Are your kids on summer vacation yet? I’d like to say there has been an official “start” to summer in my house, but it’s really been more of a revolving door. With two of my daughters in college and my youngest in high school, we operate on numerous summer schedules.
Colleges finish the end of April here (my oldest actually graduated on May 4th), while high school ends the first week of June. So, as a work at home mom, I’ve been dealing with a summer schedule since May. This means It’s been a challenge to stay focused on business activities for the past month. No matter how old your kids are, when they are home with you, you face time management challenges!
Now that my middle daughter is headed back to college for summer classes and my youngest has started her volunteer work (which means she’s on a semi-regular activity schedule), I feel like I can get back to a more normal schedule!
For any work at home parent, the summer months can be a time of slower business activity if we don’t stay focused. Even though my kids are older now, I still deal with distractions and interruptions. So here are a few summer tips I’ve used over the years to keep a focus on business.
Learn to become a Night Owl or an Early Bird (if you weren’t already). When are the quiet times in your household? After you put your younger children to bed? Early in the morning before your teenagers wake up? Take advantage of those quiet hours and make adjustments to your normal routine if necessary.
Keep special activities or toys in your office that are only taken out when your kids are “working” in the office with you. When my girls were younger I’d keep special pencils, markers, stickers, paper and folders in my office area so they could work with me. I still have some of those decorated folders today and looking at them stirs up a few memories and laughs with my kids.
Swap playdates with other parents or family members. Make arrangements with neighbors, friends or family members to take turns hosting a weekly playdate. That will give each of you a few hours to focus on business with the kids out of the house.
Of course, sending your kids to summer camps and daily events will give you some quiet time in your home office. But I sometimes found summer camps even more exhausting than a regular school schedule when each kid was in a different camp, on a different schedule and I still had to drive them back and forth!
The bottom line for work at home parents and summer home office hours – get creative! Know up front that consistent, business-related focus is going to be a challenge. Put some strategies in place with that in mind and practice being more flexible with your own schedule.
With only one of my daughters home full-time during the next few months of summer (and since she’s 17, she has her own transportation and social schedule), I don’t face as many challenges to stay focused on my business as I once did. Now, some of the biggest interruptions come from our 3 cats, who make it clear when they want attention. And guess what? I hide a few special cat toys in my office to keep them busy too!