Working From Home With Your Spouse

A lot of us have been thrown into an unusual situation, working at home with your spouse (and your kids!).   With the right preparation and approach, this can actually be a time of enjoyment and family bonding (stay with me here).

Let’s take a look at some things that you can do when working from home with your spouse.

Set Ground Rules

Don’t assume that your spouse knows what you need from them and don’t assume that they know what you need from them.   Take some time and go through logistics and lay down some ground rules.   What is the protocol when they are on conference calls? What about when they are working on something?  Do they need undivided attention or are they good with the occasional check-in.   What are their work hours?  What are your work hours?   Will you try to take lunch together or stagger them?  If you have kids home, who should be watching them at what times?

The more that you can hash out upfront, the more friction and stress you can avoid in the future.

Treat your Spouse like a Coworker

During the workday, treat your spouse like a coworker. That means if they annoy you, don’t feel free to tell them about it (hopefully you don’t do that at work). Be courteous to each other. Clean up after yourselves and don’t leave dishes and messes around for your “coworkers” to pick up.  Ask if you can help them out.   See what you can do to help them when you can.

This mutual patience and respect will go far in maintaining a good working relationship.

Have Dedicated Workspaces

Try to create dedicated working spaces in your home that are separate from each other.  This space will help minimize distractions and the temptation to chat between conference calls.  If you are in tight spaces with your spouse, use a partition to help create the illusion of separate spaces.  This is especially important if your job requires a lot of focus.

Make sure that the space is equipped with everything that you need. A must-have for a work from home set up is a wireless headset for conference calls. This  will help you avoid background noise and be more clear on calls. You should also invest in a monitor and wireless mouse/keyboard if possible.

Have Alone Time

If you are like me, I am not used to spending 24 hours with my spouse.  I am a fairly independent person and need some alone time each day. This is critical for my wellbeing. That doesn’t make me a bad wife or person.  In fact, knowing exactly what I need enables me to be a better wife and person.

To help you get this time to recharge, take time to do something for yourself every day. It could be going down to the basement to binge a couple of your favorite shows, going for a long walk around your neighborhood, or just sitting out in your car blasting your radio.   Whatever provides you with the space and time that you need works.

And make sure to provide the same thing for your spouse. Encourage them to take time for themself as well.   Even if they don’t openly take you up on you offer, try to give them some space every day. Even if it’s just 30 minutes, it can work wonders for a marriage!

Embrace the Chaos

Above all else, please remember that things will not always go as planned. Embrace the chaos. This is such an unprecedented time in our lives. If your kids start screaming in the background, you are not alone. A lot of your coworkers probably enjoy the opportunity to get to see that side of your life. If your spouse walks in and loudly asks you what you want for lunch while you are giving a presentation, don’t sweat it.   Right now, it’s all bets off for what is normal and acceptable in the workplace. We are all in survival mode at work and at home!

At the end of the day, we are all in this together.   Just laugh it off as much as you can and embrace the chaos. Things will be normal again at some point.

What are you favorite working from home with your spouse tips?   What is your biggest challenge? Leave a comment below!

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