Since a lot of y’all have started working from home, I’ve been chatting with quite a few ladies who have been like, “how do I make this work with a spouse?!” One anonymous user said “Dani, I love my husband but I’m gonna kill him in quarantine.” Girl I have BEEN there! We have walked the road before you and can offer some words of wisdom that we’ve learned the hard way lol! Here’s what NOT to do when you’re working from home with your spouse.
1. Cut the PDA
It is one thing to have a little snuggle before you start the day, but hey this is an OFFICE now lol! Husbands (and wives who are guilty of this, too!), no PDA every 15 minutes! Keep the cuddling to OUTside work hours!
2. Stop Working at 5
It’s so important to have clear work/home boundaries, and when you’re working AT home, that gets a little tricky! At 5pm, close the laptop, say goodbye to your emails and enjoy the evening! Go on a walk together, or watch a movie, or even spend a little time apart if you need a refresh before the rest of the evening.
3. Keep it Profesh
Just don’t do things you wouldn’t do in a regular office setting – aka, no burping, or smacking your gums, or other just kind of blechy things! It’s your home, but now it has to be a work space – don’t do anything your coworker Carol might think is gross!
4. Don’t… Sneeze Too Loudly?
Jordan made me include this lol! Apparently I sneeze so loudly it’s about to burst his eardrum?! Rude. But I guess respecting your spouse’s little pet peeves is kinda important…KINDA… 😉
5. Try Having Separate Offices.
If you have the space, try to work in different rooms! I use my office, Jordan uses his, and the living room is a shared space. It helps to have a little distance, but if you don’t have the space, maybe just sit on different sides of the room? Lol!
6. Respect the Neutral Territory.
Maybeeee this should go without saying but: if you’re gonna have other people around, you gotta have pants on! LOL I know in my previous video I was saying how awesome it is to work from home because no pants, no problem! But since we have Cassidy and Becca coming over, it’s little awk when they’re wearing pantsuits and I’m walking down the stairs in my robe straight outta the shower (this may or may not occasionally happen…)
7. Don’t Cheat and Do Chores.
Look, just because working isn’t always fun, and doing chores isn’t always fun, does NOT mean you can just roll them into the same time category lol! People have asked me how we incorporate our chores into our work routine but honesty, I would advise you not to! You wouldn’t be folding laundry at work, would you? If you start doing that, you’ll end up cleaning for two hours every day and wasting a lot of work hours. Unfortunately, you gotta keep them separate.
8. Keep Your Area Tidy.
And by this, in OUR case, Jordan is saying: don’t leave your wigs everywhere because they scare people lol. Okay, okay, fair enough, I can see it! But in general too, just make sure to keep your home cleaned up. It can be pretty depressing to work in a cluttered environment so just make sure to pick up after yourself throughout the day.
9. Don’t Take Phone Calls in the Same Room.
It’s just super annoying lol! It’s like if you’re in a library and someone is yacking away on their phone and you’re just staring at them like: are you kidding me?! Rude! It’s the same way at home. Just take it to another room! This is a SHARED SPACE y’all!
10. No Baby Talk.
If you need your partner’s help with something, ask professionally, just like how you’d ask the aforementioned Carol lol! I’m not saying you have to send them an email in the same room… but don’t get all cutesy about it. No baby talk! Just ask like a grownup and treat your work seriously, and if they can’t help, don’t throw a fit!
Those are Jordani’s take on how to work from home with your spouse! If you wanna hear more details, you can watch the whole IGTV we filmed here! What are your top tips? How are you staying sane during quarantine?
XOXO Dani & Jordan