This morning (27 March 2020), South Africa woke up to its first morning of a 21-day lockdown, called by government as a measure to curb the spread of the coronavirus. Aside from the critical workforce rendering emergency services, for most this means working from home – with the entire family present.

However, we are not the first to got through this, and we are not alone. India, China, France, Italy, New Zealand, Poland, and the UK have implemented the world's largest and most restrictive mass quarantines. The Guardian even estimates that 20% of the world's population is under some form of lockdown.  

Here are some tips to help you cope with working from home during this time.

According to Eve Digital, you need a plan that includes all your family members. “Apart from the advantages like flexible working hours, working from home comes with its fair share of disadvantages including drifting among family members as some might feel ignored.”

1. Have a dedicated workspace

The biggest challenge with working from home is all the distractions. To be able to handle this, you will need to have a dedicated workspace. It doesn’t have to be a fully equipped home office, you might just need to get a small desk or table and a comfortable chair and set them in a room where you can close the door. If you can’t have a room to yourself, consider investing in some noise-cancelling headphones.

2. Prioritize your schedule

Working from home gives you control over your schedule. However, you should know that it is pretty easy to run out of time and/or energy for work when you don’t have a proper work structure in place. You have to set time limits and goals and ensure you complete your tasks within the timeframes you stipulated.  While at it, remember to schedule time to stop working! Also, let the kids know what to expect from you as you work from home.

3. Set boundaries

You have to establish boundaries with those you will be home with as you work. Be it your partner or the kids, you need to tell them what’s up and let them understand that working from home actually means “working.” Explain to them that once you are done with work you will be able to check on them and hang out.

4. Have a plan B

Kids are likely to get bored fast. You need to have a back-up activity for the kids and ensure that they are occupied.

Kids also get hungry quite fast and on the off chance that you run out of supplies, you need to have a plan on how you intend to restock considering all the factors that might be surrounding your stay at home such as curfews. Don’t wait until your stock is completely out, you can start making plans for restocking as soon as your stock gets halfway.

5. Take breaks

Rather than sitting down for four hours working on a task, you can consider breaking up your day a bit more. For instance, you can work for 45 minutes then take a 15-minute break to spend time with the kids, check on them and attend to whatever needs they might be having.

Stewart Friedman and Alyssa Westring, the authors of Parents Who Lead: The Leadership Approach You Need to Parent with Purpose, Fuel Your Career, and Create a Richer Life, also have tips on how to find perspective and a sense of balance as you work and parent within the confines of coronavirus self-isolation.

1. Talk about values

These unprecedented times provide an opportunity to strengthen and express our values as individuals and as families. At both work and at home, we can engage in deeper conversation about what matters most to us. At work, this may mean speaking up to connect your organization’s values to decisions about social distancing or homeworking practices. You may use this as an opportunity to be more emotionally honest – to talk about an immune-compromised member of your family, or the shifting childcare demands you are facing.

By thinking and talking about these in terms of values (rather than just how the organization needs to accommodate you), you are growing as a leader. In the same way, you can lead your family in conversations about values, as well. You can invite your children to help you identify those values that are important to your family and how this provides you with an opportunity to express them. For example, if your family values helping those in need, talk about how maintaining a physical distance from people allows you to live that.

And this is an opportunity to show your children how values translate into actions. They may have some good ideas, too.

2. Get on the same page

We are all making decisions incredibly quickly in order to adjust to this new reality. To do so, we rely on our assumptions about what others want and need from us. And we probably haven’t fully communicated what we want and need from them. Given that we’ve never found ourselves in this situation before, it’s quite possible that many of these assumptions are misguided. Even in the best of times, the parents we work with often come to realize that their bosses, colleagues, friends and family often want very different things from them than what they thought.

So now is the time for clarification. For example, you might say to your manager, “Here is what I think you expect of me over the next two weeks. Do I have it right? What am I missing?” Then flip the script. Explain what you really need from them and answer their questions. The same goes for your parenting partner – don’t just operate based on old habits for who does what, when and where. Question your assumptions to get on the same page.

3. Let go of perfectionism

If you are like many of the parents we work with, you probably hold yourself to high standards of performance at work and in the home. Consider this an opportunity to practise loosening your grip on these expectations. Maybe your children get a little more screen time than usual. Maybe your house is a mess behind you on camera during a video call. Maybe you rethink your expectations of the people who report to you. Look at this as a chance to re-evaluate what really matters and to let go of over-performing in less important areas. And perhaps this prioritization will be a stick you can bring with you once things return to normal.

4. Stay connected

Social distancing does not require us to fully abandon our sense of community and support. For working parents who are fortunate enough to be able to work from home or can financially afford to take time from work, we have an opportunity to help those who may not have such opportunities (such as picking up groceries for an elderly neighbour).

Moreover, finding ways to maintain and strengthen our community bonds is a tool for feeling less isolated. So consider ways that it’s still possible to feel connected. For example, many religious organizations are offering streaming opportunities for community prayer. Set up a secure video-gaming community where your child can play with their friends without worrying about interacting with strangers. Connect with friends and stay active by setting a time when you all do the same workout or yoga video and then texting about it afterwards (bonus points for including the kids in the yoga too). Just because you’re physically apart, doesn’t mean that you have to be emotionally disconnected.

5. Innovate and iterate

Of course, these are challenging times. But they also provide an opportunity to be creative about how we meet the varied demands from the different parts of our lives. Our old habits and routines may not work in this situation. So, try something different. Explore shifting when, where and how you work – even within the confines of your own home. Invite your children to come up with creative solutions for keeping themselves occupied.

The key here is not only being willing to try new things, but being willing to iterate when they don’t work as well as you expected. Let go of the idea of finding the “right” solution for managing this crisis. Expect that you’ll need to be required to innovate, test and iterate over and over throughout the next few weeks.

Research has shown that working parents benefit greatly from thinking and acting like leaders. COVID-19 presents the leadership challenge of our lives as parents. How we respond will have a powerful impact on our children and our communities.

Sources: Eve Digital & World Economic Forum

If you are unsure of anything, phone the Coronavirus Hotline Number: 0800 029 999, or send ‘Hi’ to 0600 123 456 on WhatsApp. Visit OFM’s COVID-19 fact page for the latest news.