Some people prefer to stay at home after having their baby to spend more time with their newborn. It’s not that easy, however, since you have a lot of bills to pay, so you still have to work.
You can try working at home. This way, you can manage taking care of your baby and earning money at the same time. This can prove to be a challenging endeavour, too, though. If you want to know how to balance working at home and taking good care of your little one, read on and learn.
Find your spot
The first thing that you should do is to look for a spot in your house that can work as an office. Be sure that your home’s AC condensate pump is working properly so that your HVAC won’t malfunction. This will ensure that your home office, as well as your baby’s room, won’t be too hot or too cold. In order for you to work in peace, your baby must be comfortable, as well.
Once you’ve set up shop in your house, get the best baby monitor you can buy and place it near you in your makeshift office space. But, place it behind you where you won’t be able to see it. If you place the monitor right in front of you, it’s highly likely that you’ll be checking it every 15 seconds, preventing you from focusing on your work.
Find your baby’s rhythm
Now that you have your office, it’s time to figure out your baby’s rhythm and try to work around this schedule. This means that if your newborn likes to sleep long hours in the morning, choose that time to do most of your work. If your baby likes to sleep in the afternoon, then spend the whole morning attending to him, get a few hours of rest at noon, and then start working in the afternoon.
Try to pace yourself and don’t work too long. You also need to rest now and then because taking care of a newborn is much more tedious than working in an office.
Find someone to help
You have to be practical and realistic about your situation: you can’t do everything alone. No matter how hard you try or how many self-help guides you read, the reality of your situation is that balancing work with taking care of a baby is difficult.
If you have enough money, you can choose to hire a babysitter on days you’re working on important projects. Or, you can ask your spouse to leave the office earlier than usual so that you can focus on your work while your partner takes care of the baby.
Working at home with a baby might seem an impossible task. But many mothers and fathers have been able to do that after trying several suggestions and tricks. So, if you really want to work and take care of your baby, don’t be afraid to try out different things until you’re able to make your situation much easier.