Being able to work from home is a blessing (especially if you are a mom with young kids). However this can also be very challenging. People who try working from home soon realise that they are caught right in the middle of their professional and personal worlds.
Hmm…didn’t you expect WFH to be the solution for balancing these two worlds? And YES it is the solution!
The only catch is, there are a few ground rules you have to play by to make WFH a success.
Since starting to WFH I have identified some of these WFH essentials which I hope to share over a series of posts.
For me the number one rule for successful WFH has been all about SCHEDULES. It could be a monthly, weekly or daily schedule, but having a plan for each day is essential. Schedules ensure that you allocate time for each of the tasks that needs to get done and avoid one aspect of life over powering the other…otherwise You might end up doing laundry the whole day and miss an important work deadline. Thus a schedule is a must!
Based on the flexibility you have for WFH you can create a schedule that works for you.Â
My schedule at one point in time (Yes my typical schedule keeps changing every few months) is that I did one session of office work during the time my son was at preschool (9.00am - 11.00am) in the morning and do a second session of work in the night once my son is in bed (8.00pm - 10.00pm). This allowed me to cover typically 4-5 hours of work each day which is was my targeted work commitment at that time. The rest of the day I would devote to attending to my sons needs and home duties. As much as practically possible I tried to stick to this schedule each day and ensure that I gave my full focus to work during the work hours and vice versa. It worked well for me and as a result I was able to successfully meet my personal and professional responsibilities at that time.
It is not always possible to stick to the same schedule everyday…and that is fine. One thing we learn when working from home (with kids around) is that things change always…there is always that emergency at home, there is someone falling ill or you might have an unexpected power outage. The beauty of being able to WFH is that you can easily adopt to those unforeseen events and just change your schedule for that day, week or even month (e.g. During school holidays) and still attend to your personal and professional responsibilities without much stress.
Having a schedule reduces stress, allows for better organisation and results in improved productivity. Therefore "Schedules" are a must have for work from home success.