Finding time working from home
The major drawback when working from home is that people will think you’re always available.
Your parents or family will request your help that might conflict with your schedules.
Your kids will want to play with you and get your attention.
Your spouse will ask you to put the laundries or take the trash out.
All these small requests may add up to your day and eat away your time and energy.
Most of these we can’t control. It’s the curse of being always available in your loved one’s eyes. Getting irritated will only lead to more stress and later regrets.
Nonetheless, I have found effective ways to tackle and still get some results from my goals. Here are some of them:
Schedule a recurring deep work time/day and explain it to your loved ones. Get them in the habit that there’s a block of time or day that you’ll be unavailable.
If noise or interruptions is inevitable, look for some good and safe place to work like in a cafe. Sometimes, I ride and park someplace else with a good view of nature. The view also adds up to my mood and I’m more motivated to focus on my task.
Work early in the morning or late at night. As a developer, either or both will be our peak time of the day. These are the times also that we are more energetic and creative. And such, working during these invaluable hours will help you get traction in your goals.
Embrace the noise or interruption. As I said, getting irritated will only lead to more stress. Sometimes, we need to be stoics in life and learn to relax in our control. When kids want to get your attention, give it to them in full. When your spouse wants your help, give an extra hand and smile. These are small stuff, don’t sweat about them.
Reversal
The bright side, of course, is you are closer to your loved ones whenever they need you. You can have more playtime with your kids and you’ll be more influential in their growth.
Relationships with your family are long-term goals. You don’t get to have the results now. It’s a constant sharpening, molding, and learning of your dynamics with them. It’s getting in-sync forward.
Before the industrial age, people don’t go to an office to work. They take their kids to tilt the farm, hunt in the jungle or fish in the sea. They lead their family. They pass on their wisdom down.
Fast forward now, we have a huge gap in our everyday life with our loved ones.
There is no pause button when we are away. We are getting less and less synergy with them.
Our relationships are getting shallow.
This only leads to more problems down the road and it will hinder your success in life.
Life is balancing act. Don’t lean too much on one way or another.