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When you’re a work at home mom, it can be really hard to get things done. If it isn’t the children, it could be the spouse, parents, and even friends getting in the way. Some just can’t accept that you really do work even though you’re at home.
I do think this has become a little easier over the recent years. With so many people working from home during the pandemic, I had people tell me they realized just why I complained when they’d ask for a quick favor. They hadn’t realized just how much they interrupted. But there are still some people who need to learn boundaries.
Here are three tips to make it clear you do work and stop the interruptions when you’re a work at home mom.
Set specific office hours
Make it clear that you have specific office hours as a work at home mom. You can tell people that you’re unreachable during these hours, and that you will get back to them when you’re not working. Unreachable means that you can’t answer the phone, and they can’t just walk into your office (or whatever room you use for working) to casually talk.
Some people find it easier to keep the door closed, a little like college professors, to make it clear they are not available. Others use signs, while some will turn all methods of communication off unless clients need to reach them. Do something that works for you.
Use headphones as a work at home mom
I always have headphones in if someone other than my daughters are around. I don’t use them as the only parent in the house when I need to listen out for them. I’ll also use them when everyone is out of the house. The headphones block the noise, and it made it clear to anyone around that I was busy.
I used to have my favorite music playing, which would help to keep me productive. Now I tend to put a lot of instrumental music or white noise sounds on. I need the sounds, but I don’t need the lyrics to be a distraction. There are times that I’m doing something so mundane that I’ll keep a podcast or audiobook running.
Even without someone else in the house, the headphones have become my thing to help avoid getting distracted. Having soundproofing specialists near me add noise cancelling wall panels to my office has helped me become more productive.
Don’t like listening to music while you work? Just use the headphones anyway. The symbolism of them makes it clear you’re unavailable. There are a few times that I’ve done just that and heard someone say “oh, you’ve got headphones in, I’ll come back.”
Ignore them completely
One of the best ways that I found to stop interruptions as a work at home mom was to pretend I wasn’t there. If I was in the office, people would have to figure things out themselves. So, that’s what I started doing.
My ex-husband used to be one of the worst. He’d expect me to get things done around the house when I was at home. Of course, he wouldn’t want to say it outright, but he’d make comments about how dishes could be washed while I took a break—thinking that my breaks were anything other than dog walks!
When you start ignoring people, they start to figure out that they should leave you alone. They don’t get the attention that they want, and this leads to them figuring it out for themselves. It helps with headphones here since you can drown out their voices with something else.
MORE: 3 tips to organize your home office
Are you struggling with working from home? What do you need tips on? Let me know in the comments.
