In these strange times, we are all cruising in some uncharted territory.

I know things are a bit tough on everyone and many people are now facing the unprecedented situation of having to work from home with children, for weeks to come.

Being a work from home dad for years, I had some time to practice. This week it’ll be four weeks locked with five kids at home for me, so here are a few tips I found helpful.

My Top Tips for Being a Good Parent AND Getting Some Work Done During Quarantine.

The most important points for your well-being during a crisis:

Always try to calm things down
This is important for your whole family. Always be calming. The current situation is hard on everyone, including children. If you see things are getting a bit heated, try to calm everyone down, for your, and their sake. You will never regret calming things down.
Do not put too high demands on yourself.
We entrepreneurs are used to place high demands on ourselves. It’s in our nature. Just remember that you are facing an unusual situation, and stressing yourself over things will not help you right now.

Remember that if you are worrying whether you are doing a good job, you probably are.
Don’t forget to relax
Relax, you need to decompress, and your family needs you “home” from work. Get some time for yourself in the evening to clear your mind.

Family tips on how to handle the quarantine:

Have a family plan
Set a plan with your partner how are you going to do things. If there are two parents at home, you can alternate. Things are even harder if you are a single parent, but hopefully, you can put a system in place where you have blocks of time for yourself. Once you have a plan, don’t forget to communicate it to the children. They need to know it too.
Schedule time blocks for school, chores, and playtime.
Make a schedule for the children and yourself. Set blocks of time for school, work, meals, chores, and playtime.
Include kids in household chores.
It’s a win for you and they’ll learn some responsibilities. 🙂
Be generous with the playtime for kids.
Be generous with the playtime for children. It’s hard for them to be stuck at home so they need to relax as well.
Don’t stress kids too much with the news.
Be careful about how much news are you going to expose your children to. Obviously, they need to know what is happening, but try not to stress them too much with the news. This goes for you as well. News tends to put a negative spin on events even in good times, not to mention nowadays. You need to get as many positive vibes as you can get and media are not doing anyone any favours.
Allow kids their screen time.
I know people tend to worry about kids spending too much time on their screens. It may not be a bad idea to loosen your screen time restrictions as much as possible for a while. It’s only temporary to help you maintain some sanity and you can tighten the rules once things get back to normal again. Also, keep in mind it’s how kids stay in touch and communicate with friends now, so it’s one of the few remaining ways for them to socialize.
Besides, when the kids play it usually means some quiet time for you to focus. 🙂

Getting some work done:

Plan your day in the morning
Make a to-do list in the morning. Plan your day and tasks for the day. Let everyone in the family know, what the schedule is going to be.
Focus on what’s important
Prioritize. Focus on the important tasks and ignore the rest otherwise you will stress yourself out.
Set just one major project or task
Set just one major task or project each day. If you can get it done, be thankful for it. By selecting only one major goal each day you reduce the pressure you put on yourself unconsciously. And if you get more done than just this one major task, even better.
Work in shorter blocks
Divide your work into smaller chunks. 20-30 minute blocks work quite well.
Signal when you are working to reduce distractions
Tell the kids you’re going to work now. Or put up a sign, close the door, hang a sock on the doorknob, whatever works for you. It’s important the children respect your work time.
Take advantage of downtime.
Use the downtime when it’s quiet to focus on work or on yourself. When kids sleep, you can work.