Working from home while homeschooling kids
Working from home while homeschooling kids
During the COVID-19 pandemic, work from home is a big challenge for everyone. It is not possible for everyone to manage the same work environment from their homes when each family member is at home. It gets tough to handle when a partner is on an official call and the kids are getting nasty and you have your own to-dos of the day waiting for you. Working from home and homeschooling simultaneously is a big deal in itself. Here are some of the tips and tricks to manage almost everything/things from home.
Be Flexible
Manage your time keeping in mind your family needs, child care, and office hours. You can give your distraction-free time to your critical tasks. Make a flexible time schedule according to the changing needs of the family. Maybe someday you want to give more time for the study of your kid or someday you have to give more time to your office work. Ask your spouse to help you with the homeschooling of your kids to get a much-needed break and relax.
Relaxed Homeschooling Style
Working from home and homeschooling together is tough. You can manage well by giving flexible time to your kids. For example, don’t pressurize them to give their exact school timing fixed for homeschooling also. In between give them some spare time for their meals, play, and other fun activities. Keep them busy with good habits of reading, and journaling.
Breaks to check unexpected and manage
Take frequent small but planned breaks from your work if you need to check on your household chores and kids. Plan which chore you can complete in that small break and once planned, forget about it until the scheduled time arrives. Some unexpected interruptions may hamper your work. For example, your meeting with your boss is going on and suddenly WiFi stops working. Do not panic because work is an ongoing thing and unexpected might happen to anyone. You need to make sure that you are communicating it well so that the team knows about it. Make sure you tell them on time so that they can plan the rest accordingly. At home, you may feel overwhelmed with everything going on simultaneously, but planning is the key.
Pay attention to your kids
When you are free and not working (no office) spend your quality time with your kids. Involve yourself in their daily routines and other activities. I also wish to spend quality time with my kids. This lockdown has given me time to spend with them. I play board games with them and help them in digital learning.
Communicate your schedule to everyone
Make a proper schedule for everyone. Wake-up time, breakfast, study time, cleaning, playing, sleeping, activity time, etc., etc. to be included in this schedule. Make it on a chart or a paper, and communicate with each other. So that everyone is clear about the expectations of that day. Make sure that you include them in the planning and ask for their suggestions also. This will also help them to know, which is your critical task time and not disturb you. If everyone has the proper schedule, everything will go smoothly.
Divide household responsibilities
You can divide some of the household activities among all the family members to have the proper time scheduling. Every family member has to be clear about their individual responsibility at home. You can involve even your small kids in some activities which they will enjoy also. For example, they can sort their shoe rack, clean their room, keep their toys in the proper place, learn how to make their beds, clean tables after meals, fold laundry, and do other easy-to-handle tasks. With this exercise, they will learn the basic skills of life.
Keep your kids busy with creative activities
Everyone is forced to stay at home and manage everything from home. It is tougher for kids from the same schedule of staying indoors, studying, and watching TV. You can involve your kids in fun learning activities like Yoga, cooking classes, learning a new language (online), art and craft activities, the art of writing letters. Your kids will become more creative with these activities.
Work Smartly
To maintain a balance in work from home and homeschooling at the same time you need to do smart work. You can do every work smoothly by making a proper schedule and then stick to it. You should set a deadline for each task of yours. Try not to multitask and don’t do any work when you are stressed out. Make your workplace comfortable to do all well on time.
Give time to yourself
You will be able to manage work from home, homeschooling, and everything on time when you are doing well physically and mentally. Keep yourself on the top of the priority list. Make sure you are giving yourself the care that you deserve. Give some time to yourself for doing yoga, exercise, and meditation to remain fit and healthy.
This pandemic has given us a chance to stay together at home with work from home and homeschooling. Don’t do any task under pressure. You may never get a chance to stay with your family. So be calm, live every moment with joy!