How do I stay productive as a stay-at-home dad?
Many fathers in Malaysia face a unique challenge: staying productive while working from home as stay-at-home dads.
It can be a daunting prospect for those new to the role, or who have never had to balance parenting and professional responsibilities before.
Working from home offers the benefit of allowing more flexibility when it comes to taking care of my children, such as being able to work from home while still having time to spend with their families.
Fortunately, several strategies I use might help first-time fathers learn to manage their time effectively and remain productive.
In today’s Daddy Talks column, I will share these strategies that increase my productivity as a full-time, stay-at-home dad.
Understand Your Priorities
The first step is to create a priority list and understand the priorities. I know that most guides would recommend you start a to-do list but try this instead.
What Is a Priority List
A priority list is a way to organise your tasks and make sure you tackle the most important ones first.
This can help me stay on top of my tasks and avoid feeling overwhelmed by everything I need to do.
Here’s how it is done:
- Grab a piece of paper and a pen/pencil
- Divide the paper into three parts and assign each part to complexity levels—easy, medium, and hard
- Easy: Things that you can complete under 30 minutes or less
- Medium: Things that you can complete under an hour or less
- Hard: Things that you can complete within two hours or more
Items in the ‘easy’ column needed to be completed without delay, like now.
Why?
These are petty things that you can complete without much effort and most importantly, striking it off from your pending tasks.
Items in the ‘medium’ column should be completed within a day or two.
These should only be taken care of once you have the tasks in the ‘easy’ column completed.
Lastly, the tasks in the ‘hard’ column should be completed within the week (and avoid extending the dateline).
Establish Daily Routines and Rituals
I’m a huge fan of Tony Robbins and one of the most popular quotes, “If you do what you’ve always done, you’ll get what you’ve always gotten.”
As stay-at-home dads, we all have works to be done, be it a career (if you are freelancing or working from home) or your family.
My day starts and ends easier when I establish routines and rituals.
So, what’s my routine like in a day?
Morning segment:
- Wake up at 5:00 a.m.
- A quick 5-minute prayer
- Start the day with a glass of warm water and a cup of homemade flat white
- Craft content for clients (Hey, I’m a content writer)
- Prepare breakfast for my kids and wake them up at 7:00 a.m.
- Send them to school
- Back at home by 9:00 a.m. and start working for two hours
- Prepare lunch for my family
Afternoon segment:
- Pick up the kids from school
- Get everyone cleaned up by 2:00 p.m.
- Kids go for their quick nap (daddy too!)
- Homework completion, reading and revision before 5:30 p.m.
Evening segment:
- Evening activity with the kids
- My wife takes over from 6:00 p.m. onward
- Prepare dinner and food is expected to be ready by 7:15 p.m.
Night segment:
- Night reading with kids and bedtime stories
- Kids get to bed by 9:00 p.m.
- Work for another 1.5 hours
- 30 minutes planning for the next day’s work
- 30 minutes of leisure (YouTube, movies or reading a book)
- Take the night off around midnight
Create a Designed Workspace
Being productive means having an environment and workspace that inspire creativity.
Your workspace should be designed to help you stay focused, organised, and on top of your work.
For me, it’s important to have a designated area where I can do my work without any distractions.
The best way to start is by having a work desk with all the necessities within my reach.
Your workspace doesn’t need to be perfect, but it should contain all the necessary items like a laptop, pens, papers, and even plants that can help you stay focused.
Before the end of the day, make sure you spend a few minutes cleaning up your workspace for the next day.
Set Boundaries
I want to be honest. There are times when I am required to work in the afternoon/evening, especially for time-sensitive clients’ work.
When this happens, I place a temporary workspace for my son and daughter beside me.
I find that by doing this, they understand two important things:
- We do work together, accomplishing tasks together
- We find solutions to any last-minute challenges and solve them
Of course, setting boundaries also includes saying “no” or delaying a reply politely especially if the matter is not urgent.
Work in Short Bursts
Do you want to be productive while working from home?
Here’s a nifty trick for you—work in a short burst.
Working in a short burst means doing a task for a certain amount of time and then taking a break.
For instance, I’ll set my timer or alarm to work on say, writing an article for 30 minutes. Once the timer alarms, I’ll take a 10-15 minutes break before starting another task or continuing where I had stopped.
During the 30 minutes of work, there are no Facebook notifications, WhatsApp messages, or anything that will distract me from the task at hand.
This works well for me as I’m able to focus and finish the task without getting side-tracked.
Utilise Technology
I consider myself rather geeky and technology plays a huge role in my daily routine.
Technology doesn’t entirely help me to get things done, but it helps me to stay organised and have a clear idea of what needed to be done (tasks on hand).
I have several technology stacks that help me get organised and productive.
Here are some of them:
- Cloud storage services: Google Drive
- Project management/freelancer-based CRM: Plutio
- Video conferencing: Google Meet and Zoom
- Payment platforms and recurring billing: PayPal, Payoneer and local banks
- Note-taking: Evernote
We are all familiar with the adage ‘work smarter, not harder’ and I strongly believe that integrating technology with productivity is the ultimate tool for any stay-at-home dad.
Don’t Forget to Reward Yourself
Last but not least, don’t forget to reward yourself for a job well done.
When I achieved a certain milestone on my projects or when I finished the day ahead of my schedule, I like to reward myself with some me-time.
This could be anything from watching a movie, going for a walk in nature, or taking a break to read a few chapters of my favourite book.
These rewards help me stay motivated and enjoy the process, rather than just focusing on getting things done.
As a stay-at-home dad, it’s important that I re-energise myself with these rewards so that I can focus and be productive for the next day.
Daddy’s How to Stay Productive Tips
I have huge respect for dads who stay at home and work at the same time.
They have so much to juggle and yet they still manage to find the time and energy to be productive.
What is your favourite productivity tip as a stay-at-home dad?
Leave a comment and tell me more about it!
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