But some people, even commenters here at my blog, have asked me how I manage to watch my 4 kids and work online. There are a few ways around this. Kids nap for a couple hours in the afternoon which gives me down time. I can toss in some laundry, start the dishwasher, and then jump online. There is also the evenings. While most people watch TV I work. But there are other times I am able to work at home. My office has been moved into the living room. I am able to work sometimes while the kids play. This works well because I have several kids. If I had one child it would be more difficult to work from home because they would have no other source of stimulation than from what I give them.

I think being there for your kids is important but it is extremely healthy to let your kids have some dad downtime and explore the toy box on their own and play with their siblings without dad right there all the time. This is a large part of the developmental progress. So sometimes I will begin to work online while I jump into a Supervisory role.

But how else can we manage to work from home with children? Web Worker Daily posted an article on Friday called How to Manage Kids in the Home Office. There is some great advice here and thanks to Hsien for pointing me to this article.

Sooner or later, even the most dedicated of web workers settles down a bit. When the caffeine buzz of working at the local cafe wears thin, it’s nice to have a home base where you can spread out, use a full-sized monitor, and maybe even raise a family. Which leads to a new set of problems: how do you deal with the younger part of that family invading your home office? Here’s some advice from the collective experience of several slightly battle-scared web working parents.

The main points covered in the article are as follows:

The question of the door
Make it their office too
Pass on your old computer
Adapt to their schedule
It can be a learning experience
But it doesn’t have to be
Be up front with customers
Don’t be afraid to set limits

So there you have it. If you are looking to set up an office at home these pieces of advice can be real helpful. The biggest one I found that helped me the most is adapting to their schedule. When the kids need you, your family comes first. Being able to adapt to situations is crucial for both the success of your business and the success of your family.

Post from: Blisstree

Dads Working at Home With Kids