The Quirky Productivity Tip for Parents with Kids

As more and more parents work remotely, they have kids punctuating their work with family activities. All kids, after a while, begin to realize that their parents are focused on something other than them. And Kids want attention, all of it. However, it is hard for them to maintain discipline throughout the period not to disturb you.

Out of the plethora of productivity tips for parents working remotely, here is one exciting ritual that I have realized bears a meaningful parental success.

The Kid Pomodoro

Get a mechanical or any other readily available (kitchen) Timer. Give the timer to your kid(s), and set it for your desired time. Most Pomodoro techniques suggest 25-minutes; I have chosen 45-minutes for mine.

As the timer hits 45, they can now come in and play around for, say, 15-minutes. Now, you can get back to your work without guilt. You get your job done, play-time happens, and you get your needed breaks. Well, now that sets up your Pomodoro routine of work.

Defend with Soft Cushy Toy Balls

Of course, there are cases when you have to break those due to meetings, events, and other schedules. Here is how I do it; you should devise something that mimics this idea.

Keep quite a few soft cushy balls that don’t hurt kids when hit. Throw the soft balls when the kid(s) comes to your workplace unannounced or between meetings. Set the rule that they must remember to wait for their turns when you throw those balls. It is perfectly OK to use this and hit your spouse/partner.

Personally, for a very long time, I have always worked remotely, and I started by closing doors when working. Family members can enter anytime unless the door is locked, signaling to wait. I have since then stopped closing doors and have a fluid working style where anyone can come in unless I have set specific times not to disturb me. This has become rather strict and clinical, so I have settled on the latest idea of time-slots, breaks, and signals with a soft ball defense.