In this short presentation, Ember Conley shares some advice for balancing working from home with caring for your family. After all, Telecommuting, Zoom, WebEx Teams – the new norm for working parents. If you share your home with small children, it can create a whole new level of challenges, as far as productivity and functional parenting. Most people thrive in an environment that has structure, expectations, input, and feedback. The same goes for children. The first thing to do is to layout your expectations regarding how they should behave during your working hours. Likewise, it’s important to validate them and remember that they also have expectations regarding having access to you while you are working from home. Ember Conley has found that this might include quiet times during a phone call or actual zoning of certain rooms during the day. Communication is key, so it’s a good idea to not only have a verbal conversation but also post easily understood signs in specific areas. Setting boundaries and being consistent are key factors in how successfully you can merge these two lifestyles. Ask your children to restate the expectations and listen to them carefully. Ensuring that everyone is clear will increase success. Working from home is a challenge, and it is even more so when you have kids! Achieving a balance between getting your work done and taking are of kids is no easy feat, but it is possible. Hopefully these tips help! You can find the original content at EmberConley.net.

1. WORKING FROM HOME
With Kids
at Home
Ember Conley

2. Telecommuting, Zoom, WebEx
Teams – the new norm for
working parents. If you share
your home with small children, it
can create a whole new level of
challenges, as far as productivity
and functional parenting.
Most people thrive in an environment that has
structure, expectations, input, and feedback.
The same goes for children. The first thing to
do is to layout your expectations regarding
how they should behave during your working
hours. Likewise, it’s important to validate them
and remember that they also have
expectations regarding having access to you
while you are working from home.
Zimore Hubs | 2020

3. Communication is key, so it’s a
good idea to not only have a
verbal conversation but also
post easily understood signs in
specific areas. Setting
boundaries and being consistent
are key factors in how
successfully you can merge
these two lifestyles. Ask your
children to restate the
expectations and listen to them
carefully. Ensuring that
everyone is clear will increase
success.

4. M A K I N G A “ L E S S O N P L A N ”
F O R T H E D A Y A N D
R E V I E W I N G I T W I T H Y O U R
C H I L D R E N ( A N D P A R T N E R )
T H E N I G H T B E F O R E
I N C R E A S E S
P R O D U C T I V I T Y .
Using kindness and positive
reinforcement is key. For every
negative interaction, it takes three
positive to regain feelings of worth.
Focus on the positive! Remember we
have to be the role model, even when
we want to pull our hair out, we have
to model deep breathing, walking
away for a time out, and lots of
exercise for mental stability.
Speaking of structure, it is very
important that you prioritize
your schedule and adhere to it
whenever possible.

5. If at all possible, try to use any available resources for
childcare, both for your sake and your child.
If you are fortunate enough to
have family nearby, definitely
ask for help. Even if you only
have the option for a few hours
of babysitting while you work, it
is still an opportunity to give you
a much-needed break.
Depending on their age, you
can also plan limited, short-term
activities that do not require
your constant supervision.
Some examples include bouncy
chairs, watching Baby Einstein
videos, or allowing educational
games and apps. The amazon
features have great free
resources for audiobooks!

6. Finally – rest! It is also
a proven fact that the human
brain functions better when it
gives itself time to reset.
R e s e a r c h s t u d i e s h a v e s h o w n t h a t
w e a r e m o s t p r o d u c t i v e w h e n w e
w o r k f o r 5 2 m i n u t e s , f o l l o w e d b y a
1 7 - m i n u t e b r e a k . T h e r e a r e a l s o
m a n y r e a s o n s w h y a d u l t s n e e d t i m e
t o p l a y , r e g a r d l e s s o f t h e i r a g e .
W h e t h e r i t b e y o g a , m e d i t a t i o n ,
p r a y i n g , o r j u s t t a k i n g a m o m e n t t o
t o t a l l y b e e l e c t r o n i c f r e e , m o d e l
t h a t b e h a v i o r f o r y o u r c h i l d r e n .

7. This content was
originally published at
EmberConley.net
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T W I T T E R
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