Do you have to work from home occasionally or on an ongoing basis? Do you have some little children running around and making this a little difficult? Web Worker Daily had a post on "10 (more) tips on doing productive web work with kids in the house" but these tips can really apply to anyone who has to do productive work at home and here we have picked some of our favorite tips from their post.
Get Up a Little Early or Go to Bed a Bit Later
Web Worker really had these as two separate tips but I have combined them as one because, well, most of us have some time of the day when we are more productive and it is usually not both earlier and later. Decide whether you are a morning person or a night owl and then adjust your sleeping patterns in accordance. If you are an early riser then rise a little earlier to get more work done, if you are a night owl then get some work in after the children have gone to bed.
Enroll Your Spouse
Working together with your spouse to both get more productive work done and keep the children happy and occupied can be a great benefit. Take it in turns to do your work while the other one deals with the children and keeps them away from the one who is trying to work and you will find that you get a lot more done and can work synergistically.
Teach Them to Play by Themselves.
Personally I feel that this is very important, to teach children how to play by themselves. Today children are often occupied either with computers or TV but what happened to the days when we would make up fantasy games to play or play with good old board games, cars and dolls? Teach your children how to enjoy these simple pleasures again, by themselves.
Send them to Relatives
Grandparents and aunts often love having their grandchildren, nieces and nephews to stay and children usually enjoy spending time with their grandparents or aunts. Encourage this bonding and you will also have more time available to focus on your work and be more productive.
Turn off the Computer and Play with Them
Since this post by Web Worker Daily was written for web workers it says to turn off the computer but the same applies to whatever your job is, put it aside and spend some time focusing on your children. Children will often become more demanding if they feel they have not had enough attention from their parents so make sure that you do spend time playing with them or enjoying their company and then when you do want to work they will be more willing to give you that time.
Web Worker Daily had a number of good tips in this post but we feel that these are some of the best ones - firstly, give your children the attention they need regularly so that when you do want to work they will not be desperate for your attention. Adjust your sleeping patterns to fit in work while the children are sleeping, work together with your spouse and encourage other family bonds as well. By implementing these tips you should already find yourself becoming more productive at your work with children in the house.
|
posted @ Wednesday, April 23, 2008 4:44 PM
|
Print
|