How to manage work and the kids over the summer holidays - Roxy Holcombe

With the summer holidays fast approaching - and already here for some of us - are you worried about how you're going to manage work and the kids?

Whilst 2 years ago many of us were forced to balance it all around our children, we didn't have the challenge of everything being open, as it now is.

Here are my 5 top tips to help you manage your time over the holidays.

Time blocking

It is totally ok to stick your kids in front of a movie whilst you get some work done. Explain to them, "whilst the movie is on, Mummy will be working and, when it's finished we will do a nice activity together."

Enlist your children to help with tasks around the house

This will help to take that pressure off you - from unloading the dishwasher to cleaning their own rooms, there is something for everyone, so give your kids some responsibility.

Share the load with a friend

Offer to have a child swap with a friend. Have theirs' for a full day, then they do the same for you. This can be a God send and allows the kids to keep their social lives on the go too.

Be prepared

Prepare snacks, lunches and dinners in advance and have them stocked in the fridge. Batch cooking can be useful too, so you can have meals for the whole summer holidays sorted. Pick a couple of evenings or use the weekend to make up meals and then freeze them. You then just need meal plan your weeks and remember to pull something out of the freezer to defrost.

Limit your social media time

Especially when your children are awake. Once they're asleep, you can scroll as much as you want 😉 but with you already balancing work, cleaning and cooking around them, it's important to put your phone away when spending time with them.

Bonus tip - try and schedule in some nice days out - even if it's the beach or the park with a picnic and create a visual so that your children know when those days are coming.

Roxy Holcombe is a small business virtual assistant, based in Cranleigh, Surrey. She can help you with customer management, analytics, inbox management and any day to day tasks that help you to focus on aspects of your business that need you.

You can get in touch with Roxy via` Instagram