5 Tips for Working Productively with Family at Home

#1 – Post a schedule

Put it where the family can see it easily, even the youngest family members.

• The schedule should show committed family time AND work time
  • Use color coding blocks of time when you have littles who can’t look at an online calendar 

#2 – Set expectations

When it’s a dedicated work time for you, setting specific expectations will serve you well:

• Define what the family is expected to be doing during that time, vs just saying “I’m working now, so go do something without me”.
  • Have a box or basket of toys, books, videos that they can only use when you are working. (Warning – refrain from going to this box when you just want a time out! It will lose its power for dedicated work hours)
  • If you allow screen time, make your work time the only time they are allowed to have it.
• Tell them what the working time frame is, even if it’s on the calendar. Just reinforce how long they can expect you to be working.
  • For younger children, set a timer
  • For the youngest children, you will want to schedule ‘breaks’ over the course of your dedicated work time. This helps you manage personal expectations as well. Consider things like a 5 minute hug break every 30 minutes, or a 10 minute check in break every 40 minutes.
• Tell them what happens after work time is over. Give them something to look forward to or expect to happen.
  • Consider putting a dedicated family time right after a dedicated work time. Let them know that if work time is interrupted, family time will be impacted (made shorter to make up for lost work time).
  • Go to the park, read a story, go get ice cream, play a game….

#3 – Make it obvious that you are working

This helps with kids, spouse, anyone who might think they can just interrupt you at any time. 

Think of it this way, if you were working in an office, people (a spouse, kids or friends ) wouldn’t think it was ok to come up to your place of work, burst into your office and ask your opinion on what they are wearing, where to find that thing, what there is to eat…or any other random thought they wanted to share with you. They wouldn't ask you to stop what you are doing to do things for them. If they did, the boss would quickly put an end to it.  Ahem…working at home, you’re the boss!             

When we office at home, these kinds of boundaries are easily blurred. Have a conversation with the family using this example just shared and then establish a system that lets them know when you are ‘in the office’ and business courtesy is to be adhered to.

• Wear something specific – a sweater, a hat, a color, a pair of fuzzy slippers, a pin, a jacket….
• Designate a specific work area – a desk, an office, a room with a door closed…

#4 – Get help

This is especially helpful when your children are too young to be self-supervised for a period of time.

• Hire a teenager to come play during your dedicated work time.
  • As a business coach, I often hear “I can’t afford to”. I respond by asking how much can they earn in 1-3 hours, how much does a teen playmate cost and what would they be able to do with the difference between what was earned and what it cost.  Will it pay for a family outing you’d have to say no to otherwise? How can that income add value to my family life vs letting this be the excuse for not being able to do more.
  • Swap kids – find other parents needing dedicated work time and set up a play date schedule to give each parent dedicated time for ‘office hours’.
    • Warning…this requires discipline to use these office hours for work and not time to just escape!

#5 – Share a family goal

As a family, define how the income earned when you are working will be used to do something, go somewhere or get something that benefits everyone.

• Have a way to measure results along the way – like a jar you can fill with marbles or a chart you can fill in as income is earned, or a bowl you fill with money…
  • It’s great if there is a way to show results after each work day, but weekly or monthly can work as well.