A Guide to Successful Parenting & Remote Working during the Pandemic
Families not only across the country but worldwide have been in lockdown and forced to stay in their homes to curb the spread of the coronavirus. Parents and children are cooped up at their homes and have to continue with lives, including schooling and even jobs confined within their homes. The situation could be quite a handful for two-parent families, where both the spouses are working remotely. It becomes more difficult for single parents or those who have kids with special needs.
It gets difficult for parents to have kids with them all the time with their never-ending energy and demand for attention. It is particularly difficult for young children, especially those who are bored easily and are not too happy with the situation, where they cannot meet their friends or go out in the park to play. Then, some teenagers had just entered this age and are missing their freedom, hanging out with friends, and feeling resentful of everything. And since this age is tough for both parents and teens, teens are having a hard time being around their parents 24/7, the people they don’t want to be around at this age (which is normal during adolescence).
Remote working while parenting kids can present a series of challenges. There are difficulties in maintaining focus and productivity, new tech setups, communication with the team, and above all, the constant distraction of the kids. But with some planning and structuring your day, you can be productive and manage to parent too.
Here is your survival guide for you so you can juggle both effective parenting and productive remote working:
Your Work Station
The first thing you need to do is find a sunny room and a quiet room, preferably with a door. See that you have a proper desk or chair, as it is essential for your posture. You could clear out a shelf or the dining room table, so you have a dedicated workspace. Those with babies and toddlers could set up in the nursery so they can keep an eye on them.
Invest in a headset that has a noise-canceling microphone and mute button to block out noise in case your children begin to fight, or your pets start to get noisy while you are taking calls.
Make Schedules and Stick to Them
Make a routine and stick to it religiously. Because social distancing and living in quarantine is going to be here for a while, so to have mental peace and the ability to get things done, you cannot survive without a routine. For those who live alone, they don’t have to do much. They can work all day long in their pajamas. But for remote working parents, having a routine and schedule is a must for juggling kids and work. Not to mention their sanity.
It is a tough time for children as well. So, you have to make them understand why they can’t go to school and study at home, and why you, (mommy/daddy), has to work from home. Create a structure for children. Depending on their age, write a schedule and then put it on the refrigerator, a place they can easily see it and read it. You can explain to them when you are working and when they should expect to have lunch, snacks, or just a fun time. Explain that you need to do some work, and they can help by giving you some peace. The schedule can vary according to your children’s age. For older kids, it can incorporate their homeschooling and online classes. With a proper routine, your children are less likely to disturb you. When you are in an online meeting or taking a business call, you can use a sign that says open and closed at your workstation.
Work in the early morning or late evenings
If you are lucky enough to have flexible timings and you only need to complete your work and not stay glued to a desk and chair, try to do most of your work in the early morning or late evenings. With kids up and about, and around you, of course, doing creative work is almost impossible. So, try to get most of your work that requires quiet and concentration early morning or later in the evening.
Give space to your child
It may sound odd. But if kids are at home, it doesn’t mean that you have to be with them at all times. Unless they are small. It is alright to leave your kids along. You could check up on them on and off. Help them in learning how to entertain themselves using books, crafts, hobbies like gardening and playing in the yard. You don’t have to do every activity with them nor be around them all the time. Let them find ways to keep themselves engaged, get creative, and invent things to do.
Make some instant snacks and drinks for your kids. Fill up a snack basket also so they can munch on something and not rely on you for everything. Keep some food in the bottom shelf to grab milk or juice box, cheese sticks, some bite-sized fruit, and vegetables, among other finger food.
Divide responsibilities with your spouse
It all boils down to sharing responsibilities, so none of the partners gets burnout. If both parents are working from home, they need to divide the duties and chores among themselves. Also, since it is a time when our routines and schedules changing due to the pandemic, ask your older children for help if you have. It is unrealistic for the managers to expect people to work on a regular 8-hour shift. Working from home is a lot different than working at the office. So, spouses should decide the schedule for the day the night before. And assign tasks according to the availability of different times of the day.
Splitting up the day with your spouse is necessary and could help you both in lessening the burden, especially if both of you are working full-time.
Do not get overboard with using technology as a babysitter
Many parents are guilty of allowing too much screen time and gadget use to the kids so they can keep the child engaged and distracted. And this may have increased since they have too much time on their hands nowadays. Parents, in an attempt to catch a break, frequently use TV, iPads, and smartphones as digital babysitters.
Although the present times are tough, parents should lighten up a bit and cut themselves some slack. If their kids are using screens more than usual, they should not forgo the idea of digital monitoring altogether. Limitations and necessary rules should always be in place. So, rather than checking up constantly on them to see if they are using a device, you can take a remote approach and monitor them from your workstation’s desk.
Yes, you use the parental monitoring app Xnspy that gives parents an insight into their kids’ digital footprint. You have to install the app on their phones and keep an eye on their phone activities that include text messages, call logs, emails, multimedia, locations, calendar entries, and a lot more. But during the current scenario, access to web browsing history and access to internet activities comes in handy the most. You can see the most frequently visited websites and access their social media and instant messenger chats. You can also set alerts on particular words to be in the know and get alerts if anything inappropriate and problematic appears in chats or emails.
Take short breaks with children
See that you take short breaks of 10-20 minutes with your kids a couple of times a day. And during this time, they should have your undivided attention. Studies have found that kids flourish in short bursts when they have their parents’ attention.
Using all these valuable tips will let you be more productive and effectively carry out your parental responsibilities without burdening yourself.