I became a first-time parent during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. I had my daughter in the summer of 2020, when lockdown was in full force, no visitors were allowed, and there was still a lot of uncertainty about whether or not my own husband would be allowed to attend the birth of his child.

While this was a particularly challenging time for us as a family, the pandemic did allow for some pretty serious career shifts for both me and my husband.

On my way to a very important ultrasound in April 2020, where my husband had to wait in the car for 30 minutes alone. Fun!

I had already been working from home for four years, but now my husband was too. And after we had our child, we continued to both work from home - permanently.

We were now both work from home parents, and realized so were a lot of other people too. When I reflect on the last two years, I think a lot about what it was like working from home with a baby and now a toddler. I want to share some things that I’ve learned with you:

1. Routine is essential - even if you think it’s not
2. It’s very easy to get burnt out
3. The importance of your own separate working space
4. Balancing workplace flexibility with always being “on” as a parent
5. The old cliché about having a village is very true
6. Meal prep - just do it
7. It’s good to shake up your work environment every once in a while

Continue reading below to hear about all these points above.

1. Routine Is Essential (Even If You Think It’s Not)

If you have a kid (or kids) you’ve probably heard that routine is important. You’ve probably heard it at least 1,000 times now. But routine isn’t just important for your kid(s). It’s important for YOU too.

My job is super duper flexible. I can pretty much work whenever I want. I very rarely have meetings I need to attend. At the end of the week, as long as my work is done, that’s all that matters. I knew I couldn’t really handle a traditional 9-5, so my permanent job + freelance work allows me awesome flexibility.

However…what I didn’t expect is that I would not be able to handle “working whenever” when I also had to manage a tiny little person’s demands and schedule.

When I first returned to work after mat leave, I tried the ‘work whenever’ approach that I had taken before having kids. And I found out real fast that this was no longer good for me, my work, or my mental health.

Since I was working part-time, I put together a 3-day work schedule. I made sure I worked on those days, and during approximately the same time each day. This was good for me, and it was good for my daughter too. She quickly got used to my schedule and knew when to expect her grandparents over for babysitting.

2. It is Very Easy To Get Burnt Out

Another thing I didn’t really expect was how freaking fast I felt burnt out while working from home and being the primary caregiver of our child. When I went back to work, my daughter was still a baby.

I was still nursing her before her nap. I was still putting her down to sleep. While my parents watched her while I worked, I was still very involved in her day-to-day routine.

This quickly became exhausting. I felt like I was being pulled in two directions. Even when she didn’t directly need me, I could hear her crying from my home office if she bumped her head or tumbled over.

It felt like a lose-lose situation for me: either I stop my work abruptly to comfort her, or I keep working but feel crappy and distracted.

Finding childcare is one of the best ways to avoid burnout

If you can, I definitely recommend getting your kid out of the house while you work, at least some of the time. For us, it wasn’t really an option at the time.

But now that my parents live close to us, they babysit my daughter at their house some days during the week, and that makes a huge difference. I feel a lot less burnt out from the constant pulling between work and parenting.

It’s a good idea to keep track of how you feel day-to-day. Take breaks when you can. Taking care of your needs is so important for the work-from-home parent so that you can give your best to your work and also be totally present with your child.

3. The Importance Of Your Own Separate Working Space

I’ve been 100% working from home since 2016 - back then, it wasn’t so common to find remote jobs. My husband was out of the house most days, so I just worked wherever.

My desk was actually in the living room - it had the biggest window in the house and I liked working there. Since I was mostly home alone, it didn’t matter!

But then 2020 rolled around and not only were we expecting a child, but my husband also started a new remote job too. So now we were constantly in each other’s space.

Investing in your own separate office space is extra important when you’re a work from home parent

I knew I would have to move my “office” somewhere else, there was no way I could work in the living room with a baby rolling around and my husband in and out of the room all day.

At first, my husband and I thought about working in the basement office together. After all, it was the biggest office space we had, and we could easily fit two desks down there. But we soon realized that sharing an office space and essentially being together 24/7 forever was not ideal.

We actually moved recently into a house that better facilitates two work-from-home parents, and I could not be happier. I have my own little office nook in the corner of our bedroom, and my husband turned the spare bedroom into his office.

My “office nook” is also located far away from the main floor, so my daughter and parents can play down there and eat lunch and do whatever they want to do without me constantly hearing what’s going on.

4. Balancing Workplace Flexibility With Always Being “On” As a Parent

I know that some work-from-home jobs aren’t very flexible, but if you are attempting to work from home and parent somewhat simultaneously, I’m guessing you have at least some flexibility.

This level of flexibility can be challenging. I want to be flexible for my child because I can. But on the other hand, I don’t want to push all my work to the end of the day when I’m exhausted and more likely to make mistakes (or even worse, procrastinate and push it all off until the end of the week!)

I think there is a really good balance to be had here, something that can be really wonderful if done right.

For example, we have a family membership to the zoo. One week in the early summer, the weather was PERFECT. It was a weekday and it was that fresh, cool completely not humid weather that only seems to happen a handful of times during our Ontario summers.

Try to find your perfect balance between workday boundaries and flexibility

So my husband and I, who both are pretty flexible, decided to just work on Saturday instead. Now, I totally get that this is a really privileged position to be in, and not everyone can just drop their work for the day and take a trip to the zoo.

This isn’t something we can do all the time, but it just lined up that particular week where everything aligned and it worked out. So, since we have that flexibility, we took it.

Even if you can’t do a big day trip like this, there may be a chance where you can work an evening instead and take your kid to the park for an hour or two. Or start work a little later and visit the library right when it opens.

Now, on the other side of things, my husband and I have both swung a little too far and started feeling the stress of always being “on” - whenever our kid wanted or needed something, we felt like we had to push aside work to do it. But, that’s also not a great way of thinking and is definitely going to contribute to that burnout I mentioned above.

Trying to find a balance between being flexible for your child and also holding boundaries with your work is challenging when you work at home, but very much worth it.

5. Listen To The Cliché And Find a Village ASAP

Working from home with a child, especially a young child, can be exhausting if you don’t have help. I have tried to work during the day without any help and it’s basically impossible with a busy toddler who needs something every 5 seconds!

I don’t blame her at all, that’s totally normal two-year-old behaviour - and I don’t think it would be right of me to expect her to just sit and play quietly for hours while I work.

Find a “village” - others you and your kid(s) are comfortable around

Whether you put your child in daycare full time, hire a nanny, or choose to have someone in your family babysit…try to figure it out ASAP! I think on the days I’ve tried to work and watch my kid, I got maybe an hour or two of work done over the course of the whole day (and yeah, that’s including her nap time!)

Working from home can also be lonely, especially if you were used to working in an office and recently became remote.

Finding a ‘village’ of other parents in your area can be really amazing not only for your own mental health but also to use as resources if you ever need extra help or simply want to set up an afternoon play date.

6. Meal Prep (Seriously, it’s a Game Changer)

Okay, I’m not going to lie, I’m still not amazing at meal prepping. I am super organized when it comes to all things work, but not as great when it comes to home stuff.

However, when I do meal prep, it is really a game changer for the week. You know how some people have super picky toddlers (that was me) well, I guess my daughter takes after my husband because she just eats and eats and eats all day!

Meal prepping can take away some extra stresses during the work week

It was getting to be super exhausting constantly trying to prep and plan healthy snacks and meals all day long in between my work hours, especially when she often seems to be able to eat more than me!

I don’t go “all out” with meal planning. But I do work on planning healthy meals out on the weekend, buying all the ingredients, and then making enough so that we have leftovers for at least 2-3 meals afterwards.

I’ve also started making and freezing homemade snacks like fruit muffins and veggie pancakes. They freeze really easily and thaw quickly, so they’re great when our snacks for the week are running low before grocery shop day.

7. Shake Up Your Work Environment Every So Often

Most of my work simply involves writing and editing…so as long as I have a computer, I can do that anywhere. I’m a pretty introverted person, so I actually enjoy working from home most days.

Still, after six years of 100% remote work, it does feel a bit monotonous staring at the same walls all day. A few times over the last month or so I’ve just grabbed my computer and worked at Starbucks for a few hours. It’s nice to get out of the house and guarantees that no one will need me (that I know of at least) until I get back home.

Working from home can take its toll, and that can be even more obvious when you are a work-from-home parent. It shouldn’t feel like a drag to be in your own house, and getting some space every once in a while (or even on a schedule if you can) may be a good way to help prevent burnout and stay inspired.

Hey, I’m Lauren, a Work From Home Parent and Freelancer.

If you own a small business and are looking for these types of services, I would also love to connect with you! Get in touch and we can find out if I would be good fit for your business.

7 Things I’ve Learned As a Work From Home Parent