Working from home with kids during lockdown

For many of us working parents, the lockdown means a complete life change. Not just because we need to balance family and work life behind closed doors, but also to minimise the negative impact the crisis might have had on the business. As a mum of two small children, I can completely relate and the one advice I would give is to be kind - to yourself, to others around you and to your business.

I’ve reached out to other working parents to find out what works for them to balance work and kids during these challenging times and here are their top tips:

Be kind to yourself

“Acknowledge the grief or emotional roller coaster to occur, you don’t have to let it control you but sit with the emotion for a minute. Be kind to yourself and allow yourself to drop a ball or two. Reduce the amount of activities you need to achieve and the pressure you put on yourself, these are unprecedented times and often even the simplest of tasks take longer. I would also say that approach this in the same way you would approach a challenging work situation, break things down into bite size chunks and celebrate the small wins.”, recommends Emma James, physiotherapist and clinical director.

Emma McKinstry, Founder of 418 Communications suggests to embrace getting a little less done than you might want to, and enjoy the extra time with your kids.

“Advice would be to lower expectations of what you're going to achieve! And take time to adapt to the new way of life. I've started live bakealongs on Facebook helped by 4 year old and online classes”, says Rhiannon, Founder of Epsom Bakehouse.

Mother of two and founder of Calla Shoes recommends to not stress too much about what you have or haven’t done in a day as there’s always the next day! And that red wine is acceptable from 4.30pm! (I can only agree)

Manage your time and energy

“Here at home it's being quite challenging”, says Alberto Gil, owner of Hockerty.com and Sumissura.com. “So we decided with my wife to make a clear schedule and take turns. She starts 7.30 am in the morning, work for 2 hours, then it's my turn, I work 2 hours, and so on. This implies that you finish working at 11 pm and still have to work on the weekends. So, being really honest, we are really looking forward for all this to end. Our kids are one and four, so they really need attention. It's not an option to work at the same time and taking care of them. I mean, it may work 30 min per day, but it's something you can't count on.”

“Schedule your day so you all have a structure. Children can help out with so many things, and now is the time to slow down and show them how. Set clear boundaries and mutual agreement on them, and make sure you honour them.”, recommends Lee Chambers, Founder of Essentialise Workplace Wellbeing.

Susannah Davda of The Shoe Consultant suggests: “Explain to your child what it is you're doing and how long it's going to take. Overestimate the time, rather than underestimate. It's better to surprise them by being finished sooner. Of course the younger the child, the less likely they are to grasp the concept of time.”

The guys at Find Your Flex recommend that you pop in your email signature that you work flexibly! “I’m sending this message now because it suits me. I don’t expect you to read, action or respond out of your own working hours.”

Haddy Folivi, Founder of Clarity Media suggests that work in bite size chunks can increase productivity: “In this climate, there is no right or wrong way. Find your rhythm and what works for you, and work it. I suggest that people working from home do the work that requires the most concentration when it's quiet. I think realistically, we should work in short bursts. It's impossible to get a full days work done in one go when you have kids, especially if you are homeschooling, so working in chunks really helps productivity.”

Get the kids involved

“Plan activities the kids can do at the table while you crack on with work. Craft based projects, quiet reading or colouring work well. Turn it into a game by setting a timer on a clock so everyone knows how long to concentrate on the task in hand before you get a break or snack.”, recommends the team at ParentChum.

“One thing that’s been particularly good is getting the kids to be a bit more independent, which helps us and also is good for them. So they’ve been helping to prepare their own lunch or snacks, getting themselves fully ready, clearing away their plates etc. The children also love the fact we all eat breakfast, lunch and dinner together and we’ve introduced some fun quizzes or spellings some of the time as extra learning opportunities”, says Jessica Morgan, Owner at Carnsight Communication.

"I have two kids, five and seven. To say that I dream Paw Patrol and Frozen would be an understatement. My partner and I devised a very civilised schedule up front a few weeks back how we would home school the kids. I worked early mornings, she worked 9-12, i would work in the afternoon. That lasted for all of a few days. My kids are teaching me brevity and parallel tasking on steroids. On the other hand, it is so much fun when they get bored with the TV and start reading, engaging in cool conversations and wanting to learn about ‘why is papa constantly typing or on the phone’. I have actually enlisted my oldest to offer opinions on our website update designs. If she doesn't like it, it gives me food for thought.”, shares Michael Rossman, Director at EnergyBillKill.

Britt-Marie Monks founder of The Holiday & Honeymoon Fixer recommends to set time aside in the morning and afternoon to do something with them for 30 minutes. ”Ava and I do exercise in the morning and baking in the afternoon. She then knows in-between mummy needs to do some work. I also get her to role play what mummy does for work, so when I go and sit at my desk, she sits at her table and starts to do her "work" so she will flick through brochures.

Give yourself space

Holly Pither, MD at Tribe PR, says: “If you have the space, set up your own home office rather than working at the kitchen table, and ideally work away from kids and partner, if you can. I appreciate this is a luxury not everyone has, but whatever the space you use, ideally you want to be able to shut the (virtual) door at the end of the day and know you have switched off. This could be as simple as one of those desks that drop down from the wall, which is then pushed back at the end of the workday.”

Get moving

Amber Long, Founder of Tea House recommends to get kids moving first thing with a fun physical activity to release energy.

“As everyone is inevitably spending more time sat stationary, it’s more important than ever to keep children moving. To kick start the day, organise a family exercise or yoga session as this will make sure everyone is stretched and feeling motivated. These home workouts don’t have to involve purchasing expensive equipment, many celebrity coaches are running online exercise workouts for both adults and children and if you’re able to do these live, it can be a great way for kids to interact with their friends and classmates.”, adds the team at Kiddies Kingdom.

Keep safe. Be kind. We’ll get through this.