This pandemic is an effing challenge for us as individuals, for our families, for our kids. We’re a bundle of nerves about sick loved ones, or that our loved ones will get sick. Our teams have all shifted to be remote, and as a leader, we need to be sure they are feeling safe and secure, and still meeting deadlines.
Meanwhile, you’re having to meet your own deadlines, finish performance reviews (late), attend the 6 hours of Zoom meetings, make the kids their breakfast, snack, lunch, snack, another snack, change the baby’s clothes because she is wet, and you don’t know how or why, create schedules to home school the 8 year old because chatting with friends of Messenger Kids is unacceptable, clean the house to limit the spread of germs, talk to family members about how they are feeling, respond to emails you missed because you were calming a screaming toddler. And now it’s 6 PM and time to make dinner, clean up from dinner, give the baby a bath and spend an hour trying to get her to sleep in her bed, only to have her wake up in 15 minutes. Ugh, I’m exhausting just recounting my day.
So it’s no wonder that you are trying to survive and maintain or regain your sanity.
My wife and I have always been a great team, and I’m thankful for that. I truly cannot imagine being hunkered down in this pandemic with anyone else. Three weeks ago, we realized that we were both going to be working at home, with an 11 month old and 8 year old and we immediately sprung into planning mode. How were we going to make this work? Well, on week three, day 2, I feel that although overwhelming, it has been managing.
Tips to balance work from home life
Here are a few things we did, maybe it will help you!
1. Agree on an “office hours” schedule and stick to it.
When you have two working professional parents, schedules can be crazy. My calendar is usually full of meetings, and I have 7 direct reports and a team to manage. We first created a schedule of 2 hour blocks of alternating time to work and take care of kids. That didn’t work as planned, so we shifted, and for the last two weeks, we’ve done 3 hour blocks of time. These hours were shared with our bosses and respective teams to manage expectations of when we’d have dedicated work time vs when we’d be on baby duty. I would still take calls during baby duty, but the team knew that I would be multi-tasking.
2. Be disciplined.
This is a tough one, but get up at your scheduled time, get dressed and get ready, and make your coffee. This will make you feel like a human. On the blocks where you are on kid duty, take them for a walk and get some vitamin D. (Read the benefits of Vitamin D) The first few days were cloudy here, and it was miserable just being trapped in the house. The sun came out and it has been glorious – so go enjoy it. Again, it will make you feel human, and we need to feel human right now. For those of you who are better than me, get your workouts in a few times a week. I need to do better at this, but I was tired and fell asleep the other night at 8 PM with the baby. So instead, I practiced Tip No. 6.
3. Find some zen. Take the time to practice mindful meditation.
I started the mindful meditation practice only a few months ago and it has helped me settle my mind and body. In just 5 minutes, it will give you a refreshed sense of self, and help you set intentions for your day and express gratitude. My team and I started doing guided mindful meditations last week, and I’m hoping they will find it beneficial in this heightened time of stress. I personally use the Ten Percent Happier App, and my wife uses Headspace. Both are great. Start with 5 minutes, and keep at it. Don’t think you have five minutes? You do – create it.
4. Turn off the TV, stop reading the news.
For the first two weeks, we had the news on constantly. We were tied to our phones, searching the new updates of positive COVID-19 cases, scrolling through Twitter, and what came out of the latest press conferences. It was completely stress inducing without us really realizing it. We, as people, want to have a sense of control, and this pandemic is forcing us into a new world of uncertainty. So instead of watching the news constantly, turn it off – and focus on what you can accomplish. Work on what’s important right now. Feeling productive will make you feel a sense of control of your world.
5. Eat ice cream on the porch.
There are moments that spark joy in all this chaos. Hold on to those moments, and create those positive memories with your family and loved ones as much as possible. It’s all about give and take, and sometimes that means taking that 30 minutes and enjoying some ice cream together as a family and doing work later.
6. Give yourself a break – practice self-compassion.
We are in unprecedented times. I saw a quote from John Maxwell that said, “Just because you’re struggling, doesn’t mean you’re failing.” I needed to hear that this week. It is impossible for us to be great at work, great parents, great home school teachers and great housekeepers. It is physically, emotionally, and mentally impossible. Do what you can today, and try again tomorrow.
