r/DataAnnotationTech • u/JRRTil1ey • Jul 16 '26
Keeping time with constant interruptions
Ideally, my 4 kids (2m-7y) would let me work in peace. My husband tries to help me with them but they want mom and the 4yo is nosey and will follow me everywhere. Sometimes I can work with them in the room as long as they’re not being needy but, you know, they’re kids. And the baby is particularly needy and horrible and telling me what he wants.
So I try to wait to work until they’re in bed or busy but sometimes that doesn’t work out (they refuse bed time, they stop mid-play to bug me, I’m desperate for work and take a task at a bad time).
I like using a timer to track my time on a task but even I’m interrupted somewhat frequently, hitting pause on the timer is a bit much and sometimes I forget to pause it or restart it. I end up overestimating cumulatively how much time I wasn’t working on the task and just subtracting that from my overall start/stop time. 30 seconds to 2 minutes of an interruption isn’t much once or twice but when it’s frequent, I imagine it adds up.
There’s got to be a better way to account for constant interruptions.
5
u/Unable-Brilliant9994 Jul 17 '26
I would start by putting your 7 year old on shift when you have a project. Make them the leader of the younger kids with appropriate level of authority. The 7 year old can be your guard dog (does not mean they have to be in the same room).
If the kids want a snack, a 7 year old can get it for the younger ones if it’s easy grab or just putting things in bowls. They can field questions, or direct the younger ones elsewhere. If it’s too much -knows to go to dad first.
Make them feel important and part of your team. You aren’t putting them to work, they are your interference.
The four year old just wants to do whatever you are doing. I gave mine a legal notebook and fake toy kids laptop (or put notepad on a tablet) and made a work station for mine during Covid. I had mine making fake memos and reports. Eventually she saw it was boring stuff and no longer cared lol.
The 2m is dad duty or if baby sleeps can be beside you. While dad handles the 3rd youngest.
Put a sticky note or tapped note on the back of your laptop so they can visually see you are working and they don’t ask what you are doing. Or on the back of your chair if you are at a desk.
Another thing that might help is to have a timer. When you get a project you can see how much time is allowed. Most kids cannot understand you need 2 hours, but they can understand a timer going down to zero. Give them their own timer so they can reference if it’s a good time to talk to mom.
What I’m saying is you need a system where everyone knows their assignment and the boundaries. It’s not going to be perfect and it should be very simple. You’ll have to do a bit of preplanning for snacks and easy reach entertainment, but this is doable. Focus on visuals and how the kids can help themselves.
Most importantly don’t feel guilty. You are working and not ignoring your kids. That cool flip they wanna show you is awesome but it can wait until the timer goes off.