Challenges and Guilt-Free Tips

The spread of Coronavirus is forcing all moms into telecommuting. As a result, Moms found themselves suffering among around-the-clock demands of their kids, and the required effort to finish up their work on time. It's not a joke.

It is Mom's " down-time" nowadays. Although they have many tasks, deadlines, alerts of emails, questions, and other issues with their faces buried in laptops, they are responsible for another home life.

Being a mother, a wife, and a working woman at the same time is very hard. It's actually harder to work from home with a little son or daughter holds on to your leg, chores are waiting for you, Dirty dishes stare at you while working, and over distractions around you everywhere.  Some days are good and some days are exhausting, It's a seesaw.

If you can't keep a balance between work and home, you may spend your time being only a mom or being only a working woman. Balancing is very challenging.

"A problem well stated is a problem half solved.", Charles Kettering.

In light of this, in this article, I'll share with you the most common challenges moms face while working from home and tips to handle them.

Challenges

• Distractions, Distractions, Distractions

Distractions are an essential issue while working from home. The office also has its share of distraction, but once you closed the office door, they stop.

While working from home, it is impossible to work undisturbed for more than two minutes. Every single second you will hear "Mommy I want to eat," "Mommy I need a snack," "Mommy see this toy," "Mommy bring me water, a countless number of "Mommy" during the same hour to show you every single thing she/he has done.

Also, there are emergency cases when you have to move up from your chair to do something urgently. You can be in the middle of an email or on a phone call with your manager.

• Work distractions

Not all distractions are from family members. Sometimes it's necessary to turn off email and instant messaging notifications because they eat up a lot of time. You can check your mail on a schedule; in the morning, after the lunch break, or before the day ends.

Limit calls during work hours because it can take you off task.

Utilize Caller ID Apps and send calls to voice mail when you are focusing on work.

• Mommy Guilt

If you stay focused on your child, you'll feel guilty about your work and vice versa. With all these difficulties you face, you will feel guilty if you can't make anything your child needs or look at the masterpiece tower he built and came to show it to you, and you give him/her that tone of enthusiasm he/she is waiting.

• Adverse effects on Career advancement

While working from home, the upper management treats you as someone who lacks commitment. They think you are not doing your job at home, or you are not productive. So it can negatively affect salary increments and promotions.

Moreover, being on a video or a phone call automatically makes the house volume goes up. Managers will hear a child whining and a mother apologizing instead of sharing ideas, which makes you annoyed because this is not the professional way you want to portray to yourself.

• Housework

In the office, you will not run a load of laundry or wash up the breakfast dishes between meetings. While working at home, an extra cook and extra dishes are waiting for you. So setting up a housework schedule is very important to keep everything under control.

So, how can moms achieve their career goals while being within the walls of their own home responsible for other vital purposes? Is it easy to achieve work-life balance?

"If the challenge exists, so must the solution." Rona Mlnarik

11 Tips for handling work-from-home mom challenges

• Create a quiet workspace

Without a designated home-work-desk in a calm place, you will be distracted with the dust on the TV that needs to be cleaned, the dishes that need to be washed, the children's' endless distractions, …etc.

So set a workspace so that you could motivate your brain that it is work time now and keep some disturbances away.

• Get up Early

Getting up early is essential! You have a lot that can be done before everyone's foot hit the floor, and the phones start ringing. It will be hard and tiring but try to wake up at 5 a.m. instead of 8 a.m.; You'll enjoy the 3 hours of more productivity before the little kids wake up and turn on the distraction mode.

• Set a work productivity schedule and Plan for interruptions

Set a schedule to outline when you are most productive to work on the most important things that need high energy and a high level of concentration to think clearly. 

Avoid working on important things when you don't have enough power to avoid making mistakes. You'll consume much more time of the next working day fixing these mistakes, and you'll face that problem of "procrastination."

You will not be able to turn off all sources of distraction, so plan for them. Give yourself more time; if a task will take half an hour, schedule it on taking an hour. This margin will help you avoid being exhausted. Defining all the distractions will help you find solutions to stay productive and creative.

• Set realistic goals

Be realistic. Don't overload yourself with being a perfectionist. You can't have a sparkling clean house, an empty sink, quiet kids in a peaceful home, and a well-accomplished work at the same time. It is on Pinterest only!

• Don't Delay and Be ready for multitasking

Delaying the task to enjoy self-time to watch a favorite movie or surfing the internet is very easy. Nothing is more comfortable than slowing things when you are your boss. Yet, think: if you have a deadline on Tuesday, why start the work on Monday and put yourself in a marathon with time?

Create a schedule with your daily goals to keep everything organized.

Be ready for multitasking; as a mom, you have to learn "multitasking" skills. Know how to multitask and when to multitask. It's essential to achieve work-life balance while working from home.

• Mute the network, apps, and phone distractions

Turn off the blinking and beeping to stop getting distracted by a notification from your phone or computer all day. So you can avoid being stressed because of that feeling of having a lot to be done.

• Set time limits and dedicate a family time

Don't accept doing any work after your workday ends. Set boundaries to spend time engaging with your child and take more rest for the coming new day. You have to stop that time of " work at home mom" to enjoy your personal life.

Dedicate time to your family; Don't stick to your computer doing work all day. Limit the use of cell phone and social media platforms when it's time for your family- stop distractions from being a mom.

• Teach your child self-entertainment

Whenever your child is entertained with his toys, puzzles, books, or cartoon movies, you will overcome that mom guilt feeling when you tend to do anything related to work.

It will also keep your child busy and give you some free time to send emails, set plans, …etc.

• Ask for help and build a social support network

Don't feel shy to ask for help from anyone. If your family is near, you can ask them to help with the children or chores.

Your husband can be a great supporter; you can leave your child with him so that you could have time to accomplish some work.

Even your child can give you a hand in the daily chores. Assign him tasks to take a rest from your household burdens.

Build a social support network; You can get in touch with other work from home moms, collect money, and hire a babysitter to watch all your children for few hours so that you could do more work productively with no distractions.

• Arrange fun family activities

Go to family-friendly places, such as the zoo, malls, parks, or swimming pools. Arrange for family gatherings with your family extended members by inviting them to a football game or a barbeque.

Take a walk with your family. Leave work behind your back and do all things that will refresh you.

Although It's hard to be focused on your work while you are raising a kid (or several) who needs you for everything, this can recharge your energy to deal with the significant challenges that you face every day in the life.

• Don't forget to love yourself.

 Don't forget to spend time on yourself. Take a walk, go swimming, or go for your favorite salon to have a new haircut or anything that lets you feel the change.

Without rejuvenation, you will not be able to spend all your day as a working woman or a stay at home mom.

Take a rest! You'll be astonished by how you feel much better and motivated to take the challenge of the next days.

Plan a routine for your child; By setting up a routine, you teach him how to stay productive, discipline, and accomplish tasks on time. Create a daily calendar with a list of things that need to be completed.

When you feel frustrated or disappointed, just remember that you are a superwoman who is working professionally and teaching your child how to work hard and be responsible. At the end of every day, celebrate what you accomplished and be proud of yourself.

Conclusion:

Hopefully, you enjoyed this article, and you have learned some new tips to handle work from home while having a little kid. It's no easy at all, but at least it can be done in a way that doesn't make you go nuts. If you have any tips that work for you, let us know in the comments below!

You may also like to read:

4 Way to Deal with Annoying Coworkers While Working Remotely