With many parents learning to juggle work, parenting and homeschooling, all under one household, it can be a real challenge to maintain boundaries to safeguard your productivity.
EngageRocket shares some advice for parents who are having to navigate through one of the most pressing issues resulting from the coronavirus pandemic.
1. Communicate a family plan
With distractions abound in a house of children, working parents are no doubt facing a certain degree of difficulty balancing in such a working situation. While this is arguably becoming the new normal, it's a challenging situation at hand and would require a lot of grit to push through.
One key piece of advice is to communicate and communicate often with family members. Being transparent ahead of time about the schedule you require to meet your obligations at work to everyone in the household will be a good start to ensure your children understand why contact with them should be off-limits at certain work hours. It will also help your spouses to stagger their work commitments accordingly to keep an eye on the children while you have space and time to focus.
2. Start your workday even earlier
Forcing your children to match their school hours could be good for preparing them for when things turn back to normal, but you potentially lose out on a morning period where you could enjoy a short period of productivity with no distractions. Consider letting the kids sleep in a little and start your workday earlier. This way you can still afford a mid-morning break to tend to your children’s needs without compromising on productivity.
3. Define time for yourself
Taking some time out of the day to focus on your own mental health is something that might sound implausible - but you might just thank yourself for redirecting your day’s energy towards some downtime.
You and your spouse can take turns for participating in this downtime period - and show that you respect each other’s mental health. Take some time to go for a brisk solo walk, or to read a book. Don’t use this time to endeavour in a difficult project - focus on simple tasks or hobbies that help you destress. Your family will thank you for it.
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