5 tips to co-work peacefully with your family members when WFH gets tense

This is easier said than done, but there are still ways to make this happen even if you don’t have your own rooms to seek refuge in.

If the entire family has to share a tight space such as a common study or living room, sit facing opposite directions to establish personal space. Sitting at opposing corners of a room can give the illusion that you have a ‘cubicle’ of your own, and there won’t be as much unwelcome intrusion.

If you don’t have enough tables for this arrangement, you can invest in a small folding table for $11.60 – a small price to pay for invaluable personal space.

This is especially useful for those who can’t multitask, or lose their train of thought when there’s incessant chit-chat going on in the background.

Set boundaries according to your needs! For example, if you have a dial-in meeting every day and need silence, set rules that no vacuuming/ screaming/ piano playing should be done during this time.

Draw out clear-cut timings for work and breaks, with accompanying rules. You can take breaks together during mealtimes (or every hour to rummage the fridge) when chatting is free-for-all, while other times should be for complete silence and focus.

This is pretty straightforward – if their foot tapping is driving you crazy, mention it gently. If you wish they’d use their earpiece instead of their speakers, bring it up nicely.

It never helps to bottle up your feelings and silently seethe as they sigh loudly to themselves for the millionth time today, only for you to finally unleash your pent-up rage in an explosive rant about how inconsiderate and insensitive they are.

Direct communication always works better than passive aggression.

For couples with kids, juggling work with childcare can lead to rising tensions. To avoid conflict, have a schedule set up. A fixed roster detailing who handles kid duty will do away with the dreaded back-and-forth arguments on whose turn it is to change the diapers.

Even if there are no young kids in the family, it helps to split the chores. For example, you can’t dump dishwashing duty on the same unfortunate soul everyday, just because s/he’s the slowest eater.

Unprecedented times call for unprecedented measures, so while a roster may not have been necessary in the past, having one now to evenly and fairly split the workload helps to avoid disagreements.

Make it a decided point to start work and end work at clear-cut timings.

When you start work, be productive together. When you get off work, gather your family members for some bonding time. It could be activities like playing mahjong, watching a movie, working out, or simple things like just cooking and having dinner together and chatting about your day.

When you spend so much time together, it’s easy to forget that you still need to put in effort to maintain the relationships.