This blog is part of a series on transcription. If you haven’t read the other blogs in this series, make sure to check out the summary page for a listing of all transcription blogs.
Missed part two? Check it out here! Otherwise, read on to find out some ideas on how to deal with children underfoot while working:
Close the door and put a sign up, “Mother Working, Disturb ONLY if Blood is Involved.”
This requires your children to be old enough to basically police themselves–you would obviously not want to do this with a toddler. Mothers have done this, and have set a timer of 30 minutes, so they can go out and check on their kids periodically to make sure that someone hasn’t started their sibling on fire or something. The problem with that is that is still breaks your rhythm that you get into.
Put the child in a playpen in the room with you.
This works if you only have one child, and s/he plays well by themselves. This really breaks up your rhythm, however, because you will be concentrating on your file when suddenly you see toys flying through the air or the child starts crying or whatever. This is probably the hardest way to try to transcribe, and your hourly wage will most likely be very low because if you can’t get into a rhythm, you can’t get fast, and if you can’t get fast, then you can’t make good money.
Hire a local teenager that you trust.
The teenager can come over to watch your kids at your house for a couple of hours after school while you work. This cuts into the actual money made because you’re paying for child care, but teenagers are notoriously hungry for easy jobs that work around their school schedule, so many mothers have found a local teenager who will work for fairly cheap. This also has the added benefit of allowing you to focus exclusively on your work instead of being interrupted every time the kids get into a fight. The problems between the kids can be handled by someone other than yourself, it will be in your home so you’re close on hand if anything happens, and the pay can be fairly low. It doesn’t work for everyone, but it is something to consider.