Workin' from home tips from the Workin' Moms

Working from home looks different for everyone. For actors—in the so-called "normal times"—your schedule is already erratic and all over the place. During a global lockdown, it's all that plus the anxiety of homeschooling and staying safe.

Back in April 202020 (not a typo), Catherine Reitman shared some words of encouragement as the world shut down, recognizing that we were all feeling the pressure to be more than what we have the capacity for. 

Fast forward nearly 12 months, her Workin' Moms co-stars, Dani Kind (Anne Carlson), Juno Rinaldi (Frankie Coyne), and Jessalyn Wanlim (Jenny Matthews) were asked if they had any working from home tips that have helped get them through.

The short answer is no, but simply because A) there isn't an easy fix for this, and B) as actors, the line between their work life and their home life has always been blurred.

"I don't know what it's like to work nine-to-five," Kind says.

"I have so much respect and admiration for people who are doing it right now."

"My experience with work from home is trying to make a self-tape for an audition, which is a nightmare because my apartment is very small and I have two small kids and a dog. That entails me giving them an iPad and telling them to sit in my bedroom for a half an hour."

Amidst homeschooling, auditions, and just generally trying to stay safe, healthy, and sane, what can one do to practice self-care?

"Am I allowed to say weed gummies?" Kind asks reluctantly. 

Meanwhile, Rinaldi was very straightforward with what she felt would make working from home easier on parents: "My working from home tip is the kids should be in school, because that's how that should be."

"I'm very privileged and have a partner and husband, and my kids are older so they can function on their own," Rinaldi explains. 

"But, I'm constantly thinking about the moms who are on their own."

Wanlim's experience, however, was different from her castmates as 2020 was also her first year as a mom, which is a challenging, new experience on the best of days.

"Working from home was a challenge," she says.

"When he goes to nap, that's when mommy gets to work out, take a two minute shower, and get her life together," she laughs.

Wanlim didn't so much as provide a tip, but rather more of a creed: "Do what you need to do to get it done."

"You definitely feel like you're pulled in every direction," she adds. "And trying to feel like you're accomplishing something is a whole other ballgame. I don't think you ever feel like you're 100% full in one direction."

When asked how she has practiced self-care in the past year, she simply laughed and asked, "Is there self-care when you're a first-time mom?" 

You can watch Dani, Juno, and Jessalyn in the latest season of Workin' Moms, Tuesdays at 9 on CBC and CBC Gem.