7 Ways to Find Focus While Working from Home

Please provide them in the comments section.  This is not a list.  This is a plea for help.

I’ve been an at-home parent for more than six years now, but I’ve only been a WORKING-at-home parent for two. Obviously I worked before, but on kid and house and dog and volunteer stuff.  When my obligation is to someone else, easy-peasy.  But as I had to find ways to parcel out my time to make room for business work, it got super hard.

I’ve found my way.  I’m not a total failure.  But I find myself making excuses way too often.  And I hate excuses.  I used to be a high school teacher.  I’ve heard alllllllllllllll the excuses.  I met my sister this morning, and I was nearly twenty minutes late.  Last week, I was fifteen.  The week before, ten maybe? But this morning I said, out loud, “I totally have a good excuse this time: my alarm didn’t go off.”  Which is true, but only because I use my cell phone as an alarm and it had gone dead.  Whose fault is that? Not plugging in her cell phone? Mine, you say? Interesting.

My alarm didn’t go off.  Absolutely juvenile.  It’s embarrassing.  Which is precisely why I’m writing about it: I need your help.  I can get time here and there, but each time I attempt an actual schedule, sticking to it is near impossible.  This needs to be done.  That takes priority.  Facebook beckons.  The three-year-old wants attention.  Kids.  Actually, that’s a list I CAN provide.

7 Ways to Distract Your 3yo So He’ll Let You Do Some MFing Work

1. Paw Patrol. Obv.
2. Play-Doh. Worth the clean-up time.
3. Bouncy house. You think I jest, but ours is in the basement.
4. A box. Tape it shut.  Just kidding! A box and masking tape.  Let him go nuts.  Worth the cost of tape, trust me.
5. Cotton balls. As long as he doesn’t eat them, endless fun.
6. Tell him you’ve hidden coins all over the house. Hide only one or two, so he thinks there’s hope.
7. Actually spend some quality time with him.

Honestly, the last one works the best.  I frequently set the oven timer.  “Twenty minutes of play time, then twenty minutes [read: 40] of work time.”

Seriously. How cute are they? How’d I get so lucky?

But I don’t even blame the kiddos.  They are the REASON I work, not the excuse why I can’t.  In fact, my least productive times are when they aren’t around.  Because there’s SO much else I can be doing.  A list of household tasks more easily accomplished when kids aren’t around: all of them.

Other WAHPs, how DO you do it? Share your wisdom.