Being a Dad, Working at Home

Welcome, dads! Becoming a parent is a time for change. Your brain changes, your body changes and your schedule definitely changes. Even if you’re blessed with a great sleeper, being more active in your kids lives means that your days aren’t just yours anymore.

The biggest competition for this time is work - something more likely true for the dads. Work won’t appreciate kids joining your calls, and kids won’t appreciate phones in playtime. But learning when to seperate the worlds and when to blend them can unlock progress, contentment and let you ‘have it all’ as well.

I built a solid freelance job for myself while being an active and present parent for my two girls, and I’ve listed all the tips I wish I had from the start, that make work easier, kids calmer, and you happier. Happy kids + happy job = happy dads!

Create a Schedule

As a dad working from home (fully or partially) it's essential to have a schedule. Set aside specific hours for work, family and me time. Doing this will help you stay organized and focused. Plus, it’s easier to really get into play if you know when each parent will have their time to get work done that needs doing.

For sure, it seems like a hassle to look ahead and plan a day in advance, but it lets you accomodate the unexpected and really use the times that you can focus, knowing how scarce they are going to be!

Suggested tools: Google calendar

Do What You Can, When You Can

While your kids often demand active, focused attention, they do not always. Sometimes they need your presence more than your engagement. When the kids are having dinner, they might not want daddy time, but it’s a bit hard to get the full computer setup at the dinner table!

To-do lists and tracker usually have a priority system but I’d recommend including a section for ‘tech requirements’.

This way, you can do jobs where they are required as well as when. Do desk jobs at the desk and fit in the emails, planning and writing on your phone and laptop during the times when they make more sense.

Suggested tools: Todoist

Double Up, Uh Uh

If there isn’t enough time in the day then take any opportunity to stack your jobs and needs.

Doing a workout? Get your fun in with the latest episode of your show.

Doing drop-off? Keep one ear on your industry podcast to keep on foot in the right frame of mind.

Cleaning the kitchen? Sounds like a good time to call your mum and tell her all the things you realised about raising kids today!

Granted, things are better and easier when you are able to focus, but don’t let the ideal way of doing things get in the way of having them done at all.

Suggested tools: Wireless headphones

Let Yourself Change

You’re a gamer, staying up to finish the newest 100 hour release? Maybe you love to go out out with your friends every week? Or are you just super chill and don’t like to rush before 9am in the mornings?

Well, that might not be you now.

One of these certainly described me for 2 decades of my life, but I know that the next 2 decades I’ll have to change, not to make others happy but to allow me to be happy.

Not all hobbies are created equal. Some you can do with bits of time waiting at the school gates, in the ‘times between’. If the hobbies that defined your pre-kids life needed a lot of planning, recovery or just arent compatable with the little people that kinda want to be with you now, then it might be good to see how you can change.

I went from being a book-a-year kind of reader to having a one per fortnight goal, because it gives me similar joy but I can do it during TV time, breakfast or just with a spare 20 minutes.

Protecting your identity instead of changing with the times is a recipe for discontent. And people pick up on that more than you’d hope.

Suggested tools: Day One

Don’t Be Too Hard On Yourself

Look, if you’re having weeks at a time without spending good time with your kids, partner, friends or yourself then that’s not good.

However, we all have bad days.

If you can’t do all of your habits, or you just need a bit of a chill infront of Encanto for an hour to read a damn book for a bit, then just let it be.

Good habits and good change will stick easier if you’re allowed to have an off day here and there, and you’ll be all the more contented to give your all to your life the day after!

Suggested tools: Headspace

Don’t Sweat The Big Stuff

And speaking of bad days, avoid the news. Are you going to jet overseas and have a stern word with a militarised leader? Maybe you are burning a million gallons of oil in your back yard?

Then you should probably read the news, so that you can do, or not do, that.

But otherwise, you’re not going to impact these issues, and their impact on you is not going to be lessened by your knowledge of them.

So engage with information on your terms, and for this, my best recommendation is the focused media of magazines!

If you want to read world news then you can, but otherwise you can go deep on music, video games, fashion, interior design, cooking and any number of subjects, knowing that you arent going to be sidebar’ed into gossip, devastation and sad brain chemicals.

You control your input, without having to be totally cut off from things you enjoy. Win-win!

Suggested tools: Readly

You’re Going Great

I hope these tips help you navigate the world of being a work from home dad. But really this is the biggest lesson to take away. Shit’s hard, and you’re doing great.