It’s Okay to WFH

It can get overwhelming working from home, as some of us are expected to behave in a split mind — I have to help around the house as though I do not have work asking of my time, and I have to work as though I am not surrounded by my family.

I have a few tips for balancing your work/family life.

1. Your dreams need to happen first thing in the morning. Want to write weekly medium articles about tech life? Want to work out and get fit? Want to get your finances in order and die of old age with a helper wiping your butt with two pieces of tissue paper? Then you need to be getting all those personal goals accomplished before the family wakes up and start their day. Work doesn’t bother you as much as your name being called from two floors above, a little voice asking for their room light to be turned off — since they left it on having woken up to use the bathroom, and now they want to go back to sleep, but their little precious legs are too tired to walk over to flip the light switch. It takes a lot of love, and work will never be so cherished.
2. Prepare as much as you can for the next day, with the family. Any chores that need to get done? If you can prepare the day before to have chores accomplished before the next work day, it will allow you to focus on work related task more so than having to help as much during the work day. For me, this is definitely laundry, and dishes every evening before bedtime. By making a few chores as a evening ritual, it allows for me to focus on my life goals in the early morning, my work during the day, and to spend time with my young family in my breaks and after work. I can be fully present for everyone.
3. Your company doesn’t actually need you, as much as you need them. You are replaceable at your company. Doesn’t matter if you are the janitor or hold a position in the “C-Suite.” What does this statement mean in terms of your dedication? It means give as much as you can for the moment you are available, but never take from those that truly need your concern. Remember work is always waiting for you, and there will always be more to do at the office, and in the end the company will never remember your efforts. Be a good employee… up to a point.
4. Your family needs you more than you need them, because you are an adult now. You are not replaceable for your family. You are it. They need your full attention all the way to the breaking point for your spirit. It is a worthy endeavor. Money is cold. They do not actually want your money. They want your time. They deserve your time. Your company will never deserve your full effort in any matter, don’t get ground up in the gears of the machine. Your partner, and children need your full effort in all matters and the world will be a better place for it.

Many engineers have been mandated back to their offices, and luckily I still have not, but if I did I would still recommend the same advice as given. You are the most important person in the world, but not to the company, so give as much as you can to those people in your life that truly matter.