Working Remotely and Homeschooling?  

Many remote workers feel a newfound sense of freedom and flexibility and may be reluctant to return to the office. Yet, working from home has posed an unprecedented challenge for parents. Particularly those employees with children who are distant learning or on a hybrid schedule this school year. 

Managing zoom meetings, deadlines, sales calls and assisting kids with schoolwork and virtual classes, is quite the balancing act. Here are five hacks to make this operation a success.

1.  Create supply caddies for each child. Essentials include pencils, eraser, sharpener, pens, scissors, glue, headphones, calculator, and notepad. Tape necessary username and passwords on the front. This makes it easy to get to work from anywhere in the house. Allow kids to swap workspaces throughout the day or daily.
2. Prepare workstations the night before. Anything you or the kids might need to use to work the next day including the supply caddy. Charge all devices. Set up a virtual meeting friendly space that makes it easy to hop on a meeting with little time to prepare. 
3. Prep water bottles and snack bins for each child. You can do this the night before or morning of. This way they don’t have to interrupt and ask for a snack numerous times throughout the day. Bonus tip set up the coffee pot the night before to brew a fresh cup in the morning. 
4. Create a schedule. Most days will look the same or need simple adjustments once you get this process down. Invite the kids to organize their day and choose breaks (if your virtual learning allows it). Discuss what they can do during break time. Examples are having a snack, play outside, or screen time of their choice. Kids giving their input makes them less reluctant to do their schoolwork which saves time and builds executive functioning skills.
5. Set expectations and boundaries around your work space and time. Let the kids know when is an appropriate time to interrupt and ask a question or ask for help and when it is not. Come up with agreements and signals together. 

Although it’s important to remain flexible, creating routines will offer both parents and children the opportunity to succeed with less stress and a sense of normalcy. With the future of full-time school and in office schedules uncertain, it’s best practice to develop systems that work at home. 

Nicole Carpenter, is a sales and marketing expert turned health coach whose programs teach parents to create systems and routines to live life with less overwhelm. She can often be found trampolining in the backyard with her three sons to keep up with their energy. To learn more visit www.nicole-carpenter.com.