How to Work at Home with a Busy Toddler

For some people, it's difficult to find the needed concentration and discipline, but even if you do have the know-how to sit down and get your work done, having a baby or a small child at home can make it nearly impossible. The biggest question working stay-at-home moms and dads seem to have is how other parents get anything done with little ones at home. The most important thing is to keep a schedule. It's important that parents spend enough time with their children and that they also get work done each day and have personal time for themselves. The best way to achieve this is to create a schedule and stick to it. Don't be surprised if you put a new schedule together and find it doesn't work. Working at home is trial and error, especially with children around. If possible, hold regular work-time hours. For example, if a child takes a nap once or twice a day, use the nap times to accomplish important work tasks or make phone calls in the silence. Depending on how many naps the child takes and how long they sleep, some work-at-home parents split daily household chores and work-time up between naps (a parent might complete work tasks during the first work time and get household cleaning and a work-out routine done during the second).

There are times when a child is acting out for attention, but is just doing it because they can and want to distract a parent. Learn to pay attention to your child and learn which times it's appropriate to continue working and which times you need to stop and give the child attention. If possible, spend two or three hours working on your own thing and then spend an equal amount of time playing with the child in their play area or bedroom. For older children, explain that Mommy or Daddy needs to finish what they are doing so that they can play with the child later. For example, I try to write at least 10 articles a day. I live in a very small house with my daughter and her dad also works at home, but in the garage. My house is so small that if I am sitting in the living room, I am also in my dining area and kitchen and have a clear view of her bedroom. When my daughter asks me to play, I explain to her that I am completing my work and after I write X amount of articles, I can take a break and play in her kitchen or in her ball pit. Sometimes she brings me a book and I set my laptop aside to read her a story, but then go back to my work. The evenings are dedicated completely to her and her needs.

Working at home is difficult because people either want to work non-stop and can't separate work time from "play" time or they can't find the motivation to get the work done because there are too many distractions. This can be avoided by following a schedule, making and meeting personal goals and by taking some sort of time for yourself. For example, I spend a few hours a day typing articles and I spend the rest of the day playing with my daughter. She is with me all the time and I move from room to room, either working or playing with her. She helps me complete daily chores and tasks and in the evenings, I take time for myself to relax and watch TV shows or movies. I don't work on weekends unless I have to and spend time getting errands and shopping done. The weekends are completely about family time and there's no work after 6:00 PM in our house unless we have to.