Pandemic Parenting: Tips for Setting Up a Home Office
By Brian Acton
The COVID-19 pandemic upturned the lives of millions of American families. Daycares shut down, schools transitioned to remote learning, and employers let their workers telecommute by the millions. Parents found their family lives and professional lives colliding like never before.
While there are some upsides to working from home with your kids (more family time, no commute, etc.), it is a recipe for constant chaos. To help us maintain our sanity, my wife and I set up a home office - one that worked for both of us and helped us manage our two toddlers.
Here are some lessons we learned as we built a home office to work from home and wrangle our kids.
- Choosing the Right Location is Key
We didn’t have a lot of extra space to begin with, but that’s not the only reason we ended up putting our home office in the corner of our split-level living room. Since my wife and I both work during the day, having an office between the downstairs (where the kids play) and the upstairs (where they nap, get dressed, etc.) made it easier to transition between work and child duty. The room is also big enough for the kids to play nearby while one of us works if it’s necessary.
One issue was that our home can get loud from time to time, and there’s no soundproofing between our living room and the rest of the house. We address this by taking calls away from the home office or taking the kids outside or to their bedrooms when someone has a meeting.
The point is that location is important. A quiet spare room may be ideal for a home office, but not everyone has a room to spare. Ask yourself what you need from a home office in terms of work demands (frequent meetings, quiet time to work, etc.). Then ask yourself what you need in terms of caring for your kids. Pick a space that allows you to do both.
- Professional Gear is Worth the Investment
When it became clear we’d both be working from home for the foreseeable future, we decided to invest in better equipment. We upgraded our small monitor to a larger one that allowed us to multitask better. We bought a KVM switch that allowed us to share one monitor between our work laptops. And my wife bought a webcam for higher quality video calls.
Working with your kids at home is hard enough, and a setup that helps you get things done efficiently is worth the investment. Working from my laptop on my couch wasn’t viable because my toddlers constantly wanted to see the screen and bang on the keyboard. A full-size desk with a professional monitor helps me stay efficient, even when working in my sweatpants.
If you need a software program, professional desk, or other equipment to work more efficiently, you should consider getting it on your own or asking your employer for it. Your employer might help you get what you need if you’re willing to make the request.
- Parenting and Working is Tough on the Body
Picking up toddlers, getting them dressed and changed, cleaning up messes - all while trying to work - takes its physical toll. Many days we felt completely spent, down to the last muscle, by the time the kids were in bed.
We needed a home office that was comfortable and posture-friendly, so we weren’t further running ourselves down while we worked. Here are some tips for setting up a home office that promotes good posture:
- Standing desks can help you stand up straight and work, negating the negative health affects of constant sitting (full disclosure, we do not have one of these).
- Ergonomic office chairs are a good purchase because they provide lower back support and help you sit up straight. We replaced our rickety chair with no back support with a chair that helps us sit up straight and not hunch toward the monitor.
- Back support cushions are more affordable options if you don’t want to replace your existing chair. These pillows can be attached to most existing chairs to add greater lumbar support and promote better posture.
- Monitors should be set at eye level so you don’t have to slouch, lean back, or hunch over to see your screen. Bad posture can be damaging to your neck and back.
In Closing
Whether you have infants, toddlers, kids in school, or college students at home, working with kids in the house can be stressful and physically demanding. Take the time to make improvements to your home office and create a solution that works for you. Even small adjustments that make you more efficient or comfortable at home can be worth the time and/or money.
