What to do if you are stuck working from home?

Introduction

The situation in the world is pretty unstable as for now and we all need to adapt if we want to continue being part of the workforce and bring the paycheck home. If you already work online for a while, you get the gist, but if any of you are attempting this adventure for the first time, we might have some ideas for you. Working from home is comfortable enough, but what do you do, if you have to work, both your kids have online classes to follow and there should be something to eat in the house and no dust bunnies under the couch. Tough, right? Well, let’s accent a few key points. 

1. Have your internet connection taken care of 

The Internet is a crucial component of your sanity, work, studies, and everything else that’s supposed to run smoothly. So make sure you have a great, fast internet. If you are looking into how to improve wifi signal, the solution will not be the same as for mobile internet problems. A phone signal booster is structurally different. A 4g mobile signal booster will be a great solution if you are experiencing problems with multiple devices being connected at the same time, or have problems with the signal in general. 

2. House chore division 

Regardless of age, your children can take on a lot of responsibilities around the house. Toddlers can put away their toys, older kids can vacuum the floors, mop, clean pretty much anything that needs to be cleaned, and even cook simple stuff. This is the time to trust them more and teach them how to handle responsibility. We don’t mean to make them clean and sweep all day, just share the house chores with them.  No one in the house will benefit from having over-exhausted and stressed parents. 

3. Devise a schedule together 

There is literally no other way of getting things done if all of you need to work on a limited number of devices at different times throughout the day. Map out all of the kids’ classes, plus your calls and conferences, and think of a system together that will work for everyone. It’s not easy, but sadly there’s no other efficient way to do it, even if you are a child of the chaos theory and schedules mean prison to you. Just reward yourself with something fun at the end of the day and plough through. Plus, the schedule has it’s own rewards, especially with kids. We are all creatures of habit, especially children. They become calmer and learn to manage their time and handle their emotions better.

4. Meal planning 

Yup, a trick that working mothers have been using for decades. Nowadays, this might just be a necessary part of our every-day life. This basically means that you plan out the whole menu for the week and even cook and freeze whatever can’t be ruined by freezing. Oh, and by the way, you might make your peace with the rise of take-out food in the house. You are not a robot, so, naturally, you are going to allow yourself days off. That’s fine, don’t sweat it. This way you will have more time to concentrate on your work, without distracting on every snack. You’ll know exactly what your next dinner will be, so your brain can scratch that off the list. 

5. Designate a working place 

Now this one is hard to do if your house doesn’t have enough space for a separate office. But at least you have to know which spot of the house you are crashing to work for the next couple of hours. We realise that there’s no such thing as a “quiet place” when we are talking about children in the house, but who said we can’t aim for the next best thing? A separate table, a certain corner of the room, a side of the bed. Whatever you can separate and call your office will work better, than trying to concentrate in different parts of the house. 

Conclusion

This plan has a good chance of working only if you try and stick to it for a somewhat extended period of time, at least for a month or so. They say a new habit needs around 26 days to form, so use this to your advantage and keep it up for a month. You’ll see the difference in your stress levels and mood! So stay healthy and safe, all the while using your time effectively!