Calming the chaos caused by the COVID-19 pandemic may feel impossible, but it doesn’t have to be overly complicated. The keys to juggling such a complex and demanding schedule without having your home descend into chaos are actually pretty simple: planning and organization. In fact, you can achieve order in your home and your daily life in just a few steps.
Structure Your Family Routine
Dedicated schooling space will help you work and your children learn, but first it’s essential to create consistent daily routines for your entire family. You may think that scheduling online lessons and remote work assignments should come first, but you can actually reduce stress if you structure these tasks around more basic needs, like sleep and meals. Then, fill the remaining hours with reading and learning blocks for your children and work hours for yourself. Be sure to discuss your new routines with your family, so you can set clear boundaries with each other from the start. It can also be helpful to post printed schedules in your family command center. If you don’t have a family command center in your home yet, you should seriously consider setting up one so that you can keep things low-stress and organized.
Set Up Your Home Office
Keeping your home free of clutter is important for maintaining focus, but it can also help to have some dedicated office space. The most productive home office spaces have a door that you can close to minimize distractions, but you can also create separation in a multipurpose space using screens or room dividers. Once you have a spot picked out for your workspace, you should get to work finding a comfy chair and desk. Investing in a supportive chair is especially crucial when you will be sitting and working in it all day, but you should also choose something that will reflect your personal style. Spending a little time decorating your space can also inspire more productivity.
Keep Your Kids Focused
Establishing a distraction-free workspace can help keep you focused, but what about your kids? Well, you can also set up a dedicated study space where your children can focus on their online lessons and avoid interrupting your tasks. Apply the same principles here that you did to your workspace, but also keep in mind that kids may need a few extra pieces of equipment. For example, you may want to pick up some headphones tailor-made for children so that your little ones won’t be distracted by other noises inside and outside of your home. Having them use headphones can also be beneficial for you, since you won’t be interrupted by the sounds of live instruction, watching movies or even playing games.
Speaking of games and live instruction, make sure your internet connection can handle the extra usage so you’re not dealing with frustrating lag times or crashing connections. Look for internet service that can handle multiple devices simultaneously with plenty of bandwidth.
Get Your Home Organized
Balancing remote learning and remote work can be stressful enough, so don’t let a cluttered home add even more tension. Research shows that working or living in cluttered spaces can produce more feelings of stress and anxiety. When you are feeling more stressed, you are also more likely to feel distracted. So, if you want to improve your family’s focus and reduce your stress, spend some time organizing your home before the new school year begins. If you just don’t have the time to tackle serious organization, you can always turn to a professional organizing service like Queen B Organizing to take care of this task for you. Think of it as a gift to yourself and your family, and get the school year off to a successful start!
With thanks to Cherie Mclaughlin, Couchbasedbiz.com
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