If you work at home and have a preschooler, how do you work and how do you parent?
I’ve a relative newbie to this work-at-home gig. Juggling contracts and consistent blogging gigs can be a little crazy when you are also the primary caregiver for a small child. Small children know that the computer is sucking your brain away, no matter how much you work to pretend it isn’t happening.
How do I structure my work at home day?
Well, on my at home days, my daughter watches half an hour of television in the morning. That is the beginning of my work day. We fix breakfast and chat, then she gets her television and I head to the computer. I ignore my email, sit down, and write. I work well under deadlines, and thirty minutes is a nice tight deadline.
While my daughter is getting into solitary play, if I am on the computer she knows that I’m distracted and wants me. So I endeavor to turn off the computer and we head out to play, we do pretend play, or we do activities in the house. If she becomes engaged in an imaginary scenario for a long time, I might check my email. I’m more likely to make a phone call or fill out a form, both activities that don’t involve the dreaded screen. I try to keep my head with my child, though, since I notice that if my head wanders into work a little too far, parenting chaos ensues. Multi-tasking is not always more efficient.
I bring my daughter to meetings, too. I organize workshops, and many of these workshops are informal and intergenerational. Yes, this is on purpose. I’ve designed my freelance work life to be accommodating to children because I want my child to be involved in my work to a degree. She comes to gardening and knitting and cooking workshops with me, and since most of the organizational work is done, we do some quick set up and take down and get to enjoy the workshop.
When my husband gets home, I may check email briefly. Then, in the evening after my daughter goes to bed I spend at least two hours of concerted effort on writing, emailing, and avoiding social networking sites unless they serve my work-related purposes. After the work is done, I allow myself some time to have fun on the computer, knit, or read a book.
I set deadlines and work-related goals every week and every day to keep myself on track, although I often change these goals when illness or other life events intervene.
How do you structure your work-at-home day with a preschooler?