So, I’m not going to lie… when I first heard that there could be a chance of my lovely (but lively) 5 and 7-year-old girls being home and homeschooled for the foreseeable future, I was just a teeny tiny bit scared. Trying to work that around my own work, a 7 month-old baby and a new puppy suggested four words to me – COMPLETE AND UTTER CHAOS!
However, I decided to take a deep breath and realise that actually, there were a lot more serious things going on in the world at the moment and my problems were miniscule compared to what other people were going through.
So I put my big girl pants on and put a plan in place.
Luckily, I have been building my own home businesses up for a while now, so I’m quite used to working from home in my slippers! The question was, like it is for so many mums everywhere… how was I going to juggle everything?
Serious Scheduling
Children love routine and although our house has been a little chaotic to say the least recently, I thought a simple timetable might help make sure we’re all at least on the same page.
One of my lovely friends sent me this timetable that she was doing with her little girl before the Easter holidays and although we didn’t massively stick to it, having a rough structure to our day has helped us all understand who’s doing what and when. Work time, fun time, creative time, tech time, mummy time, do whatever you want time (but please don’t kill each other time!).
Dress up. Show up
Although it’s very easy to sit around in our PJs all day at the moment, getting dressed and putting a bit of makeup on makes me feel ‘work ready’.
Ignore the mess that surrounds you (how much mess do these children make, by the way?!), the piles and piles of washing you need to put away and just find your work head space.
Work that works for you
Having a set area to work in really makes working feel like you’re working. Even if you don’t have your own office or spare room, choose an area in your house where you keep your laptop, folders, notebook or whatever it is you need to work from and make this your designated, CHILD-FREE area.
You snooze. You lose.
Just the thought of getting up early is tiring in itself with little ones, but just an extra hour in the morning to do those jobs allows you that extra hour later to get on with your work.
Try it for a few days and I promise it will soon become a habit.
Mums that mean business
If you’re a mum that works, you’re ultimately being asked to take on two jobs at the moment. So take that to do list, throw it in the back of the cupboard and come back to it in a few weeks, maybe months! If you’re stressed, your children will be too and they’re your number one priority at the moment.
Work from home with me
If you’re enjoying working from home and would like to make it a permanent fixture or you’re just in need of an extra income, I’m always looking to work with new people, so please feel free to drop me a message.
Stay safe. Stay happy
Your house won’t be sparkling clean, your work may not be perfect, but the most important thing is that you and your family are healthy and happy.
Hopefully one day we’ll look back on these weeks and realise that although it was challenging…
It was also pretty special 🙂
Emma Gandey elk99@hotmail.com 07855470089
Happy Mums 