At Busy B, we know how hectic life can be, especially when you have children. Juggling work and home life, and ordinarily a social calendar, is like trying to keep a million balls in the air at one time… but we never want to drop any.
With lots of families staying at home together at the moment, we thought we’d ask Sarah, our Sales Executive with two young children, to write a blog on some of the realities of working from home with kids around, as well as offering some tips on how to control the chaos.
1. Create a simple timetable & let the kids help
Due to the schools closing, a lot of parents are now homeschooling their children. Sticking to a routine is so important for us all and having a timetable with rough plans of what you’ll do each day will help you feel instantly more organised.
This could be anything from school work to baking to going out for your daily walk. Let the kids get involved in creating it and deciding what they do – within reason of course! They are more likely to get on board if they’ve felt part of the planning process.
Busy B have created a FREE printable template that can help you to get organised which you can access here.
2. Fresh air & exercise
Getting fresh air and doing some exercise can make us all feel good and will benefit our mental health too. If you have a garden, spend as much time as you can in it or have your daily walk somewhere where you might see some insects and wildlife (tip: pack a spade in case any little ones fancy digging holes in the mud to find wriggly worms). Welly boots are most likely a must too!
3. Don’t be too scared of technology
Even though we are at home for the majority of the time, it can still feel like there are not enough hours in the day to get everything done. If you are a remote worker and have an important work deadline or a conference call, pop a movie on for the kids or give them a little iPad screen time. Have you been subjected to Frozen 2 on a loop for the last few weeks or is that just us?
There’s also so much fun content on the likes of YouTube for kids, especially for fitness. A few of Busy B’s favourites are Cosmic Kids Yoga, Andy’s Wild Workouts and Joe Wicks PE Class.
4. Get children involved in household tasks
Trying to keep on top of the household chores whilst we’re all at home is tricky. Depending on the age of your children, they could perhaps help you with some household tasks whilst learning at the same time.
Recycling is a great example of this as you can ask them to help you to sort it out into relevant boxes. You could maybe even keep some recycling aside to make a “Junk Monster”. However, make sure you don’t have any of your children’s artwork in there…they’ll get very upset!! Unfortunately, I found this out the hard way.
Children can also learn about different foods when helping to make meals for the family. They are also more likely to eat it if they helped to make it! Or perhaps the first task could be how to make the perfect cup of tea or coffee for Mummy? Genius!
5. Don’t be too hard on yourself
Finally, let’s not be hard on ourselves. The circumstances we find ourselves in are most likely not like anything we’ve ever experienced before, so there’s no set of rules to follow. Set your own rules that make you and your family happy and enjoy every moment you can. Jump on the trampoline and let the kids do your make up!
Whilst we are all pining for our “normal” lives to resume, there will be a part of us that look back on this time and wish we could go back to spending so much time with our families too.
There’s no magical solution to working from home with kids around, but Busy B will be here to help in any way we can. We’re here for you and will continue to look for ways to make your life simpler, better organised and more beautiful.