Working From Home With a Kid During a Pandemic

Working from home with an infant feels like a race every day. You wake up early and race to get through emails before your child wakes up. You race to get your little one settled and fed before a meeting. You race through the meeting because your little one is getting fussy. I mean, come on, it’s a marathon.

So you ask, how can I continue to do this? Do I put my child in daycare? Do I quit my job? Do I change my work responsibilities? All of these questions begin to create feelings of self-doubt and mom guilt (at least for me).

So…what do YOU do…

Here’s how I manage working from home and being a mama like a bada**.

No. 1: Feel your feelings.
Suppressing your energy and thoughts only makes you feel worse and filled with anxiety. Vent to another mom in a similar situation. I tend to be expressive and find it helpful to type or write out my feelings and then throw it away. It also never hurts to talk to a professional either. At your next pediatrician visit, mention it for recommendations or research a free consultation in your area with a counselor.

No. 2: Shift those general home responsibilities
Moms, read this aloud! Ask for help if you live with your significant other or other adults. It’s easy as a mom to shift all responsibilities to your plate however, you will quickly become exhausted after cooking, cleaning, paying bills, scheduling appointments ,etc everyyyy dayyy. Don’t know where to start. Well, if you are cooking often, stop that. Pick a couple of days to order out or easy meals that are already prepped. My favorites are Bertolli Italian dishes, P.F Chang’s fried rice, and a rotisserie chicken and steamed vegetables ALWAYS comes in handy.

No. 3: Space out your meetings
Am I the only one who feels like Zoom has taken over our lives? Pre-covid, I didn’t like meetings all day back-to-back and now, I dread having more than 3 Zoom meetings per day. There’s a such thing as Zoom/meeting fatigue. Read this article about how to combat it. My favorite coping methods are to build-in breaks. This could mean ending the meeting 10-15 minutes early to walk around or drink water. Another one of my favorite coping methods is to reduce stimuli and this means turning off the camera or calling from your phone.

No. 4: Work when your little one is sleeping Okay, this one sucks because it may mess with your sleep schedule however, it does help to work those odd hours when your little one is sleeping. For me, this means writing this blog at 5a, answering emails, and completing other work tasks from 6a-9a. Doing this also makes it easier for my baby to have my full attention when she opens her eyes.

No. 5: Take a break Find someone to help you or work remotely with someone where you can rotate your baby. Care.com has a directory so you can search for someone to come to your house and help watch your child a couple of days out of the week or a couple of hours during the day. If this isn’t feasible, take a few extra minutes in the shower. One of my favorite rooting and meditation exercises is waking up and taking 10 deep breaths. 🧘🏾‍♀️

Okay, mamas. How are you feeling after reading this? Let me know if this is helpful or if you’d tried something that isn’t on the list. I’m always looking for tips.

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