Are you a work from home mom? Whether full-time or part-time, fully remote or hybrid, it can be hard to be a work from home mom. Let’s make it just a little easier to be a work from home mom with some easy tips to implement into your work from home days.
I’ve been working from home for a long time, before it was really even a thing. I struggled mightily with the transition from working in an office to working from home, but after a lot of trial and error, I found my groove and began to really love working from home. Then, I had a kid and the struggles returned. I had to re-learn how to work from home as a work from home mom. After many years of being a work from home mom, I have learned a lot about what to do (and what not to do).
As Labor Day weekend approaches, it’s a good idea to take the time to figure out an easier way to work on a day-to-day basis. So, if you’re a work from home mom who is struggling or just interested in ways that you could improve your work from home strategy, read on for my best tips for the work from home mom.
Tips for the Work from Home Mom
1. Wear pants with a button
I am starting off with a bang and sharing my best tip for work from home moms first. Seriously. This is not a joke. When COVID forced everyone to work from home, I was asked by my employer to share my tips for success. My number one tip was to wake up in the morning and put on pants with a button before starting to work. They laughed at me, and you’re probably laughing now too, but hear me out.
Traditional work clothes are not known for their comfort. They’re keeping you confined and you know they’re there in a way that you don’t consciously know you have on pajama pants or leggings. But you need that ever-present reminder that you’re at work when you’re a work from home mom. The easiest way to do that is to wear pants with a button when you’re working. Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying you need to get up and put on a suit to sit in your home office every day. Jeans or structured shorts do the trick as long as your video camera can’t see what’s on your bottom half.
2. Stick to a schedule
You’re probably more likely to agree that you must stick to some sort of schedule as a work from home mom. This can look however you, your family, and your employer need it to look, but it needs to be consistent. You need to know when you’re expected to be working, your family needs to know when mom is otherwise occupied, and your employer needs to know when you are available to him or her. Of course, life happens, so your schedule needs to have some degree of flexibility, but you can’t approach being a work from home mom without any structure. Now, if only there was a tool to help you set your schedule….
3. Use your calendar
The tool you need to use consistently as a work from home mom is your calendar. Set out your work schedule and your family obligations on your calendar so it’s all in one place. Of course you will put any work calls or meetings you have on your work calendar, but it’s also important to use that work calendar to guard your family obligations too.
If your kid has a doctor’s appointment, put it on your work calendar as far in advance as possible so you don’t get booked for a call when you’re supposed to be at the pediatrician. Do you have a dog? Have a recurring calendar appointment to walk your furry friend every day so you’re not trying to find a hole in your schedule each day and panicking as you take a spin around the block. It has also been my practice to block my calendar for the 30 minutes prior to the time I need to leave to go pick up my kids from school. This calendar block ensures that I have at least 30 minutes to wrap up my workday so I’m not frantically running out of the house every day. Use your calendar, friends!
4. Draw boundaries
As I’m sure you could tell from calendar tip, it’s also extremely important that you draw boundaries between work and life when you are a work from home mom. When your workplace is also your home, this can be extremely hard, so you must take steps to draw physical and theoretical boundaries.
Physical
It is so important to have a dedicated workspace when you are a work from home mom. Of course, not everyone has a house that has a home office or a spare bedroom that can be repurposed into a home office, and that’s OK. Carve out a corner that you can designate as your designated workspace. At least set up a desk that contains all of your work from home essentials and get yourself a comfortable chair. Everyone’s essentials are different, so I won’t pretend to have the authority to tell you what you need other than a good chair.
Theoretical
Perhaps the hardest of my tips to actually accomplish, it’s absolutely crucial that you set theoretical boundaries. Without these boundaries you will burn out. How do I know? I didn’t do a great job at setting theoretical boundaries, and I burned out. So please do as I say and not as I do. Have a start time and an end time each day and stick to them. Don’t feel guilty taking sick or vacation time. Say no to extra work that will stretch you too thin. Basically, keep your work life and your personal life as separate as you can.
5. Take breaks
One boundary to draw and jealously guard is your breaks. You will not do your best work if you go full speed for eight straight hours. One benefit that you have as a work from home mom is that you can make the most of your work breaks by getting some home tasks accomplished. Throw a load of laundry in the washing machine, unload the dishwasher, or prepare dinner on breaks from work. These tasks give your brain a break from your desk work and also allow you to take some of the pressure off your domestic responsibilities.
It’s important to take small breaks throughout your workday that aren’t swallowed up by chores, though. Yes, it’s important to get the laundry done, but it’s also important to give yourself a rest and take care of your body. Which brings me to the next item on my list of tips for work from home moms: move.
6. Move
No one should sit in a chair for several hours at a time. Your body simply can’t take it, and it gets worse as you age. Be nice to your body and look for ways to move in ways that make sense for the work from home mom. Schedule in that lunchtime dog walk, get yourself a standing desk, take a yoga break. I have a standing desk, but I’m really interested in trying out a walking pad so I can walk as I work at my desk. If anyone has one and loves or hates it, I’d love to hear from you!
7. Drink water
It’s so easy to get in the zone when you’re a work from home mom and totally forget to drink any water all day long. I have had many days that I’ve realized I drank literally nothing since my 4:30 am coffee. Not healthy! Try to make a conscious effort to hydrate while you’re working from home because you don’t have the social aspect of getting up to grab a beverage with your work buds. Sure, drinking water is the gold standard, but there are also many other ways to stay hydrated that you can mix in there to spice up your work from home hydration.
8. Make lists
My mom has made fun of me since I learned how to write for making lists for everything. I have lists for weekly to-dos, daily to-dos, long term to-dos, work to-dos, travel destinations, blog post ideas – you name it, I have a list for it. And while this may seem like overkill, lists are truly necessary if you want to be the best work from home mom you can be. It is so helpful to see your day broken down into digestible chunks on a piece of paper (or a note on your phone or a Word document), and so satisfying when you can cross things off that list. I love a daily to-do pad for this, but a scrap of paper works too!
9. Communicate
You must be a master of communication if you want to be a successful work from home mom. Because your co-workers are not seeing you in the flesh on a daily basis, you have to communicate early and often so they don’t forget about you. Communication will ensure you get the recognition you deserve for your job well done and that you don’t get passed over for projects for which you are the perfect fit.
It’s also crucial that you communicate with your family well. Especially if your partner works outside the home, it’s very easy for a work from home mom to get saddled with the lion’s share of the domestic responsibilities. So, speak up if you feel like you’re the only one doing laundry or running errands. It’s much easier to communicate with your partner than to hold a grudge for who knows how long.
10. Prioritize adult conversation
Depending on the job you do, it can be isolating to be a work from home mom. If you don’t make an effort to prioritize adult conversations daily, you can easily find yourself going days in a row talking only to toddlers. Don’t get me wrong, I love a good conversation with a toddler. It often gets you reminiscing about your college days because talking to a toddler can be eerily similar to talking to a drunk person. And who doesn’t like to reminisce about those carefree college days? But going long stretches of time without stimulating adult conversation can be hard.
It’s shocking how quickly you begin to question who you even are anymore when your list of conversation topics begins and ends with poop. It’s on you to prioritize having non-poop related conversation with grown-ups. That can look like video conferences with co-workers, coffee meetups with friends, or occasional girls’ nights out. However you choose to prioritize adult conversations, just make sure that you do. Don’t let this fall to the bottom of your list!
Other posts
If you are interested in more ideas to make mom’s life easier, check out these posts that might be helpful:
Hopefully you can take a tip or two away from this list and be an even more successful work from home mom. What else do you do as a work from home mom that works for you? Let us know in the comments or on Instagram @sarainseason!