Tips for Working at Home With Your Spouse
The first key is to decide whether or not you need separate work spaces. Some spouses find that they have a very easy time working together in the same office while others have a more difficult time. If you are prone to talk to your spouse throughout the day, or if one of you has habits that annoy the other, then you should look for a way to provide separate office space for you.
Before you begin working at home, you need to determine, too, how you will take care of domestic responsibilities. If your children have been in daycare, for instance, you probably want to pull them out. One of the benefits of working from home is that you can spend more time with your children. On the other hand, one of you will need to make trips to the potty and to help with blocks and to get some juice. Decide if you want a morning/afternoon split, or if one of you takes certain days, or what arrangement works best.
Domestic work, too, can become overwhelming when you’re working from home. You may be tempted to toss in a load of laundry and then to vacuum up that mess in the mudroom or to take a few minutes to fix the drawer you broke. If you aren’t careful, the domestic side of your life can begin to overtake the work side, and you will not be working much at all. Again, the two of you should decide how you will handle domestic tasks now that you’re at home together everyday.
Talk about how much time you plan to spend thinking and talking about work when you’re not working. Some partners love to use each other as sounding boards, while others prefer to keep their ideas to themselves. You need to know beforehand if it’s okay to pop into your wife’s office to run your newest plot twist by her or if she’d rather you wait until dinnertime as if you both left for the office every morning.
Finally, be sure to plan time not to be thinking about work. You can allow yourself to work constantly when you work from home because there’s no dress code and the commute is so short. Avoid this temptation by setting aside certain hours when you are there for your family only. It may be a good idea to plan a weekly standing date with your partner. Even if you just go get coffee or if you sit on the porch and swing, you should do something by yourselves and not allow talk about work to interfere.
Working with your spouse can be an incredibly rewarding experience, and it is one that few couples will know. If you believe that you and your spouse can work well together, then give it a try. Feel free to test new waters. Your family life may never be the same.
