Recently, my wife and I found out that she is pregnant. At first I was very excited, and didn’t care about anything else other than the fact that I was going to be a father. Now, I am starting to wonder how it is all going to work.
I am on my third year of working at home, and I still haven’t perfected focusing on what needs to be done, and doing a large block of work efficiently. I watch a television show here or there, play a round or two on the Xbox 360, or work my way through a novel.
I know that all of these things will go out the window once the baby is born, but what about work? My current office at home is right next to the room that will become the baby’s. Even with my wife home to take care of him or her, how will I find the focus to get everything done that needs doing?
I haven’t seen too many blog posts on how well working at home and a baby go, but from the responses I have received elsewhere, it looks like finding an office share outside of home might be a smart move. If you have experiences with this type of situation, or just have some advice, let me know in the comments below.
Jonathan Puddle
April 6th, 2008 at 9:19 am
While not having any kids yet (we’re planning on it this year, just have to figure out how?), I’ll be a similar position as you. Talking to some other friends, they move their work ours later into the night, so they can work while the baby gets the majority of it’s sleep. Naturally this will be dependent on the nature of your job.
Depending on your budget, I’m there are some practical things that could be done. Using baffling and sound absorption to reduce the noise that travels between your baby’s room and your office may sound outlandish, but it might be enough to turn an impossible situation into a workable one. Headphones also do wonders.