Working from home with children became a reality for many parents during the pandemic. Not only did parents have to focus on their workday tasks, but they also had to focus on childcare and ensuring their children were getting their schoolwork done. While schools have almost completely gone back to in-person learning full time, numerous parents have continued working from home, with many still having children to look after.

This includes parents that have:

Young children that aren’t yet at school or are at preschool part-time.
School-aged children during holidays.
Homeschooled children (by choice and those still doing some homeschooling due to the pandemic.)

If you’re one of these parents, you may still be wondering how best to stay on top of work while taking care of your children. In this article, we’ll discuss 12 strategies that you can implement to make working at home with children easier and more productive.

How to Work from Home with Children

1. Create a Schedule and Routines

Having a schedule and to-do list is essential for getting all of your work done. Having a schedule for your children when they’re at home during working hours is just as useful.

One of the primary benefits of a schedule is that by knowing what they’re doing, you plan your workday better. For example, if you schedule naps for small children, you can coordinate meetings and calls during nap times.

Children also thrive on routine and knowing what they’re doing throughout the day. Therefore, doing similar activities at similar times each day will make it more likely that they adhere to your desired schedule.

Things to include on these schedules include:

Homeschool tasks, if applicable
Fun and educational activities to complete
Snack and meal times
Nap times
Outings, if any

As on school days, also have a set time for children to wake up and get ready for the day. You should also get ready as if you were going to the office.

A person creating a schedule for working from home with kids — Creating schedules for your children will help them stick to a routine during the workday.

2. Coordinate with Partners

If others that can help with the children are home during the workday, like a partner or other family member, coordinate schedules to make accomplishing tasks easier.

For example, if you and your partner work from home, you may watch children in the morning and do “easier” work tasks, such as catching up on emails, while your partner makes calls and tackles tasks that need a lot of focus. You can then switch roles in the afternoon.

3. Set Boundaries

One of the most important things to do when working from home with children is setting boundaries. This especially involves making it clear when your children can and can’t disturb you.

Having an office space with a door that you can close really helps with this. Tell your children that when the door is closed , they must keep themselves occupied and ask another adult in the house for anything they need.

If you can’t have a designated room for an office. Set up an area of another room as an office or have a way to signify to your children that you’re in work mode. For example, when you have your laptop at the kitchen table, that means it’s work time.

Children also respond well to colors and color-coded systems. Using a child-friendly traffic light system is a great way to help them understand boundaries. For example, a red sign on your office door means not to disturb and to look for another adult, orange can mean only disturb if absolutely necessary, and green means they can knock or just come in as needed.

4. Adjust Your Work Schedule

If your place of employment allows flexible schedules, take advantage of this! Getting up early to start work or working later in the evening, when children are sleeping, allows you to benefit from working conditions with minimal distractions.

A woman at a kitchen table with a laptop working and a man with two kids in the background — If other adults are at home, coordinate times for them to watch the children while you work.

5. Be Upfront with Colleagues

Make sure your colleagues are aware that you’re working from home without childcare and that while steps are in place to keep your children occupied, a meeting or call may get disrupted. Most people are now on board with the fact that many of their remote coworkers or business contacts have children at home during the workday. Therefore, they will be understanding, especially if disruptions end up never occurring or occur infrequently.

Do note, that if your children begin affecting work or disrupting calls and meetings regularly, colleagues or clients could get frustrated. In that case, look at adjusting your childcare plans to minimize these issues.

6. Prepare Lots of Fun Activities

Your children are more likely to bother you if they get bored or run out of things to do. Therefore, when working from home with children, having lots of things to keep them occupied is a perfect way to mitigate disruptions.

Make sure children have access to a variety of toys and activities, like coloring, reading, and games. If you’re happy to let them use screens, occupying them with their favorite TV show or online game is a good way to keep them distracted while you tackle tasks that need more focus.

You can also access lots of educational resources to occupy them, like virtual museum tours and educational games, TV shows, and videos.

7. Create a Snack Station

Many children will interrupt their parents or other carers to ask for snacks and drinks. An easy way to minimize this distraction when working from home with children is by teaching them how to get these things themselves. Place healthy snacks on an easy-to-reach shelf or set up a station with the snacks they can have for the day.

Also, teach them how to get water or other drinks themselves and leave out child-safe glasses where they can reach them. Along with minimizing distractions, you'll teach your children how to be more independent.

Two girls at a table painting — Planning lots of fun activities for the day is a must when working from home with children!

8. Get Priority Tasks Out of the Way First

If you decide to split supervision duties with your partner when working at home with children, as discussed above, then leave your most important tasks for when your partner’s supervising session begins. However, if this isn’t possible and you must watch the children alone as you work, tackle your most important tasks first.

Your children will likely be most occupied first thing in the day and slowly come to you for attention as the day progresses. Therefore, getting your most important tasks out of the way first ensures they get done, and you can focus on them with the least distractions.

9. Generate a Rewards System

Many children are used to rewards systems, both at home and school. Implementing a rewards system for good behavior during the workday can also bring great results.

For example, they can get points for not disturbing you, completing activities, getting their own snacks, and the like. Once they get a certain number of points, give them a treat as a reward.

10. Have a Strict Meeting Scheduling Policy

In the office, you probably had many impromptu meetings and could hop on client calls as needed. When working from home with children, meeting scheduling needs to be a little stricter.

If possible, make it clear to both co-workers and clients that you may not be able to join a last-minute call or impromptu meeting. Ask, where possible, that meetings and calls get scheduled ahead of the day they’ll take place.

To make this easier for everyone involved, at the start of the week, send a list of times that should work for meetings. For example, times your children have routine naps or when you know the children will be taken care of by somebody else.

A woman working on a laptop with a young child next to her using a tablet — Focus on important work tasks at the start of the day before children get bored and are more likely to distract you.

11. Allow Yourself to Switch Off from Work

Working a flexible schedule and splitting the day between a full-time job and caring for children can result in a loss of work-life balance. Instead of working an eight-hour day and then coming home to spend time with and take care of your children, you’ll be splitting these tasks throughout the day, which can feel like you’re never off of work or childcare duties.

This situation can also result in you never having time for yourself, especially if you have to make up work hours in the evening after the children are in bed.

To remedy this issue, try to stick to working hours (like 9 to 5) as best as possible, and ensure you have both dedicated time with your family and time for yourself every day.

12. Don’t Feel Bad for Opting for Childcare Services

If caring for your children while also working at home is becoming too challenging, don’t feel bad for looking at other childcare options. As life returns to pre-pandemic ways, daycare services are more readily available. During school holidays, day or overnight camps can be a great option to take advantage of too.

Also, consider looking at your network of people who could help during the workday. Do you have family close by that could watch the children, even for a little while? Or ask another parent that’s free if they can arrange a playdate, for example, during an important meeting you have, and you’ll return the favor when they need time to focus on something.

In Conclusion

Working from home with children can be highly challenging. However, there are numerous things you can do to make the process easier for everyone involved.

Whether you have very young children or school-aged children and are working at home alone or with a partner, these 12 tips should help make juggling work and childcare at the same time significantly less stressful!

12 Top Tips for Working from Home with Children