Working from home and having toddler/s is not an easy thing to manage. Many parents work on a daily basis and wonder how to make enough time to do it all properly. Working from home allows you to spend time with your family, children and it also allows you to be very creative and productive with your work. While it sounds like a dream come true, it can be far from that. Working from home and having children is not an easy thing, but it is certainly very doable and many are successfully doing it.
Can you work from home with toddlers? Yes, you can work from home with toddlers, however, you must be aware that it will require a lot of organization, prioritization, resilience, hard work and persistence to make it work.
How can i be successful working from with toddlers? Create independent activities for your children, make them feel important and do not be afraid to look for help if you need it. Children are very curious and will be exploring around every day, no matter what you do in the meantime. It is extremely important to know how to schedule your important tasks and stay uninterrupted as you work on them. Figure out when your children take naps, sleep or watch their favorite TV shows – these are the best moments for you to focus on your assignments.
So, how do you actually begin your work when there is a toddler running around you and needing constant attention? How do you entertain your child and schedule your time to be successful at working from home with a toddler?
Getting Up Early And Staying Organized
Most stay-at-home parents like to get up an hour or two before their children and use that time to get as much work done as possible. If you are one of the morning people out there, try to work on your big assignments right away when you wake up. Doing so will save up a lot of time for you and you will feel good throughout the day knowing you already finished all of the important things you had to. Of course, not everyone is a morning person, so if you struggle with working right away, that is fine too. Have a relaxed morning and sip on a cup of coffee, use this time to schedule your day, check up on your clients, emails and get ready for the rest of your day.
Did you know? Drinking coffee can actually improve your physical health as well as strengthen your brain functions. Those who drink coffee in normal doses tend to be a lot more creative, motivated and bring out better business results at the end of the day.
Come Up With Independent Activities For Toddlers
In today’s world finding entertaining and educational toys is not a hard thing at all. There are various toys you can buy and keep your toddler occupied meanwhile you focus on your important tasks. Of course, there are also various interactive, educational applications and websites that you can show to them and have them learn many great things meanwhile you work. There is nothing better than realizing you managed to get all of your work done and see your toddler talk about all of the new things they learned by using ABC Mouse.
Toddlers love attention and socializing, sometimes so much that it might seem you will never get enough time to finish up your work. Playing with your child is a beautiful thing, but there are probably times you simply cannot afford doing so at all. Try to get them some building toys such as Legos, education sets – these are great for their motor skills, hand-eye coordination and brain functions in general.
Take Your Work Outside
Sometimes all that you need to do is take your laptop and take your toddler out in nature as you work. Kids love spending their time outdoors and they will instantly calm down upon getting outside. They will explore, play around and possibly even meet new friends to play with. Fresh air and the change of scenery not only works great for your toddler, but it also helps you focus and get more productive with your assignments. You do not have to be giving 100% of your attention to your toddler in order to have them happy, just make sure they get enough fresh air and playtime if you want to have enough peace to get your work done properly. We all love to spend our time outside in nature and when we do, we often feel quite refreshed, more motivated to continue on with our day.
Hire A Babysitter When You Feel Like It Is Needed
There are days you will be overflown with all of the work that you need to do and those are the times you should not hesitate looking for childcare of some kind. Having someone else taking care of your toddler will give you enough time to work effectively and come up with amazing business results faster than you normally would without having any help at all. There are many mothers out there who will gladly help you out in exchange for your help when they need some time themselves. If you do not like that idea, there are many daycare centers out there that you can go to and schedule the drop-in care for whenever it is needed. Make sure you always work on your biggest assignments when there are no toddlers around to interrupt you, this is the perfect time for you to focus and shine, so use it well!
Take Breaks
When we work from home with toddlers, we tend to forget about taking breaks as every single minute spent working counts as a success. However, you must take breaks when you can, otherwise, you will end up tired and your productivity levels will fall down to zero. When you work in a traditional office, you get up, talk to your co-workers and head to the kitchen for a cup of coffee, sadly, this is not how it usually goes at home. We always keep on trying to get our work done as fast as possible that we often forget how important breaks really are for our well-being. You must take a break every now and then, take a deep breath and do things that are not work-related. Walk around your backyard, take a walk in the park, play with your toddler, call your friend or simply cook yourself a meal.
People who don’t allow themselves to take a break tend to have issues with lack of focus, damaged eyes, sore muscles, obesity, and decision fatigue. All in all, not taking breaks can be worse than taking many breaks as you work on your projects. Taking a break does not make you lazy, it helps you recharge and continue your work with ease afterward.
Nap Times – Work Times
Children require a lot of sleep so taking naps for them means recharging their batteries for later on in the day. Regular naps and a good routine actually help your child with development and good habits. Whenever your child is asleep, use this time to work on your tasks and focus on all of the important things you are required to do.
- If your 4-year-old son usually goes to sleep around 8 PM, try to make it 7 PM and have an additional hour for your leftover tasks and some self-time.
- Enforce nap times for your toddler each day and make them at least two or three hours long.
- Toddlers need nap times, take advantage of it and keep them consistent in order to create a regular routine
Related Questions
What are the best educational websites for toddlers? Funbrain.com, NASA Kid’s Club, National Geographic Kids, ABCmouse.com and Oxford Owl is surely one of the greatest educational websites your child will love spending their time on. These websites are 100% child-friendly and will teach them a lot of great things depending on what they like to do in life. Some children enjoy reading about space, some love word games and others will love mathematics. Pick one of these websites and show them to your kid, they will love it!
How to explain to my toddler that I need to work? Most children will always be very curious about what you do when you work, so explaining the importance of it all should not be a problem at all. Talk to your children, let them know how important your work is and why you do what you do. Tell them how helpful they really are whenever they give you the extra 5 minutes of peace to finish up your tasks and reward them by being honest about it.