5 ways to set yourself up for working-from-home success

Working from home can be a game-changer. It offers the chance to design your day around your family’s needs, reduce commuting stress, and reclaim time for what matters most. With intention and support, you can make it work for you.

Remember, any flexibility you have now doesn’t need to be set in stone. It’s important to keep checking in with your manager and discussing your evolving needs as a parent.

1. Design Your Working Week with Intention

Research from La Trobe University found that working from home enabled greater productivity and focus, with fewer disruptions from colleagueso set yourself up for success take the time to structure your day – and even your week – according to where you’re working, and what you want to achieve.

Think about what tasks are best for you to achieve from each location (for example, deep thinking might be better done on a working-from-home day, whereas collaboration could work better in person). Aim for maximising efficiency and balance. For example, if you know you’re going to be interrupted by an elder child returning home from school at 3.30pm, factor that in when planning your day.
Think about anything else you want to achieve in your day – are you planning on exercising, do you need to run errands, perhaps you’re meeting a colleague socially after work. Think about this when you’re structuring your week.

2. Set Boundaries and Expectations

Many parents experience disruptions from family when working from home, especially during school holidays or with young children.

It can be helpful to set up boundaries and expectations, such as:

Having a dedicated workspace and dedicated ‘office hours’
Talking with family about when you can be interrupted, and when you can’t – you might even want to think about having a visual cue to let people know when you can’t be interrupted (such as red-green traffic light sign)
Limiting household tasks – working from home doesn’t necessarily mean you have more time for home duties.

While it is worth noting that colleagues can be helpful supports and role models when working from home, it can also be helpful to set boundaries with colleagues, such as:

Indicating when you are and are not available for meetings or phone calls – for example, if you are taking your child to a doctor’s appointment during lunchtime, make sure that time is allocated as unavailable
Removing work from your personal devices – while not for everyone, this can be helpful in separating life and work when the lines are blurred. (It is, however, worth noting that some people may find more benefit in checking in – it's all about finding solutions that suit your individual preferences.)
Communicating your boundaries – be transparent about where work stops and life begins with you working from home.

Like most things, working from home arrangements shouldn’t be set and forget. Keep checking in with your manager as your needs evolve as a working parent.

3. Create a Supportive Working Environment

It’s important to think about the space you’re working from.

The research also found that a comfortable home environment was highly valued by neurodivergent parents and parents with introvert personalities.

The right space can help set you up for success. That means:

Ensuring you have access to the technology you need to do your job effectively
Making sure your work space is comfortable, uncluttered and ergonomically sound (your workplace may be able to help you with an ergonomic check)
Ensuring your space gives you adequate light and privacy as needed.

4. Lean into Flexibility

The research unsurprisingly found that parents value flexibility. While all parents seem to value this, fathers in particular called out that flexibility allowed them to be more involved in their children’s lives, improving family wellbeing and strengthening parent-child relationships.

We encourage you to leverage the strengths that flexibility allows. That could mean:

Structuring your work week to work from home on days you want to be available for pick ups or drop offs, and go into the work place.
Structuring the hours in your day to allow you to 'be there' for events you value. That could mean starting early so you can do an early-morning drop-off, working late to allow you to attend a lunchtime exercise session, or even staggering your day so that you can be present for meal times with your family.
Adjusting your work schedule as the needs of your family change.

Research suggests that working from home not only benefits the individual worker, but for coupled parents, working from home can benefit their relationship, with each person less rushed and stressed, with more time to spend together.

5. Know Your Rights and Resources

While working from home is not possible for all roles, it’s important to note that as a working parent you are entitled to request a Flexible Work Arrangement under the Fair Work Act 2009.

This means that if you work in a role where working from home is possible, and you make a reasonable request in writing to your employer, it must be considered. Make sure you include in the request:

What changes you are asking for
The reasons for the requested change.

It can also be useful to think about how your request will impact your workplace, and any solutions you can offer to help ease any negative impacts.

For those who can’t work from home, you might be able to explore other flexible working arrangements, such as flexible hours, part-time work or job-sharing.

You can read more about your legal entitlements here.

Remember, working from home can work for you when set yourself up with intention, boundaries, and supportontinual check-ins with your manager can also help you stay connected, revisit your plans as needed and work through any barriers.

You’ve got this, and the Parent Well is here to help every step of the way.

_{This resource was developed in consultation with Research Fellow Dr Stacey Hokke, La Trobe University}