6 Tips to Help Contractors with Kids and Partners Stay Productive While Working from Home

As freelancers, most of us are used to working from home. Years of doing business in our pyjamas and conducting all our meetings over video chat has prepared us well for these strange times.

However, the one aspect that has changed is the extra bodies at home with us. Its not as easy to get stuff done when your kids barge into the room during an important meeting or your partner tries to convince you to put off an assignment so you can watch your favourite Netflix show together.

So, how can you maintain your productivity while working in a full house? Here are a few tips to help you out.

Most of your clients are probably used to you always being available for tasks and meetings during business hours. But this may not be the case anymore now that your kids are home with you.

This is why you need to communicate with your clients and make sure they understand that your situation has changed. Sometimes youre going to be busy breaking up arguments or you may have to leave a meeting unexpectedly to tend to a crying toddler.

Luckily, many of your clients will be in the same situation or have experienced a similar situation in the past. As long as you give them a heads up, most of them will be understanding.

After you speak with your clients, its time to speak to your family. You need to make sure that everyone in the house knows that when youre working at home youre really WORKING.

This means youre not free to make snacks or settle debates or play video games. Make it clear that during business hours youre not to be disturbed unless its an emergency. And if youre in a meeting the rest of the house needs to be respectful and stay as quiet as possible.

Its not just your kids you have to worry about. Anyone whos worked from home knows that people tend not to take your work time as seriously as they would if you were working in an office. Make sure your partner knows that as much as youd love to hang out with them, it will have to wait until your work is finished.

Its easier to motivate yourself to work when there are no distractions around. But now that your family is there with you, its going to take a lot more focus.

Instead of starting your work early in the day, you may decide to play with your kids for a little while. Or maybe you want to spend some quality time with your partner. Then before you know it, its lunchtime and you havent even touched your laptop yet.

To counteract this, its a good idea to create a schedule for yourself. Commit to a time that youll start your work and plan out what youre going to accomplish every day. By writing all this down it will help you hold yourself accountable and youll be more likely to stick to your plan.

You can tell -- or ask -- your family not to bother you but, if you dont set up a physical space for work, youll never get the real space you need to get your work done.

Thats why its so important to set up a home office -- ideally one that has a door that can be closed. This way you can create a space thats just for work which will help you stay more focused on the task at hand.

Its also good to have a workspace you can go to so your family knows when not to disturb you. If youre in your office with the door closed the other people in your house will likely be more respectful of your work hours.

One thing thats sure to derail your work is hearing those dreaded words from your kids: Im BORED. 

It doesnt matter how many warnings you give your kids. If they start running out of things to do, theyre going to come find you. Its just an unfortunate fact of life.

Make sure to have some shows and movies you can put on for your kids during business hours. You can also stock up on toys and board games that they can play throughout the day, or plan some arts and crafts projects to keep them busy.

Try to think ahead so when your kids tell you they're bored you always have an answer.

All the planning in the world isnt going to prevent you from experiencing interruptions while youre trying to work. So, its best to just prepare for it and try to roll with it.

Its easy to get upset when your concentration is broken by a toy flying across the room or your partner trying to show you a funny video. Simply remind everyone that youre working and give your kids (or partner) a stern warning if it happens repeatedly.

If you plan to be interrupted a few times throughout the day then it wont be as disruptive when it actually happens.

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