In times of pandemic when everyone is staying at home to be safe, working from home while your kids are also there may seem a little disturbing. Every working parent right now is quite aware of scope creep as they are living in their own houses since the outbreak of the pandemic.

Most of the working parents have also lost their jobs as the organization wasn't able to cope with the crisis. Working Parents need to have a  plan and a strategy for coping with this situation not only temporarily but for the long term. So parents accomplish various challenges while working from home with their kids, such as some may have small babies who need to be pampered and calm down, some may have grown children which demand new things, and of course, teenagers who are themselves a challenge. So how can parents manage and have proper time management with their personal life and professional life? 

So by following these simple guidelines, It becomes easy for parents to work from home while they are with kids:

Proper timetable- If you write down your plans and schedule there are greater chances that you follow it. Thereby, you can maintain a proper link between your personal and professional life.   proper and effective schedule of your entire day will help you to balance your work and personal life. Like you set the entire morning, afternoon, and evening schedule of your work targets and personal routine. Remember you work when children are awake, work on odd hours when your children are busy or they are sleeping, like in the morning, or afternoon or night.

Setup individual work or play spaces for family- While your family members are also having certain problems, even the kids, as they feel trapped sometimes at home themselves, so if you schedule an atmosphere where you and your family members can work and after that have a break at the end of the day and have a good family time, it feels better.

Effective communication and Goal setting- 

While you are working from home, you need to be in constant touch with your employer and ask him about your doubts, the problems you are facing while working and also the goals which have not been able to be met, how to accomplish them and improve further. The guidance of your mentor boosts you up in tough times. Be in touch through video calls every week, so that you can continuously tell about your progress also. Communicate with your boss regarding the problems and first get approval from your boss on how you will work and what are your targets.

Set boundaries with both work and kids- 

For kids- You need to inform kids of your work schedule and properly make them understand this point. You need to make a separate space for yourself while you are working from home, so there are no distractions or disturbances. Have signals like if you are in some meetings and kids come so you have a sign language to communicate like red sign means not to enter the room.

For Coworkers- You need to have proper communication, timely calls, and discussions, along with giving them your number that is always available so that they can contact you in case of an emergency.

Stick to a Routine- Now when you work from home it becomes a little disturbing to focus, but as you have set your timetable, you need to follow that timetable sincerely and be very committed because accomplishing and meeting your work targets becomes equally important.

Take breaks- Pomodoro technique is essential to be implemented while you are working from home, as working parents have a lot more burden thinking about their family problems, their kid’s future, and their work and financial status. So they need a break while working to have proper mental health. Like you can go and have a conversation with the same person who is also working, or you can play with your kids to make you feel stress-free.