As a stay-and-work-at-home mum people often ask me how I do it.
As a freelance journalist I work full-time hours around a six-year-old at school, a two-year-old at nursery part-time and a baby at home with me full-time.
The truth is sometimes I honestly donโt know how I do it โ bleary-eyed from the broken nights that come with breastfeeding I somehow get through the days juggling work and deadlines with the kids, the school and nursery runs, nappy changing and mealtimes until Misery Guts gets home from work.
There isnโt an alternative because we canโt afford full-time nursery fees for one child let alone two, and in any case I want to exclusively breastfeed Littlest B with minimal pumping.
Of course there are pros as well as cons to working from home with kids, and Iโve written before about how to work from home with a baby and stay sane, but now my third maternity leave is over and Iโm back at work with three kids in the house I thought Iโd share how I make working from home with kids work.
How I make working from home with kids work
1. Be disciplined. That means not putting the alarm on snooze, not getting distracted by Homes Under The Hammer and definitely no scrolling through Facebook. If self-discipline isnโt your strong point, then working from home probably isnโt for you.
2. Set mini, achievable deadlines throughout the day. By that I mean certain things to be done by certain times, and stick to the schedule.
3. Factor in buffer time. Buffer time is the time you need to plan for to deal with things you canโt plan for, like the poonami that requires a full-on bath or the cereal that ends up all over the kitchen floor when you stupidly decided to let them pour it themselves. You might not know what it is thatโs going to require buffer time, but you can guarantee there’s bound to be something.
4. Keep on top of paperwork. If youโre self-employed like me and invoice clients for work when youโve done it, itโs essential you keep on top of it – especially if your nursery requires payment for the month ahead in advance, so basically before youโve even done the work to pay for it. Make it clear on your invoice that payment is due on receipt โ it can be the difference between your invoice being processed straight away or put in an in-tray to be dealt with later.
5. Have a contingency plan. You only need one client youโve done a big piece of work for to pay late to find yourself wondering how to pay the bills that month. If you find yourself robbing Peter to pay Paul you could consider loans for bad credit to tide you over.
6. Plan sit-down activities for the kids. Drawing, writing, sticker books โ anything that keeps them quiet and in one place is good. Meanwhile door bouncers for babies are excellent.
7. Donโt feel guilty. So what if the kids have watched every single episode of Topsy & Tim on iPlayer back to back or the sunโs shining but youโve been indoors all day โ in the grand scheme of things itโs not going to kill them. There’s nothing wrong in using the TV as a babysitter, and if it means youโve got your work done, then so be it.
8. Donโt get stressed. You might have a deadline looming and the baby might have decided that todayโs the day they donโt want to be put down or the older kids have taken it upon themselves to fight like cats and dogs, but the worst thing you can do is get stressed about it because the kids will pick up on it, making the whole situation worse. Go into a different room, count to ten and come back out again.
9. Accept help. If people offer help, take it. My mother-in-law stays with us once a week to look after the kids so I can work child-free for one afternoon and one day a week, and both sets of grandparents help out in the holidays. I honestly donโt know what weโd do without them.
10. Keep a nice bottle of wine in the fridge. I donโt mean for while youโre working โ although Iโm not judging โ I mean for afterwards, as a nice reward. You deserve it!
Do you work from home with kids in the house? How do you make it work? Or is working from home with kids your idea of merry hell? Iโd love to know your thoughts!
This is a collaborative post.
Linking up with these fabulous blogs!
The working from home thing is proving harder than I thought. Especially as four kids run circles around me all summer long. Buuuuuut- the twins head to preschool in a few weeks. Eight glorious hours a week all for mmeeeeeee!
#humpdaylinky
Yes to all of this! Deadlines and buffer time are always key when I need structure in a day at home.
Thanks for sharing. ๐
Some great tips for working from home. I work at a school but then do my blog work from home around the kids and its hard to juggle it all. x #humpdaylinky
I work part-time from home so I try to make the most of the time when I don’t have to be working. On my work days though, the children do end up watching more TV – sometimes it is the only way I can get things done. Not getting distracted is a big one – social media can be such a time waster. It is hard to juggle it all at times. I’m rubbish for not factoring in buffer time though so will definitely be bearing that one in mind. #ablogginggoodtime
Well done for managing to work from home – I don’t think I could do it and I only have one two-year-old! I’ve tried a few times but she demands too much attention – maybe it will be easier when she’s older and is happier to play by herself. #ablogginggoodtime
Although my blog doesn’t make any money (yet), it can be called my job, and so I work from home too. I can’t see myself going back to office life after 11 years at a SAHM. I will definitely try and schedule better, including for buffer time. Thanks for sharing those great tips! #ablogginggoodtime
7 and 9 make sense to me – I get super guilty about screen time so find this hard but know the kids do have balance so shouldn’t just chill out a bit more about it! #ablogginggoodtime
Writing this whilst the toddler holds onto one boob and watches CBeebies. Sometimes you just do what you can to get it done. Fab post. #ABloggingGoodTime
It sounds like you are very organised, I have to say that I’m struggling this year with my 5 children home and trying to juggle the business. I will definitely be trying out some of your tips.
Love this! I definitely feel that guilt of using their pads as a baby sitter!
Some awesome tips here. I do work from home but I am going part time in September. I have 4 kids and 3 year old twins home nearly everyday with me. Its super hard but nursery is way out of budget for us. I need to be more disciplined that’s for sure, #ablogginggoodtime
Great tips, I definitely need more self-discipline. My youngest starts preschool for 2.5 days a week in September and I plan on scheduling as much into those days as possible x
#Ablogginggoodtime
It is not easy but you can find your own ways to make it work. I home educate but the children take a lot of responsibility for their own learning but I feel I miss out on the magic of home school I would do if we did not need the money I bring in. I have taken to sitting up until 3 or 4 in the morning to get my blog as I want it to be and that works at the moment. Hat’s off to all of us who juggle so much
These are great tips! I find it very hard working at home with my toddler in the house. I’m on maternity leave now but both kids will be at nursery from January. I would love to find a way to work from home with them here too x #thelistlinky
Yup I work from home with a 5 year old in school and a 2 year old mostly at home, and it’s manic and stressful most of the time, but I also wouldn’t have it any other way! I’m doubling my 2 year old’s childcare to 18 hours in September, so I can’t wait to see what a difference that will make ๐
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Great read for me, as although I’ve been working from home part-time for almost a year, I’ve only started getting in to the swing of it in the last couple of months.
My top tip is to be as mobile as possible – I take my laptop with me if we are heading out in the car, then if I’m nap-trapped, I check emails and do some work whilst my wee one sleeps. He’s 20 months, so not sure how much longer it will work, but it’s been great recently! Actually doing it as I type!
Think I’ll start your wine tip though ๐
#TheListLinky
I have a lot of admiration for people who work from home. I cannot physically do my job from home, so I find it hard to imagine how to do it, and think I would indeed just get distracted by Homes Under the Hammer! I definitely agree that you shouldn’t feel guilty though – even those of us who aren’t trying to work from home use the TV as a babysitter sometimes! #KCACOLS
These are some fab tips! When we moved last month, the big change was that Mr C now works from home, and my plan was to really go for it with my blog… Mr C has a dedicated office and can shut the door. He only really surfaces at mealtimes, so it works really well for him. I, however, have been suffering with guilt to the max, so honestly I’ve barely been doing anything during the day! You’ve convinced me to rethink!! #ablogginggoodtime
Some great tips here, even for those of us who are stay at home moms hehe!
Great ideas to consider for when my #2 comes along in 6 short weeks. These tips apply to SAHM, as well. It’s important to prioritize and get done as much as you can when you can because you never know what is going to crop up!
Thanks!
Katelynn, hampersandhiccups.com
I have a hard time getting anything at all done when my daughter is home, but the truth is that she’s probably a bit spoiled by the attention I give her, I’m usually working at night. I think when something is necessary, we just find a way to make it work. I have nothing but respect for those that are able to pull it off #KCACOLS
These are great tips. To be honest, I am completely in awe of anyone who can manage to work from home while their children are there! I am so easily distracted and I don’t think I’d be able to get anything done with my two year old running around!
Ooops! Forgot to mention I came from #kcacols
I’m trying to juggle full time work with full time parenting of a toddler and it isn’t easy. There are times when I feel overwhelmed and like I’m failing at everything. But in the long run it’s worth it. I get to watch my little girl grow up and I wouldn’t give that up for anything. Thanks so much for linking up at #KCACOLS. Hope you come back again next time
I used to think this is what I wanted, but recently I’m not so sure. I’m an ex journalist (broadcast) and press officer, so I hoped by setting up my blog one day I could “live the dream” and work from home. But from blogging I’ve found I just can’t switch off. And I’ve started volunteering for a charity a few hours every couple of weeks in an office, doing what I was doing (to an extent) before, and actually, I think that’s more me. I like being separate. I just think it must be so so hard to work from home. Visiting late from #TheListLinky (sorry – crappy week) xx
Great tips. I do work from home pwrt time qnd some days i struggle with motivation and its even worse when my daughter is off school. I moved my ‘office to the bedroom where there are less distractions and so far it’s working #kcacols
Some good tips, I particularly like the last one about having wine at the ready! #KCACOLs
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I love this as I’m in a similar situation. I have a blog that I work on full time from home and also have 3 boys aged 6, 4 and 1. It can be so hard at times but totally worth it to be able to stay at home with them! X