By Hansima Witharanage
Sri Lanka went into an indefinite standstill since Mid March and called for a shut down of schools and pre schools around mid march 2020. When the news was announced I was at work and my first thought was, ‘I have work! What about child care?’, however before I had a chance to ponder further on the same issue, since 16th of March, we have been compelled to work from home. While we abide by the government regulations as responsible citizens, my calamities only got worse.
I had two challenges at my hand, I had to continue to be a great strategist and provide insightful communications counsel for my clients, on the other hand I also had to manage a jubilant 4 year old who had discovered an unfounded joy of seeing her mom being home, and hopefully available for some ‘mom and baby time’.
It was a challenge, and I needed a quick and a sustainable solution. I had to balance both ends. My child and her emotions management was a priority for me as a mother. My clients and continuation of sustainable communications strategies for them and keeping my work life alive was also a priority as well as a commitment. Not to mention, my work is and was the means for my bread and butter. Now more more than ever, I had reached to the realization on the importance of job stability, and it being a key factor in the unscathed survival of my family amidst the global crisis.
This was not a challenge that I was not countering alone, for many parents, this shift to work from home #WFH is an uncharted territory, and the circumstances are incredibly challenging, depressing and frustrating. This is how I countered my challenges, head on.
One of the basic challenges was finding the correct setting, when I read up on it, most articles suggested having a dedicated space. However, I believe in the case of majority of local parents this was not an easy possibility. I had a limited choice of bedroom, dining table, a work table which was filled with 4 year old’s left off toy artifacts.
Even if iI sorted the setting, I was at a constant risk of my daughter running into room hooting her favorite song, all the while I am in an important conference call! With my options limited, I got creative with my office space. I worked from any space with a door that can be closed. Creating physical boundaries can help reinforce the message that you need to be working. Anyplace in the house with internet access can act as an office during an emergency, especially for when you have to ensure calls are uninterrupted.
Secondly it was of utmost importance that I managed my employer’s expectations.
This is something that many working parents need to work on with their employers. There needs to be upfront communications with the employer that your child/children are at home and there is a possibility of certain interruptions. While we are all trying to give our best for our work, children are still children. Covid19 or not, they need parent’s attention at some point, which is why we need to have an honest conversation with our employers at certain points on our deliverables. Not only the employer but this is an event where we can have honest communication with our children as well. It is essential that we emphasis to them that while it may seem like a regular weekend or a vacation day because you are all at home, these are highly unusual circumstances. Speaking directly with my daughter worked for me, she is now turning into ‘mommy’s little helper’.
Take breaks. It is important we take breaks, It is difficult to maintain strict working hours while working at home in the current situation. Moreover, it would be a good time to give some attention to your kid, and have some play time with them. I started to take breaks every 2 hours to be with my daughter, it helped me to keep myself recharged and keep my productivity levels high. After all, working from home means flexible working. This also means you may need to continue working after your children have gone to bed or waking up earlier in the morning to get more uninterrupted hours in.
Splitting the responsibility. While I am a working mom, my husband is a working dad, so it was essential that we split the time we cared of our child and concentrated on our work. We worked around our schedules and projects and decided that while one person watches the kid in the while the other works, and vice versa. This can better guarantee at least some hours where your focus is purely on work. This has worked wonders not only on the work productivity but also on personal sanity.
Finally, working from home as a parent is not an easy ride, but we are at a situation which does not allow us with many options, it is different to a regular flex working or working from home, were you might still be working at a coffee shop etc. You are locked in, with your child. But, it is paramount that we work around our issues. At the least, due to present work from home, I don’t have to spend every passing hour wondering of my child’s care while being miles away from her. All hard times pass, this also will. We will all return to our in offices, hopefully better than we ever were.
