How To Master Working From Home With Kids Around

With the restrictions of the coronavirus pandemic and our compliance to social distancing guidelines, many of us have transformed our homes into offices. Your home is an oasis, except when you are forced to mix your personal life with your professional life. Schools may have opened last June, but some rotate between online and on-campus lessons. It is a gradual transition that comes with the new normal.

The “no kids allowed in the office” rule no longer applies to us. Employees and business owners are now juggling their household duties with their workplace tasks. Some find it a struggle to create a peaceful environment free from the distractions created by their children, pets, or younger siblings. Just take a look at the video below!

TALK TO YOUR CHILDREN

It is important to talk to your children about what is happening around them. Ensure that you are explaining the situation at an age-appropriate level. Some children may understand the safety restrictions, while others may see the pandemic as an unreasonable limitation.

Explain to them that we are looking out for each other during this pandemic. Part of how we help each other right now is by staying at home. Sometimes, a change in perception is all that we need.

ESTABLISH A SCHEDULE

One of the benefits of working at home is flexibility. Write down your priorities for the day and set them within your working hours. If you’re married, you may explore alternating schedules in coordination with your partner and your children. This will help you manage your household chores and office tasks accordingly.

Have an agreed schedule with your employer to ensure that you are filling in the required number of hours per day. Given that most of us work from home, some employers may understand the need for non-traditional schedules.

FOCUS ON YOUR PRIORITIES

Prioritize your work by accomplishing important tasks first. There will be interruptions along the way and it will take longer than usual. This is why you accomplish urgent tasks in the morning and save the minor tasks later in the day.

Avoid unexpected yells and loud noises in the background by hitting the mute button during conference calls. Toddlers will not understand that they cannot always have your undivided attention. If your toddler seeks your attention during a business call, you may ask to reschedule if you can. Minor tasks such as replying to client comments on social media may be done while your children are sleeping.

CREATE SNACK AND PLAY STATION

Find a spacious corner in your home and assign that as the “snack and play station”. Prepare a bunch of snacks and drinks for your children and instruct them on how much they can consume per day. Aside from this, you may let your child’s creativity run wild through free-play. Provide books, art materials, and other learning materials such as puzzles and blocks within this station.

Tackle your workload while your kids are having fun and playing safely on the corner.

PLAN FOR INTERRUPTIONS

Think of alternative strategies to minimize the disruptions from your family members. Firstly, you can take advantage of naptime. Do bulk of your heavy tasks during this time. Whether your child sleeps for one to three hours, use this time to complete tasks that seek your focus and concentration.

You may also setup a virtual meeting between your children and your relatives while you work. Ask a friend or a family member for a favor to teach your children a new skill while they are chatting online. Connecting your children to their friends and their grandparents through Skype, Zoom, or Facetime can be helpful to their well being too.

SET REALISTIC EXPECTATIONS

Let us face it! There are no professional advantages to pretending things are the way they used to be. Reduce your anxiety and manage everyone’s expectations by being honest with your coworkers. Tell them what is going on in your home office.

Image Credits: unsplash.com

Similarly, you must be honest with yourself when it comes to your abilities in handling your children. You cannot turn into a good teacher overnight. Be patient with yourself and your children throughout the process.

Sources: 1, 2, & 3

 

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Looking for a job? Haidilao S’pore is still hiring, pays up to $5,000 for Junior Sale Executive

Haidilao is hiring

Even though, the COVID-19 situation has caused companies to cut jobs and freezes hiring, there is still a wide variety of companies that are hiring.

One such example is popular restaurant chain Haidilao.

Haidilao Singapore has posted several job offers on their Facebook’s page and several online career portals. As for today, they are looking currently to hire service crew, receptionist, food runner, dishwasher, electrician/maintenance staff, midnight crew/cleaner, management trainee on both a full time and part time basis.

The working locations are where their restaurants are located at: Clarke Quay, Somerset 313, Jurong East IMM, Bedok Mall, Novena Royal Square, Plaza Singapura, Seletar Mall, Sembawang Sun Plaza, Paya Lebar Quarter, Tampines Century Square.

The remuneration package is stated as S$2,350 – S$2,750 a month. Interested job seekers can call them at +65 67334985 or WhatsApp them at +65 90679607.

If you prefer back end jobs, they do have several entry level job offers that you can consider.

They have listed the following vacancies on Joblum:

Haidilao has also posted several job offers on career portal MNC Jobs:

To apply for the jobs, simply click through and follow the instructions.

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Need Help Looking for a Job? Get Your Job Search & Career Related Questions Answered for Free!

Looking for a job after graduation?

Feeling like you’re fighting a losing battle against this bad job market?

DON’T!

The job market is a very different one now from when it was pre-COVID…

So maybe what you need is actionable advice and someone to answer your job search and career-related questions.

If that sounds like a good idea, then this latest SeedlyTV episode will help you better prepare yourself as a job seeker and increase your chance of securing a job.

Just tune in on Tuesday, 30 June 2020, at 8pm to find out more about:

  • What do job seekers need to know about the current job market?
  • Why is it dangerous if job seekers stay unemployed for too long?
  • What can we do to leave an impression during an interview since virtual job interviews are becoming more common?
  • Will a low starting salary affect your career, especially for fresh grads embarking on their first job?

And many many more.

If you’ve got questions of your own, you can also start ask your questions now and tune in later to have them answered LIVE!

Not sure why you should watch this episode of SeedlyTV?

Well, here’s why.

The Seedly team has brought on thought leaders and career professionals who can resonate with your job-search problems and offer real career advice and help.

Here’s a snapshot of who they are.

The Thought Collective

The Thought Collective is a group of social enterprises which aim to create a new generation of socially-minded Singaporeans.

For this SeedlyTV episode, you’ll get to interact with Tong Yee (Co-founder, The Thought Collective) who is a sought after public speaker, trainer, and thought leader who shares his insights with various national level committees.

He will be speaking about what fresh graduates need to know about the current job market, how it is changing, and what to watch out for.

If you’re looking to score a job, he’ll also be sharing about how you can stand out amongst the numerous candidates.

And give valuable tips like how to leave an impression during a virtual job interview.

Glints

Glints is a career discovery and development platform which has helped over a million young professionals discover their dream careers.

Goh Duo Geng (Special Projects Lead, Glints) will be sharing the macro trends in the APAC and Singapore job market and how does that apply to you in your job search.

(Hint hint: you might have a better shot if you know which industries or businesses are actively looking to hire)

And if you’re a fresh graduate or a mid-career job seeker looking for a job or a job switch right now.

He’ll share more about what you can do to improve your chances during your job search.

Jeraldine Phneah (Seedly Community Member)

Jeraldine is a Seedly Community member who contributes actively on the Seedly platform.

She has voiced her opinions on topics like how to build rewarding careers and how to navigate difficult times like this COVID-19 pandemic.

On her personal blog, she has shared job search tips like what are the best job portals in Singapore for millennials and how to optimise your LinkedIn profile.

Discussed sensitive topics like whether it is disadvantageous to graduate from a private university in Singapore.

And how effective is MyCareersFuture — a government initiative to help Singaporeans find jobs smarter — as a job search portal.

Look out for her during the SeedlyTV episode as she’ll be sharing her personal experiences and lessons!

Special Bonus: Receive a Super Exclusive Seedly Career Assistance Package

To give you as much help as you can get.

The Seedly team also wants to send YOU a super-exclusive Seedly Career Assistance Package!

All you have to do is sign up for a FREE Seedly account and look out for it in your email.

Source: SpongeBob SquarePants | Giphy

Whether you’re a fresh grad, a mid-career jobseeker, or would like to explore your options in the job market (read: because your job sucks).

The package includes the best career and job search-related content and resources from local personal finance sites and platforms like SG Budget Babe and The Woke Salaryman!

To help you with your job search and to get your career on track!

Sounds good?

Source: SpongeBob SquarePants | Giphy

Just remember to sign up for a FREE Seedly account.

And the Seedly team will send it to you!

If you already have a Seedly account, just make sure you sign in to your Seedly account between 30 June 2020 to 12 July 2020!

You can ask or answer questions or leave a review.

Or catch the SeedlyTV episode later if you missed the live screening.

Just be active on the Seedly platform and they’ll send the package your way!

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Why Working From Home Mashes Dark And Light Sides

Ever wondered what it was like to work from home (WFH)? Wish granted! In line with the social distancing measures posed by the Government, most of the Singaporeans are now working from home. It allows you to earn Singaporean dollars despite being in your pajamas. However, what most people do not know is that this perk come with a price.

Your ability to glide through the setbacks of the home office depends on your personality. For instance, people who are disciplined or conscientious can easily work through the domestic tides. While, people who are procrastinators or crammers may have a hard time fighting the distractions at home. On that note, here are the light and dark sides of WFH.

LIGHT SIDE

It goes without saying that WFH enables you to become your own boss. Without a manager in sight, your deeply rooted passion will motivate you to be creative and productive. You make your own schedule and rules. To illustrate this, a 2014 Stanford University study allowed call-center employees to WFH.

Graduate student James Liang and his Economics professor allowed Ctrip’s employees the opportunity to work from home in a period of 9 months. Ctrip is a travel website owned by Liang himself. The study found that the remote employees had higher productivity levels (13.5%) and lower chances of quitting (50%) compared to their counterparts. Moreover, these remote employees reported that they are happier with their job. Imagine the output that satisfied employees produce!

According to Liang and his professor, the positive results may be attributed to the quieter space that the employees created for themselves. You are free to paint the walls blue or to have classical music on the background as you freshen up your own working environment.

Apart from that, setting your own work hours enables you to do more of the things you want such as baking or teaching your children how to read. You may also initiate a video conference with your workmates whom you miss.

DARK SIDE

As with everything, there are two sides of a coin. A pervasive drawback of WFH is the vulnerability to distractions such as noisy family members, accessible electronic devices, and abundant chores. Chores do not seem to end for some reason!

There is a considerable lack of separation between work and home during the initial stages of having a home office. Based on personal experience, there were days when I worked beyond my designated hours. The absence of a management enforcing strict working time may add to the pressure of grinding endlessly. Case and point, I work on weekends too.

Higher utility costs is inevitable if you barely leave your house. Lastly, you may experience negative states as you were plucked from the “interpersonal office environment”. I am referring to feelings of isolation, depression, and loneliness. This can be prevented if you stay in touch with your co-workers.

Image Credits: unsplash.com

The current situation opens our eyes to the wonders and the unpleasantness of working from home. Comparisons aside, accepting the reality and working with your at-home environment will enable you to embrace the work-from-home structure.

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Advantages Of Having Multiple Sources Of Income

Times are tough. Amidst the chaos, who does not have an additional source of income? Side hustles are lifelines in this ever-changing economy. As my full-time position is on halt due to school closures, I exhausted all of my efforts in writing for a couple of websites.

Having multiple income streams allows you to secure your savings in the long run. If you are working full-time as a teacher and are selling cupcakes on Instagram, then you have two income streams. Say you are an investor too! That grows your income streams to three. Not to mention, you may also earn money by selling your stock photos online. That will enable you to generate income from four streams.

As you can imagine, maintaining a day job and running multiple side hustles can be quite overwhelming. Such endeavors require a considerable amount of time, effort, and commitment. However, you cannot deny the benefits of having multiple sources of income!

#1: BROADER SKILL SET

Your multiple streams of income allows you to experience different issues and solutions. It will widen your skill set. Some experiences will call for an analytical mindset, while others will require your creative juices. You have to be able to adjust to the demands of your tasks.

You can develop new skills as a result. Not only can this be extremely gratifying, but they also provide you with an extra layer of security should you apply for a promotion or leave your job.

#2: FINANCIAL SECURITY

It does not take a genius to conclude that leaving your fate in several wheels will expand your chances of winning. Industry wages simply have not caught up with inflation over the years. Even if your job provides you a six-figure paycheck monthly, that goes out the window once you hit retirement age.

Multiple streams of income creates a good safety net. You may also invest some of your extra income to a diverse portfolio.

#3: WIDER NETWORK

Having multiple businesses or positions allows you to meet different people and acquire several partnerships. In the age of social media, opportunities to collaborate with big brands or personalities are as abundant as ever.

Do not underestimate the power of a useful content. You will never know who might be reading, watching, or listening!

#4: BETTER MINDSET

There is a learning curve to all of this. Do not feel bad if you stumble during the initial phases. Your first attempt to sell your items online may not be successful, but you have learned valuable lessons along the way. Use what you learned in digital marketing and e-commerce to provide better consumer services on your second round.

Image Credits: unsplash.com

According to Meir Ezra: “Your income is proportional to your control.” The willpower to control your finances is in your hands. The future is in your hands. Start growing your income today! Chances are, you already have a few ideas tucked away anyway. So, do your research and char potential clients and suppliers. Your bank account will thank you later.

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