Spring Break finally arrived in early March and I was really looking forward to hanging out around the house, sleeping in, staying in pajamas until noon and not driving the kids to and from school. I know the kids were looking forward to it as well. As much as they enjoy school, they also welcome the breaks throughout the year. It’s definitely a time to relax and unwind as we spend more time together. Towards the end of spring break we received notice that school would not resume for at least one more week. At this time I was honestly happy as I wasn’t ready for those relaxing, carefree days to come to an end quite yet. I was naive in thinking that the virus would pass within one short week. By the end of that week we received another notice saying school would not resume for another week. Soon after that, the governor spoke and closed schools. Then later he closed them for longer. And then later he closed them for the remainder of the school year.
During this time at some point many parents began working from home as well. At this point, roughly two months later, many parents continue to work from home while homeschooling their children. As a small business owner I have worked from home for almost six years now. I had a daily schedule of what had to be done (and this schedule definitely took awhile for me to figure out). Now the kids were home. And they had packets of school work to be completed and turned in. My schedule quickly flew out the window and I was freaking out! How can I possibly get my work done PLUS help my kids get their work done? Weeks went by and my stress level was raising by each passing day. Finally I got to a point where I said, “I cannot do this anymore. I have to put some systems into place.”
I tried many things. Most did not work. I saw other parents on Facebook posting awesome charts to keep their family on a perfect schedule with wonderfully decorated home school areas for their kids to work with a nearby work station for the parents so they could all work harmoniously together. Yeah, that’s definitely not my house! I need to work free from distractions. My phone is set to not make any noise and I have silenced all notifications besides texts or calls from my immediate family. Suddenly I had kids that need me so much more than they ever did before! I started reading lots of articles and really trying to find a system that would work for our chaotic family. I came up with seven tips that worked for us - our far from perfect family.
7 Tips for Working From Home (and homeschooling) That ACTUALLY Work
To schedule or not to schedule. That is the question!
Some families need a definite schedule. Nearly everything is a set time dictating when an activity begins and ends. Other families are more flexible. Everything has a rough starting and stopping time. Only you know your family and know what will work. Go with that! For my family, we fall into the more flexible category. If you know me, I show up to things around a certain time rather than a certain time. Once I realized that a set schedule does not work for our family, I embraced the fluidity of all things that did not require a specific time. For example, today I had a Zoom meeting for my advocacy work. This started at 10 am. I was sure to arrive on time for the meeting as that is what was expected of me. However, this is also the time we are every so slowly working through school work. I had to let the kids wander off and find their way to YouTube after their Discover Education video ended so I could participate in the meeting. After the meeting I just reeled the kids back in and got them busy on the next assignment.
Expectations. Productivity looks different for everyone.
If you normally work outside the home your work day is typically eight hours long. It’s understandable why working eight hours is often viewed as being productive. You will most likely have to change your perspective about productivity when you work from home. Begin by prioritizing the items that MUST be completed that day and let the others fall into the “work in progress” category. When I finally stopped trying to accomplish every single task on my list and began each day as a new day and focused on the tasks that were the most urgent, my stress level decreased dramatically. The same with the kids’ school work. Each day they have reading, math, writing, science, social studies, music and physical education to complete. Hate to say it, but physical education work rarely gets done. Why? Because that can be incorporated into so many other things that I don’t feel I need to follow a specific lesson. The kids can go outside and play softball, tag, go on a hike or walk, jump on the trampoline. Sure it’s not a structured lesson, but they’re receiving physical education. The only thing that changed was the expectation.
Be an early bird or a night owl.
Are you an early riser? Or are you a night owl? Whichever you are, own it and be productive! Some parents like to wake up early before everyone else and get that uninterrupted time to get some work done. Others, like myself, prefer to stay up late after everyone is asleep to get work done. I find there are less distractions and I’m more creative late at night. Take advantage of the time of day you are most likely to be able to focus to tackle your work.
Boundaries MUST be set.
When the homeschooling began I found that I was suddenly choosing to make my phone calls later in the afternoon when school work was done for the day. However, some days the school work goes quicker than others. Some days took hours. Literally. Like four painstakingly long hours! This would put my calls on hold until the late afternoon. Not the best time to make calls in my opinion. I had to set some boundaries because the lack of them was driving me absolutely crazy. One day I simply told them, “I have to make a phone call. You work on x, y and z and do NOT interrupt me or be noisy.” Much to my surprise, they actually followed directions! When they did start to get loud, I just put up my finger (which is a signal for them that they better fix it). It was like magic!
Do I dare say it…but consider relaxing screen time.
As parents we hear about limiting screen time frequently. There is definitely a stereotype for the parents that use an “electronic babysitter.” While I’m not saying let them play on a screen all day every day, perhaps relaxing your normal rules so you can get some extra work done for the day. There are lots of educational apps (many are free during this time) that the kids can be “working on” while you’re working. It’s a win, win situation!
Food. Do they EVER stop eating?
Consider making snacks and drinks easily accessible to the kids so they don’t have to interrupt you every single time they are hungry. Seriously though, when did they start eating so much? Now I don’t buy lots of pre-packaged snacks or drinks because they are expensive and my older kids eat like five at a time. Instead we have fruits, yogurt and sandwich items they can easily consume with little to no help from me while I’m working. Some parents choose to put together snack kits the night before. Cups are on the bottom shelf so they can easily pour themselves a drink of milk or get some water. What are some ways your kids can be self sufficient when they get hungry or thirsty?
BREATHE!
This is an incredibly difficult time for families. Be gentle on yourself. It’s alright if things aren’t “perfect.” Be gentle on your kids. This is tough for them as well. I found that we need breaks from our house for our mental health so we go on weekly “field trips” and get our work done after we get back. Our field trips usually include visiting a local state park and going for a hike with the dog after a picnic. It’s a chance to forget about being home and enjoy each other surrounded by nature. And to be honest, my kids are learning a lot from these trips. We talk about our surroundings and visit places we normally don’t frequent. Today we are going to visit a peach farm. The kids are excited! Why? It’s just a peach farm, but right now that peach farm is something different than our house. I find that they appreciate these trips more than ever and therefore truly experience them. Even on days that we don’t go on a “field trip” we take breaks. We hit it hard for about 45 minutes and then take a small break just to reset before going back to work again.
“You are not working from home; you are at home during a crisis trying to work.”