 Welcome to The Journey. Today we're talking about how to run a business with kids at home. Change. It's inevitable. What worked last month didn't work last week and we don't know how things will look a month from now. It'd be difficult to manage your work and a home life when they're not supposed to be occupying the same space. As much as owning your business offers the freedom and flexibility and an incredible level of work satisfaction, you need to remain motivated, organized, and consistent to make it work. Yeah, I wonder how do you make it work nearly, but throw a child or two into the mix and remaining motivated, organized, and consistent can seem easier said than done, particularly when you have to juggle your parental responsibilities with your work commitments. Yeah, it's definitely tough when I'm in meeting to meeting to meeting and I have my daughter in the other room doing online school and then she comes and asks a question needs help and of course I want to help her, but I also don't want to interrupt the people I'm meeting with. It's a tough struggle and I get it, especially during this time. But whether your kids are doing that online learning, a hybrid schedule, moving to homeschool, or even just prepping for what can come with an in-person learning model, here are four tips to help you, your business, and your family get things done. That's right. So how to run a business with kids at home number one, maintain a schedule when traditional in-person school has no longer an option. That daily schedule everyone was used to was no longer relevant. At first it may have felt like a bit of relief to not be rushing to pack lunches and get everyone out the door, but having an established schedule actually reduces stress for both parents and kids. Yeah, you can do this by creating a household routine, set alarms for when everyone should be out of bed dressed and have breakfast. Just because you're doing things at home doesn't mean you shouldn't be getting breakfast at the normal time or getting dressed and things like that or actually wear pants for the day. But you can also have set times for those physical activities such as a walk around the neighborhood, get out, walk those animals or play time at the park. It's important to take a break from the increased screen time and move those muscles. Absolutely, get the blood flowing, you know, plan times for group work as well as individual work or play time, my favorite. Even children as young as four or five can have independent play activities for 20 to 30 minutes, but set aside regular times for your own calls and high priority activities. Tip number two, set expectations. So closely related to setting the schedule is setting expectations. It's something you hopefully do with your clients or your customers. Having clear communication on what children and other household members can and can't do without asking you will eliminate a lot of headaches. Have a snack station so kids can grab themselves a snack or a drink without being disruptive. Create a chore chart that enlists everyone's help in keeping up with the basics and use a signal for when you are not to be disturbed unless of course there's blood or a broken bone involved. It could be as simple as a door sign or a fun or specific hat or scarf. My daughter knows that if I'm in a zoom call, she's not going to run over and go dad, dad, dad, dad. She's just going to stand off in my view and wait for me to have a moment to address her unless there's blood or broken bone. Then of course I'm going to deal with that. Absolutely. I have to ask Naly. So do you have like a specific door sign that you use? My office is in the living room, so I don't really have a door. This is just a divider wall back here. So she literally just walks up. I'm available at all hours of the day unfortunately. Absolutely. Working overtime on the overtime. So tip three, do your homework. Yes, this goes for both you and your kids to reduce friction when you're running your business while helping your kids. You'll need to make sure you do your prep work. So double check what's on your kids to-do list. If you're homeschooling, this will include reviewing your curriculums. If your kids are going through online education, hybrid or even in person classes, you'll need to see their projects and their due dates. Yeah, and review your business goals and schedule for the week each week and make sure that you're aligned with your team and they have what they need to accomplish their goals too. So plan ahead for meals and snacks. Have a meal plan. Really take advantage of services like grocery pickup and meal delivery services. I think my lunch is coming here soon to save time. Some fantastic websites like choosemyplace.gov and foodhero.org are great resources for healthy eating for the whole family. Yeah, allocate a few minutes each evening to do a household reset as we call it here. Pick up and put away anything that's out of place throughout the course of the day and get supplies ready for the next day. And our last tip is to get support. So you are not in this alone. There are many ways that you can get support to help you. So you can create a small group of other parents that are following the same strategies as you and really plan times to meet up with in-person and trade-off support days. It'll be good for the kids and the parents when done correctly. Yeah, and if you're on the home school path, look for other like-minded homeschoolers you can learn from. Find some local groups of people as well as online groups that you can be a part of and work with your partner if possible. Often one parent feels like they have to take on the full burden of all the teaching, but there are many ways you can share the complicated life that comes with social distancing and remote learning. And hey, if you're a single parent, you may also be able to pair up with another family member, friend, or another parent to provide that support. Remember, this is all about figuring out what works for you, your business, and your family. Enjoying a productive career while taking care of your children, four-legged or not, is certainly a challenge. All right, that's a wrap. Hopefully these tips and ideas will help with how to run your business and balance your family at the same time. 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