How to Juggle Work Life and Home Life When You Work at Home with Family | EP 656

How to Juggle Work Life and Home Life When You Work at Home with Family

1. Separate work area 02:09
2. Dedicated working hours 03:49

Read the full episode transcript below:

00:25 David Blackmon: Hey everybody. Welcome to another episode of WP The Podcast brought to you by WP Gears. I’m David Blackmon.

00:35 Tim Strifler: And I’m Tim Strifler.

00:37 David Blackmon: Today on episode 656, we’re going to talk about how you can juggle work life and home life. When you work at home with your family, obviously Tim and I have been working from home for quite a few years, so nothing really new to us, but the world, unless you’re living under a rock, has changed drastically with COVID-19 in the last six months where pretty much everybody’s working from home or a large majority of them are now. And guess what kids aren’t in school spins working from home, wife’s working from home, or I guess I should just say spouse is working from home. Cause you never know. Um, So everybody’s in the same place. So, and I know that Tim has said that, you know, it was an adjustment for him to have Courtney at home all the time, while working he’s typically used to having, you know, his time, his space is working. She’s a nurse practitioner, you know, working at the doctor’s office or the hospital. And it was even an adjustment for Tim, you know, and it’s Tim, Courtney and Murphy soon to be. Tim junior or, you know, they’re going to have a baby really soon. We don’t know I’m calling it, Tim jr. Tim, I’m going to call it…

01:56 Tim Strifler: That’s funny. Well, even if it’s a boy, it will not be Tim jr.!

02:03 David Blackmon: Well, we’re excited for the new edition regardless, so yeah.

02:08 Tim Strifler: Yeah, definitely. Yeah, no, it, it has been adjustment. Um, My wife had a maternity leave now and stuff. And, um, and as David mentioned, being working from home for five years, I have fully adjusted to that, but I’ll also, I’ve been able to adjust, having all the space to myself. And so having, uh, my wife here and then soon to be baby here, it’ll definitely be an adjustment. Um, And so I’ve been kind of thinking through some ways, cause my office is on, we have a two story house, but my office is on the first floor and that’s where we’ve spent all of our time. That’s where the family room is. The kitchen is and everything. And so my office is like right here where everything else is. And so I’m like, should I soundproof the door? Or, you know, so I can get work done. Cause my door it’s like my wife could be watching TV in the next room. And even though my doors are shut. They’re French doors and there’s like a huge gap in between them and, uh, or not in between them, uh,  between the door and the floor and stuff. So I think I might look into some ways to soundproof, but yeah, I think really when know, talking about this episode, how to juggle work life and home life. When you work at home, I think something that’s really important is having a separate area that you work and you only do work and you don’t use it for personal space, you know, for, uh, relaxing. Um, and so when you’re in that area, you’re working, your family knows you’re working and that’s like your area. Preferably if it’s a separate room that you can shut the door, but that’s not always a lecture that everyone has, but if you can still have some area off to the side and a room, that’s not. You know, as crowded when you have your family at home, that can be hugely beneficial. 

03:49 David Blackmon: Absolutely. I think another thing that’s really, really important is have dedicated working hours, you know, letting your, your spouse, significant other kids, uh, to know that, you know, Hey, this is, this is when I work. This is when I can’t be disturbed, unless it’s an emergency, you know, everybody kind of gets used to, you know, Oh, it’s work time now for dad, you know? Um, and. He’s got to go into his office and he’s got to do his thing. Cause I’ll tell you, um, recently my 24 year old came back to live at home with me. You know, I invited him, he’s going to be working with my company is going to be learning how to do some things with online marketing and video editing. He may even be doing some. Editing for our show, who knows, you know, with things that Tim and I do in the future and stuff. But anyways, I can tell you, it was an adjustment for me. It’s my son. We bond we’re really close. We like to hang out out and do things together. Uh, but you know, when you’re used to having that space all to your self and kind of doing your own thing, which is. That’s how I was just the same as Tim, you know, I had no one here during the day time. Well, when you have someone else is an adjuster, it, it did kind of, you know, kind of set me back a little bit until I, you know, Figuring out what I needed to do. And for me, it was just setting good, healthy boundaries, you know, uh, setting up the expectations of what’s. Okay. What’s not okay. Cause like right now we’re recording a podcast episode. I’m in my office, my door is closed. That’s one of my rules, you know, Hey, if the door’s closed, that means please don’t disturb me because I’m doing something like recording. Product videos, podcast, episodes or something where I can’t really focus on a person if they come into my office, unless it’s an emergency. If my doors open, which typically I leave my door open, my office is soundproof. It is on the other side of the house. And I don’t typically have to worry about hearing the TV and stuff because it’s on the other side of the house. So they know that if my doors open. I’m accessible. It’s okay. They can come in, they can interrupt me and stuff and they can ask questions or do whatever needs to be done, but going to have to figure out what works best for you as far as like setting those boundaries, those expectations. Um, Dedicated office space, dedicated, working time and stuff. And you know, don’t be a workaholic and work all the time, you know, because guess what your family needs you to, you know, especially if the kids are home, you need to realize that their lives are disrupted. Their lives have been disrupted. They’re not in school. They’re used to hanging out with their friends and stuff, and they’ve not been able to, especially the last few months with all of the lockdown stuff. So. It’s been a huge adjustment, not only for you, but yeah. It’s also been a huge adjustment for them. So try to remember that, you know, try not to get frustrated, try to understand that their lives for the most part have been turned upside down as well, you know, and they’re there, they’re having to make adjustments too. So I think working together communication is really, really important. Um, and just, you know, good old fashion, you know..

07:10 Tim Strifler: Yeah, great advice…

07:12 David Blackmon: Golden rule, you know, treat, treat others as you’d like to be treated, you know, that, that kind of thing. So..

07:18 Tim Strifler: No, I don’t think so. I think, uh, just expect that there is a, a season of adjustment, right?  It doesn’t happen overnight. It will take time as does any major life transition. And so be flexible. So yeah!

07:34 David Blackmon: And if worst case worst, do what I did. And I’m trying to talk my 24 year old son into starting a father, son, YouTube channel with me, turn it in something fun. You know, y’all do something fun together where it’s outside of the scope of work and stuff. So, yeah. Alright. Tomorrow we’ve got another great episode. Tim until tomorrow. We’ll see you then.

07:59 Tim Strifler: Take care. Bye. Bye.