One of the best ways I've found to tackle workdays in which my partner and I have been stuck working from home with our kids underfoot is to set up "shifts." We've tried this using man-on-man defence with our two kiddos, and that just meant no one was doing anything productive. We've tried it with both of us half-working – all of us in the same room with one hand on our laptop and the other turning pages of a board book – and that's just a straight path toward marital spats. The only way I've found this scenario to work is to look at our schedules and split the day into shifts. This might be with me working the morning and him working the afternoon. Or me working for two hours, then him working for three hours, then me working for an hour, then him working for 30 minutes . . . Again, inelegant, but it's the best way I've found to guarantee focussed work while I'm on the clock and undivided attention on my kids. Speaking of them . . .
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