Scheduling Methods And Tools To Work From Home With Kids
Today I’m talking about scheduling EVERYTHING as a work from home mom!! I can say without a doubt this WORKS. Schedule it all, and stick to it. I would not be able to work or be as aligned in my priorities if I didn’t write it down, make goals, plan ahead, and schedule it out.
I’m going over 4 time management methods you can try out, and then I’ll walk you through 2 things to do when making your weekly schedule. I’m also going to dish on my favorite tools as a working mom, so… needless to say there is A LOT of info in this episode! Hit play above, or keep scrolling to read.
By the way, if you’re just jumping in, this is a 3-part series on working from home with kids that’s airing on my podcast, The Sweet Brand Show. If you haven’t listened to the other episodes yet, I recommend going back to listen to episode 18 and episode 19 when you’re done with this one.
If you’re in need of a paper planner, you have to browse through the collection from Cultivate What Matters. After searching for a goal planner for years, I gave them a try in 2019 and have been a huge fan ever since. >> Tap here << and use the code: DESIGNWITHCLARISSA for 10% off!
There are so many different time management techniques and ways to schedule your days. I have tried many of them, including time blocking and day blocking. I’ve also tried doing things randomly in whatever chunks of time I happen to have, and even planning everything like it’s a “meeting” on my calendar.
The reason I’ve tried so many things is because some tips didn’t work at all, or they only worked for a short season, and then it was time to switch things up again for the next season.
All that to say, the ideas I’m sharing are GREAT and they have worked for me at one point or another – but they are just ideas. There are a lot of moving parts to your work day at home with kids, so take these tips as you will and apply them to your life in whatever way works best for you.
I’m going to take it from the top and go through 4 of the main scheduling methods I’ve used to help me work from home with my son:
Method #1: Time Blocking
Time blocking is where you break up your days into “blocks” of time. There are some variations on this, but for the most part, you choose, for example, a 2-4 hour time slot and that is what is called your “block”.
During that “block” of time, you’re focusing on a singular task or maybe a few tasks that are related. In this instance, since we are talking about working, your three hour time block would be focused on getting work tasks done.
Off the top of your head, you probably already know some of the blocks you could set up, such as work time, kids time, and nap time or quiet time.
I could go deeper into this in another episode, but basically time blocking allows you to know that, during a certain period of time, you’re working. And then during another period of time, you’re having lunch and playing with your kids.
Generally for this to work well, you’ll schedule these blocks of time for the same time every day.
For example, if you can work from 6-8am, then that’s a time block for every single day. If you can work during naptime every day from 12-2pm, that’s another consistent time block for each day.
Just like I talked about in the last episode, #19, knowing when you’re doing what will allow you to plan ahead, and also help you to see what amount of time you actually have to get your work tasks done – instead of worrying about it and trying to figure it out on the fly.
It will also allow your kids to know when it’s time to play with you, or play by themselves, or rest, eat lunch, and so on.
Method #2: Day Blocking
Day blocking is similar to time blocking, except that you’re taking the entire day to do something rather than blocks of time.
To be honest, this never worked for me, but I have heard other moms talk about it and how well it works for them.
For example, you might have a babysitter on certain days of the week, so those would be your “work” day blocks. Then, the days where you don’t have a sitter would be your “kids and household” day blocks.
The reason this never worked for me is because I almost always need to work Monday-Friday, so having full days set aside during the week just isn’t feasible.
However, if you work less hours or have a different schedule than what I’m used to, it might be something to try out.
Method #3: Sprints Of Time
Another option you might try is Method #3, which is what I’ll call “sprints of time”.
This is one of the first time management hacks I tried and it is something that worked well for me during the beginning phases of working from home, because I was just trying things out and figuring out what worked.
With this method, you’re picking a task (ONE TASK), and getting it done in a “sprint”.
This could be something like first thing in the morning, you’re answering emails and making your to-do list for the day – so you start this and do it until it’s done, in one “sprint” of time.
Then, when you’re done, you can move on to the next “sprint”, which might be work-related or you might need to get breakfast ready for your kids.
This method is a little easier to start with than the others, because you just have to do one thing at a time, for a pretty short amount of time, and then you get to kind of reassess and move on to the next thing.
If you get your emails and to-do list done in less time than what you originally thought you needed, you might be able to start on another task and get ahead.
Either way, for me, especially in those early days of trying to figure out what it looked like for me to work from home, this method was very successful.
I would say that, if you’ve never scheduled your days or you have trouble figuring out how to make other methods work for you and your kids, try this one out first. This worked for me for a good while before I decided to switch things up.
Method #4: Everything Is A Meeting
I did not coin this method, I’ve heard other people talk about it in one form or another, but that’s what I’m calling it: the “everything is a meeting” method to manage your time.
You can probably guess by the name, but this means you set meetings with yourself, with your work time, with the household you take care of, or with the errands you need to run – whatever it is, it gets a scheduled “meeting” with you in your calendar during the week.
This is different from the “time blocking” method or “sprints of time” method because when “everything is a meeting”, all my days are scheduled for however each individual day is going to work out best.
Using the other methods, like the time block method, was really hard, especially when my son was younger. 2 or 3 hours is a LOT OF TIME and there are 104 different things can happen during that amount of time with kids, so for me it wasn’t feasible.
Almost every single day is different for me. Maybe there are some similarities, but my days aren’t necessarily consistent, which is why the other methods haven’t worked as well for me as this one.
So the “everything is a meeting” method is the one that I currently use during the workweek when I’m home by myself with my son. I highly recommend at least trying it out!
Here are those 4 methods again:
- Time Blocking
- Day Blocking
- Sprints of Time
- Everything Is A Meeting
When You’re Making Your Schedule, Do These Two Things
Now, within each method, no matter which you choose, there are going to be two things to keep in mind when making your schedule:
No. 1: Decide your “office hours”
Office hours are set hours that you are committed to working. Much like if you work in an office, you have office hours.
The difference here is that you work from home, annnd also that your kids are with you.
So the trick with this one is that you have to kind of cast aside that corporate america “8-hour work day with a lunch break” kind of idea.
As a work from home mom with “office hours”, your office hours might be from 6am-4pm. That’s a 10hr day!
But, you aren’t going to bill that many work hours straight through without interruptions.
Your office hours might be longer than the “typical” work day, but that’s because you’re working and being a mom during that time.
So if you start your office hours at 6am and end them by 4pm, then during that time you’re going to have breakfast and lunch, and do some things with your kids, and by the end of the day you might have worked like 5 or 6 hours out of those 10.
Now imagine if you add in household chores or errands or anything else during that time. You know what’s going to get cut into? It’s not time with your kids, it’s not the house chores that you convinced yourself need done right then… it’s your WORK time!
Before testing this office hours idea, I remember trying to schedule it all broken up like, okay 9am is dishes, and then 10-12 is work, then 2-3 is more cleaning time again, and so on, WHILE also trying to occupy my son and it was too much. There’d be times when I’d be doing laundry while he was playing (which is actually prime time to work), then he’d get done playing and I didn’t get any work done. Then by the end of the day I got like 2 hours of work in.
So for me it helps to just be like, okay from 6am-4pm those are work hours and kid hours ONLY.
If I’m not doing something with my son during those hours, then I’m supposed to be working. If I’m not working, then I’m spending time with my son.
It’s so easy, especially when working from home, to let other stuff, that doesn’t even really matter at the moment, take over your time. So being very aware about how you schedule things and what you allow yourself to spend time on during the work day is crucial!
I Wasn’t Already Good At This
Now, this isn’t something I just randomly started doing and was already good at in a day. It was something that I had to work at and iterate and figure out what worked best, over time.
For example, once I realized I needed to set “office hours” to get anything done, my typical office hours before my son started school was about 5 or 6am to about 3pm.
During that time, I’d get about 5-7 hours of work done, depending on the day, and the rest of the time was time spent with him: taking care of his needs and playing and going to the park and doing all the mom things.
Of course, within my “office hours” on my calendar, I utilize the method to schedule everything like it’s a meeting. I schedule my work time, play time with my son, eating time, and nap or quite time.
And that’s it. That fills the day. I just kind of turn a blind eye to every little mess in the house – during that time.
After my office hours ended at about 3pm, I’d be able to move on to other things, such as what I like to call “household time”, where I get dishes and laundry and house chores done.
Don’t Miss This!
The key thing not to miss here is this: I don’t do anything BUT work and kid time during my “office hours”.
Having office hours set in my schedule and in my brain is what helps me get away with not doing anything else – because I know the time to run errands is coming, but that isn’t until office hours are over.
If you think about it as if you’re going to an office (aka your office space at home, whatever that looks like for you) then typically at an office you don’t have dishes to wash or weeds to pull.
(And yes it goes without saying that you also wouldn’t have your kids at an office, but that is, of course, the exception here!)
Your workspace and your office hours are only for you and your kids – not all of the other life things that surround you that do need to get done, but it isn’t the time for.
I know I’ve said this about a few things already but this tip was really a game-changer for me and once I started doing it, it was like some of the stress fell off and I could just kind of compartmentalize things and focus on what really mattered during my work day.
I’m sure you get it if you’re a working mom! It’s hard to hide your eyes from the mess around you and it’s really easy to get distracted by all the other THINGS you need to do.
If there is nothing else you try from this podcast series, just at least take this “office hours” tip and RUN with it.
Okay, the second thing you want to do when making your schedule is…
No. 2: Think of Your Time In “Time Buckets”
For me, my time buckets can pretty generally fall into 4 categories (and I’ve already mentioned them in this episode), which are: work time, kids time, household time and family time.
I schedule my “work time” and “kid time” throughout the day, during my “office hours”, and I schedule “household time” and “family time” in the evenings, after 3 or 4pm..
Depending on schedules and different things like family events or dentist appointments we have going on, this could vary from time to time, but it’s what I’m able to stick to for the most part.
Your time buckets might look different than mine, but what I will say is to just be mindful of including too many things when it’s time to work, because it is so easy to think that other things are more important- especially when it’s a pile of laundry that’s been on your couch for longer than you’d like to admit.
Cast aside the other seemingly important things during the work day, and only focus on what truly matters.
Tools I Use
Okay, now that we’ve gone over scheduling methods and time buckets, let’s talk tools!
There are just four things I use, and really, I was thinking about it and these are the only tools I have used my entire time of being a work from home mom!
Tool #1: Digital Paper
I am a paper and pen kind of person half the time, and the other half I really love to use the notes app on my phone, and the Google docs app, for brainstorming, to-do lists, and everything in between.
These are digital and accessible from anywhere, so any time you hear me talking about my “48 ideas exercise” or keeping my ideas and notes digitally, this is what I’m talking about.
It’s so helpful to not have to carry around another notebook or keep things in my brain if I don’t have to.
Plus, if I forget where I put it, digital documents and notes are searchable, which makes it really easy to find what I need quickly.
If you’re trying to get your work from home days a little more organized, use a digital app to help you do it!
Tool #2: Digital Calendar
I use Google calendar to schedule out my days and utilize the “Everything Is A Meeting” scheduling method.
I have tried other calendar-type apps, but Google calendar is where it’s at for me. It syncs with the other things I use, and I get notifications and reminders for all my “meetings”.
If you don’t currently use a digital calendar, try this one out or pick one that you think might work. The point is to set it up and use it to help you schedule out your days.
Tool #3: Paper Planners
I have used several different types of goal planners over the years: weekly, daily, things you can buy from Target or order from Amazon. However, I’ve used the planners from Cultivate What Matters for about 5 years now, and have never looked at another planner since!
There’s just something about their goal-setting system that has helped me figure out what kinds of goals I want to go after, and how to break them down and plan them out over the coming weeks and months so that I can accomplish them.
Not only that, but I’ve been using their daily planner this year and it’s SO great to schedule out my days and write down all my meetings.
I like my digital calendar and notes apps, but there’s something about writing things down that helps your brain out (and I could really use the help), so I use my paper planner in combination with my digital one.
Don’t forget to use my affiliate link and code DESIGNWITHCLARISSA if you want to grab one for yourself.
Tool #4: Timers (for myself and my kids)
The past few years, I have started using timers for almost everything – and in my experience, it helps me AND my son stay accountable. It’s really easy to turn on a show and then oops, an hour or two have gone by and you said they could have 30 minutes but you got distracted. Been there.
I also use timers to help me get tasks done.
You’ve probably heard the saying that if you give yourself a day to do something, you’ll take the whole day – but if you give yourself an hour, you’ll probably get it done in an hour.
The point being that, sometimes we spend way more time on something than necessary.
Timers are your friend, especially the one on the kitchen stove. If you use the one on your phone, just a word of caution that you might hit that “repeat” timer a few times, because it’s pretty convenient (it’s probably sitting right next to you), but it’s probably not what you want. However, if you have to physically get up to turn off that annoying kitchen timer, you’re more likely to stick to whatever the timer was set for.
I’ve implemented timers for different things and it works! Try using this simple tool this week and see if it helps you work smarter, not harder.
There’s No ONE Way!
There is no one way or right way to do things, we’re all just figuring out what works best for us and for our kids at any given moment.
Working from home with your children does require a lot of planning ahead. It’s not always easy, and you may not always want to prep food on the weekend or get chores done only in the evenings.
However, I have found that, once I set some rules and boundaries for myself with my office hours and time buckets, and started to stick to them, I saw results.
I saw that it was a tad bit easier to get my work done during the day, but not only that, I was doing it without the brain overload of the household that I was surrounded by.