VA and Kids: Tips for Virtual Assistants with Kids

According to the National Association of Child Care Resource & Referral Agencies, the average cost of daycare in the United States is nearly $1,000 per month. Include work clothing (that doesn’t have spit up or glitter on it), commuting and vehicle costs, food, and possibly housekeeping help, and the leftover paycheck isn’t stretching very far. Working from home can be a great way to earn income and still spend time with the family while saving money that would otherwise go to a daycare, but finding the balance between being a parent and managing your business can be concerning.

Here are some tips for working from home with your children present.

Selectively choose the work you can do.

If you have to be on the phone constantly but have playing children or a crying baby in the background, you may be setting yourself up for failure. Sometimes you have to conference with your clients or sit at the computer for a couple of hours. Finding a way to include your children can help them not feel jealous or ignored while you’re working.

Action steps

• Clear your schedule ahead of time to spend time with your children. Sometimes, an hour of playing before a conference call fills their love basket enough to let you get through the call.
• Have a special basket of toys or quiet activities they can work on only at those specified times. Some kids can happily play with Legos for an hour; others might get to watch a fun TV show or movie during that time.
• Use headphones to cut out background noise the best you can, you have no idea how much of a difference this truly makes!

Create your own routines.

Whatever routine works for you, establish it and go for it. Communicate clearly with your clients to make sure there aren’t expectations that you can’t fulfill.

Action steps

• If your job is flexible, wake up before your kids get up and complete your top 3 priority tasks for the day. Or if you’re a night owl, finish your priorities after they go to bed.
• If your kids are at school, create a work schedule that fits your needs during those specific hours they are at school.
• Each day, determine your most important priorities for the day, I suggest no more than 3 business and 3 personal.
• If you can, hire a local high school student or college student to hang out with your kids while you work for a couple of hours. (FYI this is also a tax write off)
• Have a plan in place in case of illness, appointments, and planned family vacations.

Let go of the non-essentials.

This one is difficult. There simply aren’t enough hours in the day sometimes. Between working, time with your kids, laundry, cleaning, cooking, self care, and trips out of the house, you can easily start feeling overwhelmed.

Action steps

• Sit down with your partner or spouse and children and lay out a plan, focus on the essentials for the day or week and then the nice to have things.
• Try a weekly menu and prep meals ahead of time, Sunday’s are usually great for this.
• Maybe beds just don’t get made perfectly every day! Determine as a family what is important, and what you can let go of. This goes along with the first action step but is getting a bit more specific!
• Find a place to get away when you need to. Maybe your kids can play at a park while you use your hotspot, or find an indoor play area with WiFi.

DO NOT let go of self-care!

This one is so important. You cannot run on empty. It’s really hard to care for others when you are not first taken care of, remember this!

Action steps

• Schedule a self-care activity daily, whether it’s five minutes to drink a cup of hot tea, a short meditation from YouTube, a walk around the block, or a few minutes of deep breathing.
• Schedule your time to exercise and pamper yourself. If your “refill” activity is to talk a walk while listening to a podcast, schedule it and guard it fiercely! Start small by just doing 10 or 15 min daily, then gradually increase that time.  
• Resolve to let go of the guilt! Neglecting your self-care will lead to burnout, frustration, and possibly health problems. If something bothers me, I say out loud what the thing is and that I am letting it go. Saying it helps my brain believe it 🙂

Working from home with children can be a great solution to earning extra income and self-fulfillment. It’s a wonderful option that many moms and dads take advantage of and they make it work for them. Remember that your work-at-home life doesn’t have to resemble anyone else’s work-at-home life. If you are considering Virtual Assistant work, visualize what it will look like for you and your family, set boundaries, and move forward with a clear picture of what you want. There is room for all types in the Virtual Assistant world!