Over the years many women have asked about my schedule and I feel like questions about how to get it all done as a working mom are popping up more and more in social media. With those questions in mind, I’m sharing how I structure my own schedule to inspire you to make your schedule work for you.
Start my day with self-care
I wake up around 6:10 each week day. As I start my day, I do a self-care check-in to see how I’m feeling and what adjustments I must make to be at my best. It’s a few moments of my day, but it makes a huge difference in how I feel and how I interact with my family, colleagues, friends, etc. If you want to read more detail on my morning routine for the school year, check out my blog on this. (This post is my most popular post on my website and it can give you loads of ideas on how to begin your day.)
Fitting in a workout
I often try to fit in a workout between dropping off my older and younger sons. If my husband drops off our older son, I have about 1.5 hours between finishing up prepping lunches and eating breakfast and heading out to drop off our younger son. That’s ample time to get in a workout and a shower.
Working early morning
Some mornings, instead of working out, I will do work. You might be wondering how I work if my 5 year old is at home. Sometimes he’ll play by himself. After all, how often does he get all the toys to himself without big brother around? Sometimes I’ll let him watch a bit of TV. There are times when I do more pre-planning the night before and have an activity for him to do like practice writing or color something special. It all depends on what I need to get done and how much time I need him to play solo.
Power hour to start my official work time
Once I drop off my younger son to pre-school, it’s time to make things happen. My most productive work time is in the morning. I write more about productivity in next weeks’ post, so look out for that. I generally try not to take calls or have meetings most mornings so that I have dedicated work time during my most productive period of the day. I start my work day with a power hour during which I work on my toughest challenges. That might be a strategic project or problem-solving for a client, business-building activities for my two businesses, or writing an article (or writing my book content when I have a book coming out). The idea is to work on things that are strategic or challenging in nature when you’re most productive instead of crossing off a bunch of things on my to do list.
Morning work time
As an entrepreneur I generally have more control over my schedule. I don’t usually have to do what I consider unnecessary meetings throughout the day. Mornings are work time. In fact, they’re my most productive work time when I have my peak productivity and start my day with a power hour. My preferred productivity method is batching, where I work on like things at the same time such as research, email, or returning phone calls or scheduling meetings.) When I know my day will be choppier or when I’m tired and am having a hard time focusing for long periods, I will use the Pomodoro technique to get things done. You work for 25 minutes and rest of 5. More on both of these in my productivity blog next week.
This is also my ideal time to do podcast interviews. I’m fresh and at my best. That’s not always the case, but I try to grab those times when I have a choice.
Let’s say you’re not an entrepreneur, though. How can you have dedicated work time? Schedule it. If you’re in meetings all day, when will you get your work done? You’ll have to take it home or stay late. Instead, schedule the time so that you have dedicated time for actually getting work done.
Lunch time
To make sure I don’t simply shovel whatever into my mouth, I have to consider my lunch options when we’re doing our weekly dinner planning. I prep lunch stuff, often cooking and putting it in the freezer. Or I can batch prep salad stuff for several days with some kind of protein like hard boiled eggs or grilled chicken (I prep this with the dinner stuff). I also try to have some extra things around that are easy to prepare like packets of oatmeal.
There are some days when I’ll do lunch with a client, potential client, or a potential collaborator. I try to sprinkle these throughout the month so that I don’t take away too much dedicated work time in a specific week. I generally try to break up deadlines for my clients throughout the month as well, which is why using too much work time in a given week isn’t productive for me.
During lunch I’m rarely only eating. I might listen to a podcast or watch a YouTube video for something work-related. The idea is to still be productive, but not to be working per se.
Post lunch work time
I have until 1:15 or 2:15 to work, depending on the day. I usually plan my calls for the afternoon. It’s when I have my natural lull in the day, so I need to change things up. I’m energized by interacting with other people, whether clients, collaborators, or online coffee chats (more on these as a helpful way to network in my previous blog).
This is another time I might do interviews for a podcast. I need a change of pace and doing an interview is a great way to change things up.
One other thing I schedule during this period is volunteering in my older son’s library every other week. This is one of those days when I carpool with another mom to give me the space to see my older son during his library time every other week. It’s a treat for both of us.
Carpooling is definitely something that has helped me with time management. It takes a village, mamas, so consider carpooling if it makes sense.
Pick up and activities
The reason I have until 1:15 or 2:15 each day is that I pick up my young boys from their schools. It’s so important for me to be the face that greets them most days. They are ultimately my why and I want to be present and engaged with them once I get them from their schools.
Pick up time is a time of the day when I might be a bit more flexible. For example, if it was a cold morning, I might go for a walk with my younger son if I’m picking up at 1:15. I pick up our older son at 2:50, so I have time to squeeze that in.
If I need to run a quick errand, I might do that with just my 5 year old. We might grab something from the store or pick up groceries I’ve ordered. I might need to run something to the post office. He likes helping and he’s usually up for anything as long as he has some sort of after-school snack. And it’s 1.5 hours, so it’s plenty of time to get in a few things if necessary.
I try to be present with my boys once I pick them up. The idea is to stop working if possible. Some days that’s the plan but it doesn’t happen. Most days it does, though.
And on days when I have to act as a shuttle service (I know you can relate), I see if I can take anything with me while I wait. Read articles that I’ve flagged. Listen to a podcast. Read a business book that helps me learn something new. Have a conference call. The idea is to be productive during this time. We have activities 3 days/week, so I need to make the most of this time.
Evening time
One big thing my husband and I do in the evening is switch off so that whoever puts kids to bed doesn’t clean and vice versa. On the nights when I need to get something done, it’s helpful to only have to do one of these. I know my husband also feels thankful that he can squeeze in a bit more work when he hasn’t finished everything for the day.
Once kids are down for the night or cleaning duty is done, my husband and I spend 10-15 minutes trying to catch up and simply connect. It’s a small amount of time, but it makes a huge impact for us long-term. If we don’t have to work, we might watch TV or part of a movie or play a card or board game.
If we have work to do, we’ll work for about an hour. In addition to anything he might need to do for his full-time job, this is also the time my husband does Mompowerment stuff. It’s usually less than an hour, so it’s work for the evening hours.
I take about 10-15 minutes to plan for my next day. It makes my next day much more productive, especially since I my most productive time is during the morning right after drop-off.
My night-time routine
I’m working on my night time routine because I need to wind down my brain at night. I need the time many night to finish things up since I work 25-30 hours a week. I am trying to shut everything down earlier so that I can write in my journal and read to wind down and fall asleep earlier.
I write in my gratitude journal most nights, to help me end my day with a moment of reflection on the good. It helps me attract more good things. And my final thing of the night is to read a bit. It might only be 5 minutes, but it makes a difference and helps me turn off my brain.
Self-care moments
As I mentioned, I start my day with a self-care check-in. And I end my day focusing on gratitude and writing in my journal. Essentially, I bookend my day with small self-care moments. I do bigger self-care things throughout the week and month, but I get small doses each day. Even reading something for pleasure is a self-care thing in that it can help lower stress. Yep, reading for 6+ minutes can help lower your heart rate.
As you try to retool your schedule, consider a few things that helped me finding the right balance with managing time and obligations as well as fitting in self-care.
- Think through your own needs. While this schedule will give you some ideas for how to lay out your day, it might not work as is for your needs. Consider what you need and how you need the pieces to fit together. Adjust what you read and learn to fit your needs.
- Understand how you’re most productive. I mentioned when I work and how I work (e.g., batching versus Pomodoro technique). Think about how and when you hit your groove.
- Reward yourself over time. It can be hard to retool your schedule. As you make changes that stick, reward yourself with something meaningful. It can help motivate you to keep making things happen.
- Be flexible. You’ll see when some things are working well. Sometimes you will see when things aren’t working. Adjust as necessary. Don’t give up, though. Keep adjusting until it’s working for you and then be prepared to adjust again because you’ll likely have to make changes in the future.
- Be strategic with small pockets of time. Try to make the most of your small pockets of time as much as you do the big blocks of time that you schedule. Have something
- Get help. Set up a carpool arrangement with a fellow working mom. Figure out tools that might help with some aspect of your day. Find a housekeeper or virtual assistant to help you. Use Task Rabbit or some other service to take on pieces of your to dos. You don’t have to do it all on your own.
Now that you have ideas from my schedule, what will you change in your schedule? Where are you naturally getting hung up in the changes you want to make? What questions can I answer?
If you’re looking for lots of ideas on making changes in your schedule, The Mompowerment Guide to Work-life Balance can help. My latest book, which launched at #1 in its category on Amazon, is full of practical tips and advice from my own experience and research as well as interviews with more than 110 professional working moms. Buy it now! (affiliate links)
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