How to Manage as a Single Parent Working From Home During COVID

Being a single parent is difficult as it is. But COVID has exacerbated the issue, especially with most kids learning online and single parents working from home. So how do you strike a balance between parental duties and professional life? The answer isn’t always simple. However, following a few guidelines will enable you to manage both facets of your life with efficiency, effectiveness, and understanding. With determination and a bit of planning, being a single parent working from home will become just a tad easier in the COVID era.

Lower Your Expectations…At Least at First

The learning curve for single parents working from home is steep. As you delve into uncharted territory, you can’t expect that every day will be more successful than the last. And that’s okay. It’s a full-time job. Therefore, lowering your expectations or your baseline on daily parenting accomplishments is a necessity. When you’re attempting to work at full capacity—playing the role of teacher and dedicated employee in addition to Parent of the Year—you’re overloading yourself. As a result, failure to meet unrealistic expectations can harm not only your work ethic and performance, but also raise self-doubt in other aspects of your life.

Actionable Step: Lower the bar for your daily parental duties. While some days might run like clockwork, other days or even weeks may not go so smoothly. Again, it’s all about acceptance that you won’t hit all your goals even after you reduce your expectations.

How to Schedule Your Day and Roll With the Punches

Scheduling your day and rolling with the punches aren’t mutually exclusive, at least theoretically. The important thing is that a schedule allows you to roll with the punches with minimal distractions from work or parenting. As a result, you can call an audible if necessary.

How to Set Your Child’s School Schedule

An effective method for single parents working from home to keep their children in tune with academics or staying entertained revolves around a set schedule. In most cases, mimicking a school schedule will make the transition for children easier to handle, as well as keep them on a similar sleep and learning regimen. If you’re unsure where to start, set up a schedule that looks something like this:

If you’re lucky enough to live in an area that’s allowing children into the classroom or at least hybrid schooling (half from home, half from school), you can make schedule changes on the fly that may not affect your parental duties or your work schedule. But some days, you may stray from this schedule due to work conflicts or other activities. And that’s all part of rolling with the punches. Once you have a handle on your children’s schedule, the next step is to create a similar schedule for yourself.

Actionable Step: If you don’t have enough work from a teacher to cover this time, offer small creative sessions that allow your children to engage in something productive. Reading, practicing a musical instrument, indulging in a hobby, or even helping you prep lunch or dinner would fall under this category.

How to Create a Professional Schedule as a Single Parent Working From Home

Now that you have the kids’ schedule set up, it’s time to focus on your own professional regimen. In most cases, you’ll have to tailor this to your work hours (if you have set hours) and your children’s schooling. Because of this, there’s not a sole way to fashion your schedule. However, scheduling your work much like your traditional office hours were before COVID will typically suffice. If you’re a freelancer, just maintain what works with some wiggle room for parenting. This may include tackling assignments far before the deadline and working ahead to ensure you don’t make mistakes.

But how do you avoid distractions and children wavering from their routine?

The answer is to get them into their daily schedule so that it becomes second nature. Meanwhile, you can put a sign on your home office that says “In the Office” or post your “Office Hours.” Make a point to tell your kids that—unless they’re facing a dire emergency—you’re unavailable when you’re in the office.

Actionable Step: Drill your “office hours” into your child’s head. You may even want to quiz them on when it’s acceptable to knock on your door or enter the office. By doing so, you reiterate the importance of your job, as well as giving yourself some time for uninterrupted focus and concentration. For little ones who can’t read quite yet, you might even turn these boundaries into a little arts and crafts project.

Have them make a traffic light that dictates when they’re allowed to enter your office. With removable lights (via Velcro), you can let them know when they can bother you and when to wait unless it’s an emergency. Not only will this project satisfy their creativity, but it will also kill some time if you don’t have enough educational materials that day.

Use These Remote Work Schedule Templates to Maximize Productivity

And if you need some extra help getting organized, check out these remote work schedule templates below:

Provide “Recess Time”

Even when you’ve set boundaries, kids still have the innate ability to distract you for one thing or another. So don’t neglect recess time. While COVID-era restrictions may not allow for a trip to the playground or a local park, don’t fret. You have plenty of options in your literal own backyard.

Sending kids outside or letting them take a break from schooling plays a crucial role in their development. According to numerous studies, recess has been linked to improvement in the cognitive skills of children, as well as providing a time to play, socialize, imagine, and unwind. In addition, research also shows that children are more attentive and focused following recess.

Actionable Steps: On your child’s daily schedule, don’t forget to pen in some recess time. Allowing them to play in the front or backyard adheres to COVID restrictions while also allowing you to watch them as you work. On a rainy day, you can turn to games, reading, or another type of leisure activity. Just make sure to shy away from tablets, television, and video games. Your children are already looking at a computer screen all day, so increased exposure to electronics can cause eye strain and doesn’t allow them to unwind.

Don’t Be Afraid to Ask Other for Help

As a single parent working from home, you’re always striving to maintain the role of Supermom or Superdad while completing your professional tasks. Yet sometimes, this isn’t always possible. You may have a project that requires a 10-hour day of total concentration. Unsurprisingly, this may not gel with your child’s schedule.

But don’t be afraid to ask for help. Sometimes asking a friend or family member to watch your kids is an inevitable part of parenting in the COVID age. Don’t feel like you’re a failure or act ashamed. Just appreciate the help and make a conscious effort to thank the person for their time.

Actionable Step: Asking for friends or family members to watch your children isn’t as simple as it once was due to the COVID pandemic. Therefore, you should set forth some ground rules concerning social distancing, mask-wearing, and asking high-risk individuals to act as a temporary babysitter. The key here is to determine your level of comfort and safety and make your guidelines accordingly.

Lead by Example

Unless you’re already a remote worker, this may be your first time working from home for an extended period. As a single parent, odds are it’s the same for your kids going to school at home. Therefore, you need to lead by example. If you’re diligent about your work, limit your distractions, and adhere to the schedule and guidelines you laid out, your children are likely to do the same. Your kids might take a few days or a week to get into the routine, but setting an admirable example will allow them to acclimate more easily. 

Don’t Forget About Yourself

With concerns about balancing work and parental tasks, you might forget to save a bit of time for yourself. But planning this in advance might actually be your savior. Even 15 minutes during the day can help you de-stress, do something you like, or just take a break from it all. What you choose to do is entirely up to you, but try to undertake an activity that helps you relax.

Actionable Step: If you haven’t tried it before, think about meditating during your break from life. For remote workers, meditation has been shown to improve attention span, reduce stress and anxiety, and even improve emotional health. If meditation isn’t for you, pilates, yoga, or even some light weightlifting might be just what you need to reinvigorate your day.

Getting Closer to Your Kids and Reaching Your Professional Goals

As COVID cases continue to spike, uncertainty surrounds the future of remote work, online schooling, and life as a single parent. Yet the opportunity to remain a productive and attentive single parent working from home is achievable. While the scenario might be difficult, your ability to return to normalcy in a post-COVID world or the adaptation to the “new normal” will become a more streamlined process.

You just might find your new arrangement is a time to become closer to your children while meeting your aspirations of career advancement. Just make sure to take some time for yourself, stay calm, and remember that perfecting the process doesn’t happen overnight. With these thoughts in mind, you can successfully navigate your duties into the foreseeable future. At least that’s one thing you can take solace in and an important one at that.

Do you have any tips as a single parent working from home? Connect with Virtual Vocations on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, and YouTube to share your thoughts and suggestions. We’d love to hear from you!