected with your teammate.
When you can’t meet your colleagues in person, video chat can let you have more nuanced team-building discussions. Whereas when you need immediate responses, instead of using email, use a messaging app for quick conversations. You can also ask your coworkers to share their calendars, so everyone can stay in sync and know each other’s schedules.
Know that you are not alone on this battlefield, get in touch with the other parents you work with–they are going through the same thing.
Give Yourself a Pleasant Personal Time While Not Working
Working from home while juggling childcare and family responsibilities may be demanding. Make time for yourself to relax. You need regular breaks to recharge your focus and energy. While working, you can take up to 15 minutes break about every 50 to 90 minutes.
After long hours of work, by the end of the week, give yourself a pleasant me-time to keep you sane and avoid burnout. You can do your hobbies, go shopping, or simply take a proper rest by sleeping. The important thing is, don’t use your leisure to work, but only use it to do things that make you happy.
