by Wahidabi Sulaiman

Created on: December 08, 2011

Working from home is a brilliant idea and with the infrastructure at present it is only a shame if you still have to gather yourself early in the morning to go to work. However, parents who work from home have their own set of survival skills to master. There is so much “noise” vying for your attention at home than in any office. With some tactics, even such obstacles can be overcome.

Learn to "Chillax" (Chill and Relax)

As a work at home parent, you will be dealing with more pressure than if you were working from an office. You are not going to be bothered by nosy colleagues but you will definitely be disturbed from time to time by your kids, spouse, friends and relatives who will constantly fail to understand the meaning of “working from home.” This idea has been around for some time now. However, people are still wondering if you do get paid for that. Therefore, you need to take it in your stride and push the negatives aside and try to work around the obstacles.

Learn to Say No

This is actually not a hard thing to if you keep practicing it. It may be difficult initially when your spouse asks you to make him a cup of coffee while you are typing away your report or article for submission. As mentioned earlier, he may take time to understand that you are at work while you are home. Therefore, you need to say no and ask him to tend for himself nicely. When you friends come knocking on the door to ask for your help to do their job for them while you have a busy schedule, you need to say no.

Make Space for Work

When people start working from home, they feel like they will get everything done in their pajamas while they have coffee at the dinner table. As time passes, they do realize that this arrangement is less productive and eventually get their workplace organized. Save yourself that phase and organize your work area the moment you start working from home. While you are at it, work and do not entertain anything else unless it is an emergency.

Take Breaks in Between

You are working from home for a reason and that reason would probably include spending time with your family. You cannot get stuck with your work from morning till evening and have your family understand that when you are working from home. As much as you do not want to be disturbed while working, you need to spend time with them too. Therefore, taking 5-10 minutes break in between your work to chat up will do you a lot of good.

In summary, you need to take charge of your work and your home. Even though you work from home, you have to keep them separate. When you are having meals with your family, do not discuss work and when you are at work, do not entertain family. Take your work seriously. You will have the last laugh when you are seen juggling both family and work from the comfort of your home without getting killed in the process.

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