Do you feel like you have lost work from home? Tips for WHFH parents from WFH parents

Trying to work from home (WFH) is like cycling. Working from home while parenting is like balancing 10 books on your head, carving and sculpting ice sculpture - like bicycling - and reading the first 13 numbers backwards. Congratulations - you are in the major leagues, you go from meetings, projects and calls to naptime, breakfast time and occasional greetings / conflicts / blitting / barking from one of these things.

Fortunately, my company has an incredible network of parents who kindly compiled their suggestions for WFH. Take a look, get ready to work from home, win from home.

Communicate with your team
Yes, you can hear Baby Shark in the background. No, we are not listening for pleasure.

On any productive work day, it is important to communicate with your colleagues. Share your WFH parenting status with your team and let them know they can hear some crazy uproar in the wake of your zoom calls. You are the only one with small children with a large workload - so give yourself some grace and remember that we are doing our best.

Schedule movie and TV
Is the zoom meeting going on? Schedule your child’s screen time around you!

If you know that you need to pay attention at least during an important virtual meeting or call - or if you just need a few minutes to focus without interruptions - pop the latest episode of the PAW Patrol and Scooter in another room. You can stay calm for a few minutes without worrying about something like this:


If TV doesn't have its charm, and if someone wanders into your meeting, don't panic - assuming you've already told your team about your location, they'll know what you're dealing with, and sometimes all you have to do is roll with the punches.

Don't be afraid to break your schedule
In some cases, the best strategy is to work in shifts with your partner or others at home.

Communicate actively with your team to balance availability and break your eight-hour day into two-hour or four-hour sections throughout the day. Don't forget to set the status on Slack (or your company's messaging app) and let your peers know when you're signing up.

In this new environment, hyper-communication is key!

Other tips are ‘n’ tricks from WFH parents
Ever tried to make a video conference call with a toddler on your hands? If so, I feel you. In order to find balance in WFH life, I like to play "work" with my daughter. I give her the old iPad and she "typed like a mother" for at least an hour! Also, he practices letters and words.

To make your WFH moments a little easier, try incorporating 'n' tricks from these other tips from my fellow colleagues.

"Disney + is free for a year if you sign up through Verizon! I highly recommend Moana." - Rachel Malone-Olsen
"These two great Instagram accounts are constantly filled with good ideas for entertaining kids at home (mainly focused on preschool age): usBusyToddler and aysDayswithGrey." - Holly Carnita
"PBS has a great parent newspaper with ideas for fun and educational activities that your kids can enjoy at home." - Josh Tarr
See Adventure Academy! It is an interactive multi-player online edition game for children 6 and older. This is one of a kind, and was made by the same company that made ABC Mouse. ”- Ben Carter
“I sometimes have to take my children to work on the weekends. I took my old worn briefcase (yes, I took one of those things - it was a long time ago) and filled it with items that I had never worked with. We pretended they were "working", so they had legal pods like puzzles, mam, grown pens, and dry-erase boards, and I wanted to clean / reorganize their desk drawer (and tea). .