Balancing Act: Best Practices for Remote Work + Childcare
I went into this week knowing it was going to be a little tougher than most. Since our incredible sitter was off for a planned vacation, we had to make alternative childcare arrangements for the week. When she’s away, we usually alternate taking some days off – but since I had a work trip coming up mid-week, it wasn’t realistic for me to take off earlier in the week (and my husband is strategically saving his PTO for any unexpected childcare gaps in the future so I won’t have to take off work this quarter, which is my busy season). My mother came to stay Wednesday-Friday to give us coverage for our son while I’m gone, which we’re beyond grateful for: and that just left Monday and Tuesday for me to take care of him – while working.
I’ve worked remotely while taking care of my son before, but I’ve found it to be a lot more challenging as he’s gotten older – at two and a half, he needs a whole lot more of my present attention than he did when he was four months old and could barely roll over on his own. When he reached toddler age, I shifted my approach to working/childcare days:
Get up early and get online (at 5 am) to start working and get bigger priorities out of the way, check in with my team when they signed on later that morning.
Make sure everyone was good before I signed off from 10 am – 1:30 pm to spend time with my son. During that time, I’d intermittently check email and Slack to answer anything pressing, but for the most part I would stay off my phone to be as present as possible with my son.
Once he went down for his nap at 1:30, I would grab a protein shake from the fridge and get back online until the evening, when my husband would come home and take over so I could keep working. If needed, I’d stay on after my team signed off to close out anything timely and make sure I didn’t have to play catch-up the next morning.
This method isn’t ideal (and frankly it’s exhausting), but it’s what I’ve found works best for me – and I’ve also been lucky to be part of a team that understands and respects how I spend my time on these days. If you’re looking for ways to balance your time when you’re on childcare duty, here are some thought starters.
Make a plan for your day and communicate it clearly with your team.
Some work places may not be as open to you needing more flexibility – but you may find more willingness to work with you if you go in with a plan to accommodate your work. You could approach it from this perspective: would your boss/team prefer for you to just take unexpected PTO rather than you working for at least part of the day? When I have occasions that require me to be with my son for part or all of the day, I have a set schedule for when my team can expect for me to be online, when they know I won’t be as available and can’t take scheduled calls or meetings, and when I plan to work on specific assignments – and then I tell everyone. I’ve found that being up front and clear has made these days a lot less stressful for me, and helps me to avoid a scenario where my team feels like I’ve disappeared for the day.
Figure out what your productive windows look like – and use them to your advantage.
Understanding which times of day are best for me for specific kinds of work has been hugely helpful for making my childcare/working days more productive. I do my best writing and strategy work in the morning, so I tackle those items right when I wake up. I also use some of that time to write and schedule emails for later that morning during normal working hours (just because I’m up at 5 am doesn’t mean my team needs to hear from me at that hour). Before I sign back on in the afternoon, I’ll spend a few minutes during my son’s lunchtime (when he’s occupied with eating and/or playing with his food) to check email and make a quick priority list of what to work on first that afternoon. That way, once my son is down for his nap, I’m going into my afternoon work time with a plan to use my time strategically, rather than playing catch-up and haphazardly answering messages.
Have some back-ups available.
The nature of my work is pretty unpredictable – and sometimes stuff comes up that I can’t see coming. There have been times when I’ve had to field an unexpected phone call or work on something because a crisis popped up (and I do mean crisis when I say that – crisis management is part of my job). So if that happens, I will do what I need to, within reason, to accommodate those circumstances. During the day when I’m with my son I don’t do screen time with him – but if it’s an emergency, I’ll queue up a short YouTube video on the TV if I need to distract him for ten minutes while I handle something urgent. I know which toys to pull out if I need him to occupy himself for a short span of time – and I’ve actually gotten into the habit of having a spare new toy hidden away in a closet if I’m really in a pinch. It never hurts to have plans A, B, and C if you’re in the midst of an unpredictable day.
Enjoy the time you have with your child!
Being a parent is stressful enough without having a whole additional job on top of it – but if that’s your story, as it is mine, they can also present opportunities to spend time that we don’t always get to spend with your kids. I don’t get to take my son to the playground on a random weekday, but this week I got to do just that and I had so much fun with him. Whenever possible, on days like these, do what you can to be present with your children – for me, I’ve started to view the time that I spend with my son on days like these as windows of opportunity to take a mental break from work, engage in something fun with him, and build some connection through time that I don’t always have access to.
Next week, I’ll cover some of the toddler activities that I did with my son!