With more people working remotely than ever, households have been searching for ways to create the best possible working-from-home environment for their families. Especially in busy households containing two or more generations, different cross-generation working styles, habits, and varied timetables can easily clash.
Unfortunately, there are no hard and fast universal rules that you can apply to everyone. Each household should find strategies and create schedules and rules to best suit their routines.
How can parents help their children to work from home effectively?
Working from home has been incredibly challenging for many people. In particular, the younger generation has generally struggled to stay focused, being the only age bracket to have more distractions when working remotely. However, having the option to work from home can be beneficial to some people.
While some employees get distracted easily, research has shown that people on the autistic spectrum are far less likely to get distracted and, as a result, produce significantly more work than their peers. Allowing people to choose to work at home could allow a broader range of employees to work in an environment where they are more happy, comfortable, and focused. If this applies to your child, creating a good home working environment may help them succeed in their career.
So, what changes can you make to the home or your lifestyle to accommodate the young people spending more time there? Below are three ways to help create the best possible working environment conducive to productivity and general wellbeing.
Create a designated office
If possible, and the space in your home allows, dedicate a room or area as their workspace. Even if this means setting up and packing away an office set up each day, separating their work and home life is vital to aid productivity.
Mainly when parents themselves are also working from home, it can quickly become very hectic when working on top of each other. To create the best working environment, look to invest in an ergonomic office chair and suitable desk. This will help maintain a good posture while sitting at the desk, which can mitigate health risks associated with being sedentary for extended periods. As noted by an ergonomics expert from Posturion, sitting is not the healthiest thing as we sit longer and longer.
Creating boundaries
When your children are first introduced to home working or even starting a new job entirely from home, it can be tempting to regularly check in with them throughout the day to see how they’re coping. However, particularly if they have lots of virtual meetings, constant interruptions can not only make it difficult to concentrate but can also create tension and lead to arguments. It’s also essential to give them their independence as adults.
To overcome this issue, you don’t have to devise an elaborate code to signify when they don’t want to be disturbed. Simply by maintaining good communication, making it clear before going into an important meeting sets clear expectations and boundaries for when they and you don’t want to be disturbed.
Be considerate
If you’re a stay-at-home parent, you may need to adapt your schedule to create the best conditions for your children to work effectively at home. You could be doing many activities around the house daily that can be a distraction to anyone trying to work, so try to be considerate and balance your needs.
For example, tailor cleaning schedules around their working rota, or create a shared family calendar to highlight times of the day or week where noise should be minimized. Particularly when it comes to noisy tasks, like vacuuming, your household will be far more productive and harmonious by simply putting off the jobs to a more convenient time.