Do Kids at Home Mix with Jobs at Home?

Making a living from home can be quite challenging. Not only does it take independence, a little start-up money, self reliance, and the know-how, it also takes a great deal of time—and the more time you have to dedicate to your job, the greater the chance that it will be a success. But often, that time has to be shared with a number of other responsibilities, including children. This is especially relevant for parents that have young children who need a great deal of attention. So how do parents divide their time between their home job and their kids? And is it even possible to give your job all the time it needs when there are kids in the picture?

Home is not the office

When considering the challenge posed by having both an at home job and children, it’s important to understand the difference between spending time working at an office, and spending time working at home. Even if you office mere minutes from home, that physical distance still creates a barrier that allows your job to remain separate from your home life. In other words, the distractions of home have a much lower chance of entering your work place when that place is housed away from home. But once you decide to office from home, the distance barrier is no longer applicable; instead, you have to learn ways of setting up working barriers. For example, keep your home job self-contained to a single room if possible. That way, when kids are home you can close your work area off from the rest of the house, giving you the ability to work unimpeded.

Set a schedule

When you work away from home, a set schedule must be followed: get up at 6:30, leave home by 7:30, arrive at work at 8:00, lunch at 12:00, leave by 5:00. A work schedule is something that isn’t questioned—you know that you have to get up, get ready, go to work, and come home at the end of the day. Though an at-home job may give more flexibility than an office job, keeping a strict schedule is still crucial. Though it may take some time for children to become acclimated to mom or dad working in the home (or, in some cases, both parents), keeping to the same work schedule will help to set the message that nothing has really changed: mom and dad still have to get up, get to work, and stay at work all day, even though they may only be fifteen feet away. Setting a fixed work schedule helps to make kids understand that you are still “unavailable” during work, just like when you work away from home.

Patience, Patience, Patience!

If you already have children, then you understand quite well how they need a lot of time and patience. The same will go for working at home and having children: meeting the expectations that an at-home job will demand is challenging, and once that is added onto the challenge of children running around the house (when you already have big deadlines to meet and other people waiting for your finished projects!) things can get quite difficult. But, it’s nowhere near impossible to be both a good parent and a successful at-home employee. Just keep in mind the many benefits of working from home, and make as many efforts as you can to keep your work separate from your family life.

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