Quick Summary
Rudi Brockfeld gives his perspective on juggling work/life balance at home while raising a young child.
To paraphrase David Byrne: “and you may find yourself in a beautiful house, with a beautiful child (or children), trying to work from home, and you may ask yourself, well, how did I get here?” Anyone who has a school-age child may feel this way right about now, especially with the added restrictions on movement and activities put in place by the governor.
Even with a “normal” workday schedule at the office, our modern connectivity can make it hard to devote full attention to our little ones. Trying to work at home while parenting an out-of-school kid (or kids) can strain this relationship even further. I know this has been true in our household, between my wife and I both trying to work from home while our 6 year-old daughter Viola ("Vi") runs amok.
I have learned in this process that it is important is to set clear boundaries between work and home life. If you’re working until 4:30, then log out at 4:30. Don’t log back in until your start time in the morning.
Another thing we’ve been doing is taking a break during the day to go for a walk. But not just a walk; we stretch our minds as well as our legs by doing a scavenger hunt. Rather than making a list of things to retrieve, I create a list of things you might see on a neighborhood ramble. Some are “possibles;” like a chickadee, squirrels or cats sitting in windows. Other scavenger hunt items can be more “concrete” such as the giant (and literally concrete) beer bottle near the Schmidt Brewery.
While flexing Vi’s powers of observation and memory, I’m also flexing my own. As we gather checkmarks, I mentally plot out tomorrow’s hunt, noting (and giving subtle hints to the scavenger-huntress) potential items of note. Once the checkmarks are all filled in, Vi gets a small prize or treat of some sort, while I get back to work. An added bonus: you get social-distancing-appropriate time with your neighbors, exchanging greetings across the street.
If, after a scavenger hunt/walk, you need more leg-stretching, I suggest spontaneous dance parties. Put on your favorite dance-appropriate album (our current fav is “Remain in Light” by the Talking Heads) and cut loose till the album is done. You’ll be glad you did!
