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Families are Loving Remote Work

Everyone benefits from remote work. But to share your remote work life with your partner or your family is even better.

Every experienced parent will tell you, that you should enjoy the time with your kids. But who is spending enough time with the kids? What is enough time? The overlap of your life and the life of the rest of your family is simply to small in the on-site office world. And that is not only right for parents – every couple loves to have more time together.

By far most remote workers with families are working out of their home offices or a nearby co-working space. But there are also some, who are travelling the world. We will look at both in this post.

Working from Home – Benefits

The No. 1 benefit is clearly the saved commute time which you get to spend with your partner, your kids or even your hobbies. It is really priceless to join breakfast and dinner with your entire family and be able to bring your kids to bed.

The flexibility is the second big benefit. You can return to work while the kids are sleeping in the evening. You can pick them up at school or attend a school event in a work break. You are flexible to organize the childcare – i.e. you split the time, the kids are at home, between both parents.

Michael Erasmus writes in his post ‘I found my ideal lifestyle by working remotely‘ how he is using the additional time and flexibilty for his hobby surfing. He lives in Cape Town and is checking the waves in the morning and during the day. If they are good and he has no meeting, he goes surfing and returns to the desk after a while.

All the other benefits of remote work are also present. Be it taking care for a pet (Why Many Remote Workers are Happy Dog or Cat Owners) or choose a productive work environment (The Ultimate List of Remote Work Pros and Cons).

My personal favorite is the added time I have with my two 10 and 8 year old girls. Our daily routine is, that I’m taking them to their school bus stop and bring them to bed very often. Remember routines – they are essential for remote workers to be productive.

Working from Home – Risks

But there is always a downside. This is i.e. the risk of mixing up work and family time. I’m highly recommending clear boundaries in terms of space and time.

Define a corner for work, i.e. your home office and another for private internet surfing / gaming, i.e. living room or kitchen. To use even different devices is a good idea for not falling into the pit of looking at business emails in private time.

You should not be distracted by your kids in the home office. Think about the possibility to work in a café or co-working space for some hours. Normally the closed-door-policy works pretty well at home – just remember to lock the door while being interviewed by BBC…

Do not mix time for work and family. So make your schedule clear to the entire family. There is nothing worse than kids, who are expecting dad or mum at home means 100% play time and are disappointed all the time.

Please don’t think you can work and look after the kids at the same time. Use their time in kindergarden, school or bed for work. And if you need the time the kids are at home awake, hire a babysitter for some hours.

Tips from the Buffer team: ‘Working From Home with Kids: 21 Tips From Our Remote Team‘.

All in all your familiy life will thrive if one or both parents are able to work from home. Even all mums have the possibility to return to work part-time after giving birth whenever they want.

Digital nomads

Is the life as digital nomad conflicting with relationships or having a family? Despite most digital nomads are single travellers, there is a rising number of travelling couples and even families with kids. Well known examples are ‘Digital Nomad Family‘ and ‘Bucket List Family‘.

Travelling as a couple is really great, because it avoids the otherwise lurking loniness. Travelling with small kids is also nice, however special in some cases. I.e. you are looking for yourself constantly about the nearest available pediatrist.

You have to make a decision until your kids are turning into kindergarden or school age. Many parents decide to settle down then and allow the kids the routine of school, friends and building relationships, which is important for their development. Only a few decide that the travelling gives them more than that and start to ‘home’ school the small ones on the road.

What benefit is missing? What is the biggest impact of remote work to your family life? Please let us know at the comment section!

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Why Many Remote Workers are Happy Dog or Cat Owners

No matter if the remote job or the pet was first, there are lots of remote workers who are happy dog or cat owners. Some are owning both, but you know that the majority of  people are dedicated to dogs OR cats…

I am enjoying my home office together with our dog Cooper. He is a 7-year-old Labrabor-Flat-Coated-Retriever-Mix and loves not being alone complete work days. He likes to be next to me on the floor or anywhere in line-of-sight, including the sunny balcony. His jackpot is getting a massage by my feet.

His presence helps me a lot to calm down if I am bugged by customers, suppliers or even collegues. I am recognizing often at his behaviour my own mood! If it is really bad, he tries to climb on my lap and be as close to me as possible.

You have a remote job? You need a pet!
  • it forms a regular, structured routine because of defined times for food and walks every day
  • a dog walk gives you the needed wake up in the morning and exercise, fresh air, sunlight and recreation at work breaks
  • socializing with meeting neighbors and other dog owners
  • Kristi DePaul is highlighting in her article ‘Flexible Work and Furry Friends: A Match Made in Heaven?‘ that even love relationships are starting on dog walks (fully remote workers have no office as partner pool…)
  • it helps against loniness and bad mood: your animal recognizes your mood very sensitive and will come over to you if you are feeling bad
  • you can raise a puppy; but please only if you know what it is about in terms of time (including sleepless nights) and training (to not provoke bad behaviour)
  • if it is your first dog or cat, please collect proper advise before getting the pet
  • have a look at the local shelters as alternative to a baby dog or cat, even if they are cutest

You have a pet? You need a remote job!
  • it might be more ok for a cat, but a dog doesn’t like it to be alone long working days
  • with a remote job you don’t have to hurry home at noon or after work to take the dog for its walk
  • you can stay with your pet if it is ill without taking a leave
  • you can bring your dog to most coffee shops and many co-working places (i.e. A co-working space in LA and many WeWork locations)
  • WeWork has even a Pinterest channel: ‘Dogs of WeWork’
  • you can handle puppies or breeding without taking a leave
  • you are flexible for visiting the vetenarian, which is good for all animal owners
  • you are also flexible to take care of other animals, i.e. mucking out your horse stable or go riding at noon if you want
  • ask your boss to start with some home office days per month soon!
  • see all other benefits at my blog post ‘The Ultimate List of Remote Work Pros and Cons‘ and if you think your job can’t be done remotely, read ‘Is remote work just possible for software and marketing companies?‘
Conclusion

Pet owners will be very happy to work from home, so let them doing it. You won’t be disappointed. And already remote working people need a pet. So get informed and have a look at your local shelter to see what dog or pet will adopt you!

What benefit is missing? What is your favorite remote work story with your pet? Please let us know at the comment section!