Is It Possible To Do Home Office With Children?

You are in the middle of a work meeting and all of a sudden your son appears asking, “Dad, will you help me find my toy?” You tell him to wait a moment, but he insists: “No! Now”. This situation can generate a lot of frustration and nervousness. Thus, there may be times when  home office with children seems impossible. However, there are ways to avoid these setbacks and/or manage potential frustrations intelligently.

It’s normal for the first few days to feel a little disoriented. The house suddenly becomes an office and a school. Therefore, it is helpful to know how to manage this exceptional situation so that you can fulfill your professional responsibilities, have time to help your children with their lessons, and be able to cook, wash clothes, clean, etc.

Set schedules but be flexible

The home office with children requires a plan that all respect and follow. When should I start work? When do children wake up?

The answers to these questions, and a few more, will provide you with the tips you need to organize your days and avoid interruptions while you’re working. However, we are talking about children, so you must be flexible.

On the other hand, you can set a clear schedule, but with the kids at home and with a low level of control, it ‘s normal for unforeseen events to happen and you need to resolve them. If the children are old enough, you can arrange with them five minutes every hour to answer their questions.

Finally, even if everything is arranged and the children have agreed to stick to the schedule, there is usually some unforeseen disruption. Therein lies the challenge: keep a positive attitude. At the right time, breath control can be your greatest ally.

In the home office with children, you will not be able to work eight hours straight. You will have to adapt the time available to work with your children’s schedules to avoid these interruptions. You might want to get up early to get the job done. This will have to be decided taking into account how the children’s activation level fluctuates during the day.

To reconcile the home office with the care of children, it is essential to talk to them

This is another indispensable point. For home office with children to be possible, an agreement must be reached. The book  Practical Guide to mental health in disaster situations  makes something very clear:  “Children understand that situations are difficult”. In other words, they behave better when they understand what’s going on and why it’s important that they do their part too.

It is necessary to have an open conversation with them, explain what is going on, why they need to stay home, and explain that there will be times of the day when you will need them to do activities that are quiet or do not need your help.

That way, even if at some exceptional moment they might complain, they’ll know you’re working and will be more careful not to bother you.

separate the spaces

Separating the spaces is an excellent option so that each part of the house is dedicated to a specific activity. For example, in the area in which you work, there should be no interruptions to established hours. There will also be a part of the house where the children will study and do their homework.

At this point, you can propose a kind of game in which the children feel involved. That way, at home, they can know where Mommy’s or daddy’s work area is, where they’re supposed to be at school, and where they’re supposed to be, and the play area. As a result, doing home office work will be much easier.

In addition to everything we mentioned for you to be able to reconcile the home office with the care of the children, you cannot forget that the separation of spaces should help you to spend quality time with them. This means that you can play with them, chat, read a story together… It is important that you do this so that they feel cared for.

The newspaper La Vanguardia shared the diary that an 8-year-old boy started writing since the beginning of confinement by COVID-19. This activity allows the child to talk about their feelings, their experiences, and assign colors to their emotions. Undoubtedly, an enriching work that can be interesting for you to do with your children.

How about you, how have you managed to reconcile the home office with child care so far?