Maximum Productivity while working at home with kids

Working at home and having extra time with your family can be either a blessing or a curse, depending on the approach you take. For me, I have developed a method to get maximum productivity out of me as well as my daughter on those work from home days where we both get the best of each of our time. Here are some ground rules:

1. Keep the kids engaged- Telling your child "just leave me alone" or "go play" isn't productive, but rather damages the relationship between you and your child. Sure, you have work to do, but you also have experiences and lessons to teach. Keep them engaged in projects, assignments and break times should be engaging for both of you as a reward.

2. Set goals, for BOTH of you- My daughter is a busy body who loves minecraft, computer art as well as drawing, reading and, of course playing. We take the first 15 minutes after she wakes up to develop a schedule together. When your child is part of the schedule process, they have a "buying into the plan" mindset and are more prone to stick with it, and less arguments. 

3. Feng Shui your geography- Organizing work areas for work, and play areas for play are important. There is a natural geographic benefit to having certain areas of the house for each, which has helped me organize my tasks, work and, most importantly, my mind. Here is our work area:

You don't see it, but there is a separate table between our chairs for beverages and snacks, so that I don't crash the company PC, or mine!

4. Make play time memorable- Every hour, we take time to either play with our pet piggy, walk outside, or just relax and NOT talk about work. This important time can be more rewarding than usual as it is treated as a reward for hard work. For instance, while walking through the front yard, we saw this beautiful butterfly:

5. After work, take AT LEAST a half hour for NO WORK, and ALL PLAY! When you see the finish line, you run faster, as there is always the natural reward of finishing the race, as well as refreshments and water tables. You and your child need this reward as well. Last time, my daughter and I ran down the hill in the backyard with our pet potbelly pig, Coco and ran sprints to see those short stubby legs outpace both of us, as usual. 

That's all I have for now. Stay tuned as I learn more from my daughter and my experiences as a Work from Home single father with a busy body child who I continue to develop an awesome life connetion with.

 

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