Our kids got out of school early this summer, so how will I juggle working from home and keeping the kids busy every day? Trust me, I thought about this for a while this year, and I think I came up with 5 tips on how to survive the summer while working from home.
5 Tips on How To Survive the Summer While Working From Home
1. Keep A Schedule While Working From Home
I haven’t mastered this yet; but my intent is to maintain a daily schedule as if I were going to an office. I want to work efficiently and have quality work time. When I used to work in an office, I used to leave for lunch; so treat your home office and your time the same way.
I don’t take a break for lunch. That’s usually because I know I have to get out for a run at the end of the day when it is cooler, or we have a softball game or practice to go to. Every night we go up to the farm as well, so that is designated time that I spend with my family. .
Don’t get distracted by the items in your house. If you are working outside your home, you can’t clean your house at the same time, so LEAVE IT! I know it’s hard to do; but you will never get your work done if you don’t.
2. Let Your Family Know What Your Schedule Is
I know it is harder when children are younger. My kids are 10 and 12 and they are used to me working from home. But they don’t always know when I am heads down and needing to provide 100% focus to a project, unless I shut my office door.
I have to let them know when there are times that I need uninterrupted time. During that time they can play outside, swim, watch TV, or ride bikes. But I don’t let them get involved in any projects that will require my attention.
If I want to schedule time off or family time, I make sure I get my work done ahead of time or have time scheduled to cover my obligations. When I know I want or need some days off, I will either work late after the kids are asleep or even work in the car if we are on a road trip.
3. Take Time Off
It’s important to take time off. I need it and my family needs it. We went to Hershey Park last week, and I was able to take time off; but also was able to get some work done while on the trip. I would work when I woke up and the kids were eating, then my husband would take them to the pool for a while. After that we would head out to the park for the afternoon until closing.
We are night owls, so we prefer to swim in the mornings, and go out at night. We stay up late, and then we sleep late. It’s been that way since they were little. But it works for us.
4. Outsource Simple Tasks
If there are tasks you can outsource, this would be a good time to try this. Start small. I have outsourced my Pinterest account to help me organize and structure my account. This has been a good investment for me. I feel like now I would love to have someone take a look at my YouTube account and help me build that account up.
You don’t just have to outsource your blog and social media work. Be creative, maybe you need to hire a babysitter or a mother’s helper to do some of your tasks around the house that are on your mind and sometimes prevent you from doing your work.
Have someone take your kids for a couple of hours during the week so you have a set time and day that you know you will have uninterrupted time. I think this is probably one of the most helpful things to do to help you meet deadlines.
5. Enjoy What You Do
Remember, you want to work from home and have your independence. In fact, as I write this, I am at my daughter’s All Star Softball practice. I tried to work during her games, but they are too important to me and I don’t want to miss any of the action.
We live for the summer with the warm weather, time off from school, late nights and family adventures. I want to be around for my family more this summer and have less regrets than last summer. I feel like last summer went by in a blink, and I felt like I wasn’t very present for my kids. But I believe every working mom feels that way. Hopefully following these steps will help you AND me!
Were these tips helpful to you? Which tip do you feel is most important to implement? Share it with me in the comments!
My work schedule goes out the window when the summer months start to heat up. I try so hard to stick with a schedule but it is so hard when there is so many other things I would rather do. I need to work on this for sure!
I am trying to keep a schedule, too; but there are too many interruptions. I feel like I should change my working time until later at night.
I really need to get my 12 year old schooled on how to do some basic blogging stuff. I could so use the help and keep her busy.
I think these are all wonderful ideas. I don’t think it has been that bad this summer so far. My kids are in swim lessons and summer school this summer, so it keeps them busy. That means I have some time to work without distraction.
I could really use these tips! Working from home is not easy especially with kids in the house. Thank you so much for these!!
You’re welcome! It’s much easier when they are older in my opinion.
Great tips! Summers are so hard for us to stay on a schedule! My husband works nights so I find the kids and I stay up late then seem to sleep all day. When school starts back it is so hard to get back in the swing of things.
We are totally night owls. We love to stay up late and play in the pool and then sleep late. But that also becomes a challenge when we have early softball games. I need to be more consistent. But it’s summer!
These are such great tips. It’s harder than you think to work from home during the summer months.
We wait so long for summer to get here. I want to enjoy it. But I also have responsibilities. Plus I need and want to take time for myself to workout and run. It’s a juggling act for sure!
Great tips. I have 6 kids, I thought I would have more time over the summer to blog but it seems like I have been so busy trying to keep the kids busy that blogging has fallen by the waist side. I need to make a schedule and tell my family I need to stick to it. Thank you for inspiration!
Bless you with 6 kids I don’t know how you get anything done! Yea, I was hoping to have a handle on things by now; but it’s still be somewhat of a struggle because I am a workaholic as well. By the time I figure it all out, they will be back in school!
I work from home all year round and this is a good tip list. I definitely take time off especially in the summer because you can get “Summer Fever” and get claustrophic in your own home and feel more of an urge to get out.
Great ideas! What we did was we all traveled and stayed near the beach for 2 weeks. My niece got to enjoy her summer vacation.