How to balance a remote work and home life

How to balance a remote work and home life

Working remotely 5 days a week is not easy, especially whilst in lockdown where you are also expected to home school your children, care for elderly parents and manage a team! How do you multitask all of the above, as well as run a household, and keep your business going in such challenging times?! We have 10 pointers which may help...

1. Make sure you discuss clearly with each of your team about what their responsibilities are

2. Whether your tornado is a 2 year old or a teenager, sometimes you will have to step away from your desk, ensure all your team are aware of this

3. Make sure you take some time in your break to ensure that carers who may be coming and going are lined up for the coming days and be prepared well ahead with useful telephone numbers for your loved ones to make calls on your behalf if needed

4. Make sure any conference call attendees are prepared for any additional voices young or old

5. To keep professionalism, a very useful way is to engage with a PA/Administrator who can field and deal with calls if you are otherwise engaged.

6. Talk to your team about flexible hours, rather than expecting them to work the classic 9-6, they could potentially make up hours in the evenings, weekends or early morning, depending on commitments. Of course attendance of particularly important meetings or catchups are key, however if there is an understanding of flexibility your team will be more engaged and focused

7. Depending on the age and stage of your children/parents have the chat with them for when you are or aren't available (although we’re aware this isn't always an option)

8. If you have another person around, plan with them uptime and downtime. Use your holidays as a way to help you in this time, rather than taking whole days or half days, see if you can take quarter days to help with this too.

9. Negotiate shorter hours if this is an option to help with the balance

10. Ensure you get some daily downtime for yourself! (this may be hard, we know!) But if you can find 10minutes in your day to take some time out, it will help with your headspace for the rest of the week!

We know the new normal isn’t easy, but everyone is adjusting together! Here at The Maine Group, we are adjusting to a different structure, but find that communication between us is key. So talk to your team and ensure you have the understanding and support where needed. There may be times where we have to step into a different role, or help out where we wouldn’t usually, but if everybody works together to create the best solution possible, the business shouldn’t suffer any more than it has to.

If you want to discuss any of this, or would like further support, please don't hesitate to contact us, we would be more than happy to help you through this challenging time.