Living your life well…what I’ve learned about working from home with a toddler

When I had my son, I knew I didn’t want to commute into London any more if I didn’t have to. I wanted to be able to spend as much time with my son as possible, ideally working from home without needing any formal childcare (my wishlist for my perfect job is here).

To fulfil this dream, I signed up to the Digital Mums Social Media Management Course. This amazing six month, totally remote and flexible course has been set up just for mums. As it’s been an interesting learning curve I thought I would share what I’ve learnt about flexible working and work/life balance along the way.

Warm glow… My screen with F.Lux on.
  1. I often finish work at 11:30pm (when my preferred bedtime is 9:30pm) but I didn’t start work until 8pm and I got to spend the first part of the day at a party, hanging out in the sandpit and having fun with puzzles.
  2. I use f.lux on my computer and enable night shift on my phone to deal with blue light issues when working after sunset (see above!). Blue light is proven to mess with your sleep, and every parent knows we don’t need anything else adding to sleep disruption.
  3. Apps are my friend — they mean I can do stuff on the go quickly and easily as well as keep track of what I’m meant to be doing.
  4. I often lose track of which day it is from lots of advance scheduling. We haven’t missed an appointment yet, but it’s been a pretty close call a few times.
  5. I don’t have to pay for childcare but it means I can end up relying on random slots to work. A To Do List really helps to keep on top of everything. As do long naps.
  6. With potentially short work slots (why are naps shorter when I need to get lots of work done?), I really need to plan what I’m doing and stick to it. No disappearing off down rabbit holes — I was given a top tip recently to put a timer on when doing ‘rabbit hole’ activities. Genius.
  7. My evenings are mainly spent working not watching TV, so I download TV shows/films on to my phone so I can watch them when I’m cooking or doing something that doesn’t need my full attention.
  8. I’m still struggling to fit in exercise. With all of that going on, I’m lucky to fit in 10mins of yoga in the morning. Finding a mum chum who also wants to do more exercise has been brilliant as we do playdates with the little ones where we do some form of workout (we do sometimes hog the playground equipment; we have no shame).
You might think this is a sandpit. But it’s actually my office.

9. I need to get outside every day. Having a dog means we have to go out, and it makes such a difference to everyone. Plus I can still do very essential work from the playground/park so there’s no excuse not to get out.

10. Every day is different. Some days the balance feels just right — I get enough work done, plus enough time with my son, and time for me. Other days it feels like all I’ve done is work without much to show for it, and other days I’ve not done anything like enough work. I just make sure that the next day/week redresses the balance.

Overall I love working from home as it means I can be with my son, and we aren’t having to fork out for childcare. Plus I love that I am in charge of my day and can flex it to make it work for us. There are always downsides but it really works for us right now.

What have you learnt about working from home? Please comment and share your experiences.

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A Balanced Life Surrey

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Championing a better #worklifebalance for parents in Surrey #livingwellsurrey #workthatworks #flexibleworking

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