What strange times we have found ourselves living in, and all in such a quick timescale.

Everyone finds the situation challenging in different ways – some find working from home difficult, isolating perhaps? Some are finding the lack of social interaction challenging and also the restriction on getting out for exercise/fresh air.

From a personal point of view, firstly I have to say I count myself extremely lucky in that a) I am currently employed with the ability to work at home; b) my husband is currently employed and most importantly; c) we are all healthy.  I am lucky enough to be able to work at home – meaning I can provide childcare for my 5 year-old while the schools are closed, while earning a living.

It is not without its challenges!

I have found working from home full-time more enjoyable than I initially expected. I find it pretty easy to structure my day and spend more time at my desk than I normally would. I don’t have a need to set an alarm for work in the morning as I have a 5 year-old who likes to get up around 6:30 am!

My personal struggle seems to be trying to entertain my son while working…the school very helpfully sent him home armed with schoolwork exercises, educational websites to visit and an example of what our daily timetable could look like. Unfortunately at his age he isn’t equipped to do a lot of his work unsupervised. He manages to do some work, watch some television and play a bit in between demands for snacks, drinks, hugs, snacks and more snacks. It’s a learning curve for both of us!  My team members have, on occasion, been entertained by his somersaults on the couch in the background of our Teams calls!

As a team, the Teams app has been invaluable for keeping in touch, considering I only started with the company less than two weeks ago, I already feel at home – Oh did I forget to mention the other added stress of starting a new job, in a completely new industry?

Do any of you have any useful tips on how we can juggle educating/parenting a child while working at home?