With the emergence of the pandemic, many people have been forced to move to a new normal – working remotely. Being a parent working from home with a baby can be frustrating and challenging at times. Here’s a few tips from our Exhausted Dad aka Technical Recruiter, Pierre Florestal, to help with this forced isolation!
Have A Set Schedule
The most important thing you can do when working from home is to create a set work schedule. Treat it like you’re going to the office. For example, I continue to wake up at 5am to the obvious annoyance of my wife. I use this time to meditate, exercise, then log on to work at 730 am. I’ve had the same routine for over 10 years and continued to maintain it thru the pandemic.
Physical Fitness
You may avoiding traffic, however, working from home can lead to a sedentary lifestyle. Having a set exercise schedule can help you focus and be more productive at work. Focus on movement-based exercise routines to increase blood flow, strength and cardiovascular fitness to help with bone density and overall health!
Stay Connected
Communicate, Communicate, Communicate! One of the purposes of the office is to provide social interaction with co-workers while being part of a think tank. Simple phone calls to your colleagues to bounce ideas off each other will help release some much needed endorphins.
Maximize “Nap Time”
For parents with small children, nap time is work time. If possible, schedule calls with clients around these times to prevent undesired interruptions (like poop time or hunger fits!). Establishing a schedule for naps not only helps with your little one’s development, but it also provides a needed break for, well – doing grown up things!
Control “Play Time”
When dealing with small children and you’re somewhat of a big fellow like me – you’re automatically a Big Play thing! They always try to get your attention or want you to play with them. My daughter in particular always wants to play during my weekly zoom calls! She loves to be on camera and wave hi to my coworkers. My best advice is to indulge them. I’m grateful to be working with a team that understands the situation and indulges the little CEO back. It may not always seem ideal, but 5-10 minutes of tumbling around like a wild animal or joining you for a zoom call could be just what the doctor ordered. Besides, hearing your baby’s laugh is far better than water cooler gossip anyway!
Break Up the Monotony
Everyone seems to be stuck in the house these days. Although some of us have partners that are essential workers who gets to leave the house (my wife escapes ever morning like a thief in the night!), leaving us behind with our children to drive us mental! Don’t fret – find something to break the monotony! Something like finding a group of friends to exercise with then enjoy a few drinks with afterwards. Anything to get your mind out of these crazy times…
Like all hard times – this also shall pass. Do your best at work and spend time, kiss, laugh and love your kids. Life is short and all that matters is the ride and how you deal with it!
Rather than working remote, perhaps you’re in job search mode. Check out our blog post about how to really sparkle in a remote interview or contact us to connect. Our ear is to the ground in the region, so if you want salary info on what you’re worth to companies hiring or just want us to take a quick look at your resume – we’re happy to do it!
Written by:
Pierre Florestal
Business Development Manager – FIT Staffing Solutions
pflorestal@fitstaffingsolutions.com
