An honest look at working from home with children

Written for Ridents: the essentials, without the noise.

Working from home with small children is not a productivity hack; it is a negotiation that restarts every morning. What helps is a visible schedule the children understand, a signal such as a closed door or a coloured light that means "not now", and a realistic plan that puts the demanding work in the hours when someone else is responsible for them.

Working from home with small children is not a productivity hack; it is a negotiation that restarts every morning.

Lower the bar for the rest. A short block of focused work with a child nearby is still work, and a box of special toys that only appears during calls buys twenty quiet minutes. Share the load openly with your employer and your partner, and accept that some days will go badly. The arrangement improves as the children get older, faster than it feels in the moment.