5 Practical Tips That’ll Help You Work While the Kids are At Home

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Moms who work from home while the kids are in the house often struggle with getting their jobs done and their tasks completed. Yet, you have to get it done… somehow.

The struggle between keeping your job and keeping the kids quiet so you can turn in some work is real and hard. For many women, this is where the true test of their patience lies. No wonder it’s a major cause of significant stress in a woman’s life. 

If you’ve ever found yourself thinking “if only these children would just stay quiet for 3 hours”, you’re not alone. The tips in this post will help you keep the kids quiet whenever you need to work. 

Incentivize the Kids

Have you seen the self-control test for children challenge that’s been making the rounds? In these videos, parents place a bowl of their kids’ favorite snack in front of them and tell them not to eat the snack until they tell them to. 

Some kids are able to restrain themselves, while others aren’t. The morale of these videos is that children can actually exercise some self-restraint if they value the reward. 

You can use this to your advantage. For example, bring out a treat, and tell the kids you’ll give it to them if they’ll stay quiet for 30 minutes to 1 hour. Most kids will try really hard to stay calm during that period.

Separate the High Energy Kids

High energy kids are a kinder description for disruptive kids. Most of the chaos in the home is caused by just 1 or 2 kids. 

These are the very playful, life-of-the-party kids. When they’re together, they tend to make such a ruckus. The best approach is to separate them by providing them with different entertainment options for the duration of your work or create a chore chart for them. 

Let Them Play Outside

This method works, particularly if you have a sizable backyard with lots of space for the kids to run around in. children are often happy to play by themselves or with their pets if there’s ample room for that. 

So let them have fun outside. Just make sure the yard is secure while they’re there. Also, remember to keep the windows and doors open so you can keep an eye out for them, and they can run into the house when necessary. 

Lull Them to Sleep

This is not often easy, but you can set up your work period around their sleep schedules during the day. Whenever it’s time for them to sleep, take them to bed and lull them to sleep. This alone can buy you 30 minutes to 1 hour of solid work so you can earn more money for them. 

Get Them Their Favorite Spoken Stories

Children always have spoken stories or books that they don’t mind watching, listening to, or reading over and over. Interestingly, they tend to become a bit quieter when they’re watching, reading, or listening to these stories. 

Find those stories that they can be engaged with, and play them for the kids in a separate room. Then, you can get to work while they’re engrossed with that activity. This can easily buy you hours a day that you can spend getting your work done.