How to manage remote work and childcare with the January 19 holiday?

TELEWORK – The holiday on Thursday, January 19 promises to once again leave parents with the dilemma of working remotely with children at home. You’re in a Zoom team meeting and your child comes over and grabs you by the arm to play with him, ending all manners and attention.

Concentration and childcare don’t always go together, especially when your offspring are still young. So how do you reconcile the two?

Faced with demands, patience

If you have a small child and need to work from home: “good luck”, will respond to all individuals who have already passed the test, since remote work is irrelevant during successive arrests or in many companies. If the restless child is still a baby, his naps will allow you to work for several hours. According to journalist and author Béatrice Kammerer, if your kids are under three, it’s likely to be difficult to manage.

One Topic on Twitter in March 2020he recounted his experience: “Taking care of children is (almost) a full-time job. If your children are under 3 years old (mini), don’t kill yourself: you won’t be able to work. Employers will need to hear this. (…) From the age of 3, you will be able to accumulate one, two, maybe three hours of work a day very slowly. But a little more than waiting for the evening and spouse to return to work part of the night. »

He also explains that the child will require a lot of attention from the parent. If he has a brother or sister, conflicts definitely need to be managed. When faced with the demands of your little ones, you will need to choose solutions.

To manage interruptions, a Harvard Business Review article recommends using an appropriate tone with your children: “Even very young children can hear that mom or dad works hard all week in the office because it makes them happy and earns money to take care of the whole family. »

In this article, a mother explains to her child: “I always work on Fridays, but I can take you to school from home and we can do fun things together. »

For Béatrice Kammerer, though ill-advised, the solution is clear: screens. “If you really have to work, you won’t have a choice. Cartoons, TV series, video games, apps, anything you like. And it won’t matter.”he believes.

Spend time with your child and set some limits

Deborah Laurent, also a freelance journalist for 10 years, found another solution to manage writing with her young son by her side. In a 2020 article shared on his blog “The sea, my son”she shares her tips: “We do as much as possible according to the child’s needs. If my son interrupts me while I’m working, I try to make him understand that I’m busy and the sooner he lets me concentrate, the sooner I’ll be there for him. »

However, according to the young mother, this technique does not work every time. If the son insists, he chooses something else: “I leave what I’m doing for twenty minutes, just enough time to attend to his urgent need. […] Once you’ve tasted a dose of attention, it’s easier to reason with. I can get back to my sheep later… Until next break. »

Deborah recalls a famous saying “Run from me, I’m following you, follow me, I’m running from you” works with kids too: if you turn down your kids’ invitations to spend time with them, it’s unlikely to end there. Then you risk wasting less time responding immediately to his desire for attention than pushing him away.

But Teresa Douglas, co-author of The Secrets of the Remote Workforce, admits in an article published in the US. New York Times Parents should set some boundaries. “Remember that your children will always see you as a parent first” the writer explains. A woman who has been working from home since 2010 decided to put up a board “STOP, in a meeting” at his door. So her children cannot enter if the door is closed. “I still explained to them that if my door is closed, they can knock once, if I don’t answer, I’m in a meeting.” he says.

Organizing around your child

Through the website Virtual Jobs, journalist Rachael Pasini offers some advice for work-from-home parents. According to him, it is important to adjust your schedule to the children’s schedule: “It’s almost impossible to work normal business hours when working remotely with children. You may need to wake up two hours before your kids, skip your favorite show, or wake up two hours earlier than bedtime. »

To avoid major fatigue, and whenever possible, Rachael Pasini strongly recommends choosing a nanny to look after your child while you work. “If you don’t have the budget for a part-time nanny, I still recommend finding someone to look after your children for a few hours a day. Working full-time while raising children is not easy.” the journalist remembers.

According to her, the ideal is to have a family member or friend available, which will allow your child to spend this time with an important person in your life.

Finally, if good communication with your children is important, you shouldn’t hesitate to talk to your employer and colleagues about the limitations of working remotely. Your work schedule may not be the same when you are also a babysitter, and explaining this to the people you work with is a solution. Hiscox insurance, which has written several articles to advise self-employed entrepreneurs, notes on its blog: “It pays to be honest, customers will be more understanding. »

Another tip they give: prefer emails to phone calls. So you can answer while your kids play.

See also The HuffPost :