Reply To: Working from Home: Day 1

[Kent Trammell]

After 7 years working from home, almost 5 with children, I still don’t feel like I have it figured out. My situation is a little different from yours in that my wife is a stay-at-home mom. So the self-quarantining hasn’t actually changed much for our day-to-day. The only negative is my wife likes to go out and about with the kids which she can’t do. Our kids are definitely showing signs of cabin-fever after a few days.

Consider that my wife is responsible for the kids while I work, I’m not sure how useful my tips will be. But here’s 4 tips based on my experience:

1. Happy family environment = happy work environment. We try to strike a balance between these 

• an hour 1-2 times a day for watching TV/playing on ipad
• playing with toys in their playroom
• 1-2+ hours outside (weather permitting)
• 1 hour craft/intentional activity (We don’t do this nearly enough but it’s always a hit when we do)

I find that the days where we accomplish the balance everyone is happier and more satisfied with the day.

2. Noise cancelling headphones are a must. My office isn’t close to being sound proof and I can get flustered by shrill / persistent noise. Zoning out the vast majority of that noise is crucial for me. Sometimes I’ll simply work with the artificial [near] silence but most of the time I work with ambient music or podcast to better eliminate exterior noise.

3. Backup Plan. I haven’t had to do this often but if family life is too disrupting to get meaningful work done during the day,  my fallback is to work after kids go to bed. I’m more of a night owl and can easily work from 8pm to 12am. It’s always jarring to my routine but I will work from 9 to noon when the kids are typically on their best behavior (morning) and then be dad from noon to bed time (kids worst behavior). Kids go to sleep and I have peace and quiet for 4+ hours.

4. Take walks. It’s easy for me to get in my work zone and clam up day after day. I can get in weird moods as a result, kinda detaching from reality I guess. Unfortunately it can make me less patient with my family and lead to depressive states. Taking a walk at lunch time (or anytime during the day) is remarkably refreshing in my experience. If the family is able to go, connecting with them is great, but even by myself it’s a great chance to get fresh air and clear my head.

My tips aren’t relevant to everyone’s situation but hopefully there’s something there for you @phoenix4690