This is probably the largest challenge for the work at home dad. Just finding the time seems like an impossible task.
So far, I’ve been pretty lucky. My youngest one still sleeps most of the day, and my oldest, although she is just starting to walk around and I have to keep a closer eye on her, manages to entertain herself a bit with some activities I set up.
First, and most important, is moving your computer, or laptop, into the room that you will be doing most of your work in. It could be your office, it could be your living room, it could be a den or any other corner of the house. It really doesn’t matter. But do it. If you have to keep moving yourself from room to room as the kids yell/cry for you. You will never get anything done.
I picked up a Toshiba laptop as a secondary work computer, and it has increased my productivity quite a bit. I am now pretty mobile. Our living room has one door, and I put up one of those safety doors to keep the kids in where I can keep an eye on them and interact with them between blog posts.
It can make you feel guilty to just start a dvd and hope your kids will stay out of your hair for a bit, but you have to figure out how to walk the balance between work life, and taking care of the kids. It’s a stay at home dads first rule of survival, lol.
I try to work in blocks. I’ll let the little one watch half an hour of tv while I plug away trying to make money online, and then spend a half an hour with her teaching her new things. In the 9 hours my wife is away, I manage to get in at least 3-4 hours of work this way. Once the baby starts walking though, I know it will be less, so I do as much as I can now.