<\/a><\/p>\n One of the great things about the RingCentral app is that our whole team uses it every day for virtual team building activities<\/a> like video conference calls<\/a> and phone calls, and sending each other messages.<\/p>\n We also have lots of group conversations, some categorized by departments and specific projects of course, and some categorized by more fun things (like sports!) and hobbies.<\/p>\n So, to gather WFH + parenting tips from the (many) parents on the RingCentral team, why not turn to our RC Parents group?<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Jennie (my wife) and I sync our calendars ahead of time (Sundays or the day prior) so one of us can cover in case Kinsey, our baby, wakes up or gets hungry.” – Brian Nguyen, Sr. Digital Marketing Manager<\/i><\/p>\n <\/p>\n<\/div>\n “I came from a very intense environment. My husband and I wake up between 3am and 4am to do uninterrupted work, and then review important meetings throughout the day and have a rotating schedule all day.” – Alison Cubre, Senior Employment Attorney<\/i><\/p>\n <\/p>\n<\/div>\n “I have a 4-year-old and an 18-month-old, best decision was to get a nanny honestly. We also established “shifts” with my husband, based on our work specifics. I cover first part of the day and he covers second part. We post a written schedule of the day in the kitchen and try to plan fun activities a week ahead, so we can get materials ready for arts & crafts etc.” – Olga Pakhomova, HR Business Partner<\/i><\/p>\n <\/p>\n<\/div>\n “Having a flexible approach to the daily routine! I have 4 kids: 20, 14, 9 and 6.\u00a0 I also let the kids roller skate inside :).” – Lauren Troche, Sr. Contract Manager<\/i><\/p>\n <\/p>\n<\/div>\n “Schedule very important “meetings” to spend time with your kid(s) one-on-one to ensure they don’t feel neglected throughout the day (I have a 4 year old and 2 year old). If meetings end early, I always use that time to check in with the family to make sure my husband and I balance the kids between our two schedules or make sure everyone is fed.” – Reanne Hueseman, Manager of CS – ACO<\/i><\/p>\n <\/p>\n<\/div>\n “I have a teen and will spend the lunch time with her for some quality time. \u00a0 Also, when I have (or can have) a break, I will say “Hello” to her and see how she is doing. Even if I can’t always afford a break, I will just go to her room and give her a kiss, so she knows I do care and love her…” – Eliza AuYeung, Executive Assistant<\/i><\/p>\n <\/p>\n<\/div>\n “I wish I could’ve got my kids starting at age 8. So much easier when you just have to manage… no more “Go to your room”, now it’s “Please come out of your room.” – Paul Comaroto, Senior Manager, Marketing Strategy & Operations<\/i><\/p>\n <\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cMy daughter (5) and son (2) have learned how to play well together, problem is it\u2019s always on my virtual meetings<\/a>!\u201d – Tim Wilbourn, AVP Critical Account Program<\/i><\/p>\n <\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cIn the early days, we had to split the childcare and work right down the middle, otherwise burnout is real! We did two hours with kids, two hours work and juggled it through the day like that.. didn’t stop them barging into our shed office during my work time (funnily enough Daddy never got disturbed!) but it allowed us to have some kind of work-life balance! We ended up working late in the evening too and then Netflix got the better of me so late nights were the norm!\u201d\u00a0– Siobhan Corley-Richards, Senior Web Content Strategist<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n <\/a><\/p>\n When thrown into an entirely new and unexpected situation, impulse often overpowers strategy. Many parents operate on summer-vacation mode, over-relying on their tablets to keep their kids occupied or letting routines slip up. But that quickly becomes (like many family vacations) a recipe for disaster when boredom and overwhelming emotions set in.<\/p>\n Without the usual tools and resources available to keep kids mentally stimulated and able to cope with change, parents are stretched thin. You\u2019ve got to fill in for playtime, extracurricular activities, and a social life with friends\u2014all these things add color and richness to a child\u2019s life. They are as lost without these things as you are. How can you dream of substituting all this with your overworked and frazzled self alone?<\/p>\n Here are a few tips:<\/p>\n What did your children\u2019s typical day look like before schools closed? Did they have unstructured playtime, reading hours, and soccer practice? How many times a week and for how long? Try adapting these activities to the current circumstances.<\/p>\n For instance, if your children go for soccer practice for a few hours each week, see if you can make a soccer field in your own yard and get them to sharpen their drills. If your child normally goes for piano lessons, see if their teacher will conduct lessons via video conferencing software<\/a>. (Like the RingCentral app<\/a>!) Even better, sign them up for the loads of activity and craft classes mushrooming online.<\/p>\n In an unpredictable world, schedules can offer a welcome piece of structure and predictability. Get in the habit of scheduling everything and loop your co-caretakers in. Use any calendar, or task or workflow management tool<\/a> you\u2019re comfortable with\u2014this process needn\u2019t be too high tech (it can even be a simple timetable on a whiteboard).<\/p>\n If your children are old enough to use smartphones, mark them on tasks as well. Here are a few tips to make the most out of scheduling:<\/p>\n The Rocks, Pebbles, and Sand method1<\/sup> draws upon the analogy of trying to fill up a jar with\u2014you guessed it\u2014rocks, pebbles and sand. If you want to get all three things into a jar, you place the large rocks first, and the pebbles and sand grains fall in place around them. Think of your projects and priorities in this manner.<\/p>\n In techie Kevin Yien\u2019s calendar2<\/sup>, his rocks are family time and deep work. The pebbles are things like meetings, 1:1s, and unplanned, ad-hoc meetings and chats fall into the cracks. (Here\u2019s a handy guide on how to have better meetings<\/a>.)<\/p>\n Your priorities during the pandemic might look different. The rocks might be essential domestic duties like cooking and homework help. Bear in mind that since times are different now, you won\u2019t be able to fit everything. A little compromise and putting less important things off for another time is required here.<\/p>\n Send autoresponses to meeting requests and emails (here\u2019s how to avoid email overload<\/a>) that fall into time you\u2019ve blocked out for family and household work. Use the Do Not Disturb feature on the RingCentral app<\/a> so you\u2019re not swarmed by notifications while you\u2019re trying to switch off from work.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Pick a day to sit down with your family and slot in your children\u2019s weekly activities. If you have a partner or another family member pitching in with childcare duties, decide who\u2019s supervising what in advance, so there are no surprises. Let everyone know when you have ultra-important RingCentral meetings<\/a> so that there\u2019s no unwelcome video-bombing.<\/p>\n The little things eventually add up, so slot everything in, from laundry to a quick five-minute phone call.<\/p>\n To sleep easy, block out your time in half-hour chunks. To sleep even easier, have a buffer of 10\u201315 minutes between activities to give yourself breathing room for when commitments and tasks spill over into one another.<\/p>\n It\u2019s never too early to get your children to learn their way around household chores.<\/p>\n Are your children old enough to dust and wipe down surfaces? Give them easy-to-handle tasks like putting away their own toys, walking the dogs, or simply cleaning their own plates after mealtimes. Aside from taking the load off the adults in the house, there are loads of important lessons to learn.<\/p>\n According to Jennifer Keys Adair, a professor of early childhood education at UT Austin, \u201cYoung children will learn much more about math and science by helping their families cook, measure, build, or re-organize than they will learn online.\u201d<\/p>\n If there\u2019s one life skill young children need for the future, it\u2019s the ability to cope with more \u201cunprecedented\u201d crises and \u201cnew normals.\u201d Painting and craft projects are great hobbies and creative pursuits can be extremely therapeutic. Puzzles, LEGO sets, and DIY craft projects are easy and safe for children to play with supervision-free.<\/p>\n Wouldn\u2019t it be great if you could have a video meeting with your boss with the door open, without the fear of your children tumbling in with tantrums? It\u2019s a good idea to teach your children to be able to occupy themselves and remain calm when you need them to be.<\/p>\n To build this up, follow the 15-45 rule. Here it is, explained by experts at the College of Education at the University of Texas: give your full attention to young children for 15 minutes and then give them an activity or an online lesson or video to keep them busy so that you can work or complete other responsibilities for 45 minutes.3<\/sup> Right off the bat, you\u2019ll need to do the hard work of coming to terms with the fact that you can\u2019t do it all perfectly. People have been raising children without the internet or regular modern schools and daycare for centuries. But their world of work was very different from yours.<\/p>\n It isn\u2019t easy coping with remote work (it requires a whole new skillset)<\/a> and parenting is a full-time job. You will have days that leave you drained, and you will end up making a blunder or two\u2014but don\u2019t be too hard on yourself (or your partner). Apart from that, here\u2019re a few tips to make the work-home juggle a little easier on you.<\/p>\n Remote workers frequently end up working longer hours than on-site employees. If you\u2019ve been working remotely for a while, you\u2019ve probably contended with the fears of being \u201cout of sight, out of mind\u201d for promotions and being seen as a less dedicated employee. These fears add the pressure to want to \u201ccompensate\u201d by taking on more work or being available around the clock. There\u2019s nothing wrong with that, except that you will surely burn out.<\/p>\n A more sustainable action plan would involve frank, honest discussions with your manager to review your workload, or any time commitments that are unsustainable, for instance, late-night meetings with colleagues in different time zones. Just remember, this pandemic is not a sprint; it\u2019s a marathon.<\/p>\n With children, you\u2019ll inevitably have to plan around naptimes and the availability of your partner. A 9-to-5 might not be the ideal routine for you. Instead your workday could look more like a 6-to-10 and 4-to-8. Once you know these times, safeguard them. Close your door, hang a \u201cDo Not Disturb\u201d sign (why not get your child to paint it?), or move to the basement.<\/p>\n Everyone is going through an extremely difficult time at the moment, and many of your colleagues probably can relate to your predicament. There is no shame in asking a coworker to reschedule a call so it can fall in your toddler\u2019s nap time or being frank with your boss that your baby will be contributing to the ambient noise of your morning check-in call.<\/p>\n If you are in charge of a remote team,<\/a> you might want to explore having frank conversations with your employees about managing parenting and work, and be prepared to offer more understanding and empathy during this difficult period.<\/p>\n At social media software company Buffer, it\u2019s not only tolerated, but even taken in good humor when children sometimes tumble into meetings and video calls.4<\/sup> No, these aren\u2019t remote working tools<\/a> (though those would come in handy too). Here are some basics specifically for parents.<\/p>\nWhat\u2019s worked for the RingCentral team\u2019s parents<\/b><\/h2>\n
![\"RC](\"\/us\/en\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/image2-175-1024x598.png\")
5 tips for working from home with a baby (or young child)<\/h2>\n
1. Stick to your routines<\/h3>\n
![\"Remote](\"\/us\/en\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/remote-work-playbook.png\")
<\/a><\/p>\n2. Make friends with scheduling<\/h3>\n
1. Try the Rocks, Pebbles, and Sand method<\/span><\/h4>\n
![\"Kevin](\"\/us\/en\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/image1-203-837x1024.png\")
<\/p>\n2. Discuss the week\u2019s schedule in advance<\/span><\/h4>\n
3. Make sure you leave plenty of buffer time<\/span><\/h4>\n
3. Give your children chores to do<\/h3>\n
4. Plan self-directed learning and creative projects<\/h3>\n
5. Mold your children\u2019s ability to self-entertain<\/h3>\n
\n<\/a><\/p>\nManaging your own productivity while WFH with children<\/h2>\n
1. Take a few things off your plate<\/h3>\n
2. Block out your most productive hours<\/h3>\n
3. Be open with your colleagues about your situation<\/h3>\n
\n<\/a><\/p>\nMust-have tools for WFH parents with young children<\/h2>\n
1. A calendar<\/h3>\n
![\"Using](\"\/us\/en\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/image3-148-1024x484.png\")
<\/a><\/p>\n