Companies of all sizes in different parts of the world are
starting to adopt remote work at a faster rate. A recent survey revealed that
68% of workers across the globe worked remotely once a month, at least. Remote work has several positive effects for companies such as boarder applicant pools
that do not rely on location and lower overhead costs.
A lot of parents have joined the work from home bandwagon
because of its flexibility as well as the opportunity to spend more time with their
family. Waking up and eating breakfast together with family is a rare benefit
for parents who have been dreaming of work life balance.
If you are a parent and you are thinking of a remote job, it’s
very easy to imagine the many benefits of working at home. However, you also
have to keep in mind that it’s not all lollipops and rainbows. While it is
great to cut back on the commute and be with your children more than when you
were spending more than eight hours in the office, work from home, work from
home also has its concerns that you need to be prepared for if you want remain
sane.
Be Emotionally Prepared
You may think that moving to remote work won’t be a roller
coaster ride, but it could actually stir a lot of emotion that could blow up if
you are not prepared and careful.
What typically happens to many parents who decide to work from home is the lines between home and work life, which used to marked
clearly, suddenly becomes blurry for everybody. Where kids used to think of dad
and mom being home as family time, now the house is where they are working and
outings or playtimes need to wait for a scheduled time.
One good way of mitigating this is to create a time and space
boundaries with your children. If they are told that you are at work when you
are in the office, your kids will know that you are not yet available for
playtime.
Create A Morning Routine
Going straight from the bedroom to your home office without
changing out of your pajamas may be a dream for everyone, but unless you have
already trained your brain that you have to work right away, you will realize
that it’s quite hard to complete anything.
Add your children’s hustle and bustle, especially if they
are in the hands on stage, plus the family foot traffic that you’ll hear inside
the house, then you will find yourself dealing with a productivity problem. So,
you better have a daily routine.
Create A Workflow
You need to have a dedicated space that is meant only for
you when you are working. It must be a closed off space that has a door and a
lock. Then you should set ground rules as to how other people in your house
could get in touch with you during the day. You should ask your nanny or your
spouse to text you if they need something. This will allow you to respond
appropriately without having to disrupt your work. You should also create a
method of how you can get things done. You can try out the Pomodoro technique.
