How I get sh*t done with an efficient work at home mom schedule

Being a work at home mom is a whole other level, am I right?

These days, life looks pretty sweet. I get to spend every day the way I want, sneaking in work things in between life things because I have a super efficient work at home mom schedule.

And because that’s the way it should be: Life first. Work second.

But I didn’t just fall into all this. It’s on purpose. It’s by design.

You might not know that I own a marketing and copywriting studio. That’s my “day job” and this blog is my hobby project! So I’ve learned a thing or two about how to get sh*t done with an efficient work at home mom schedule.

I worked for years in my business to get to the point where I can manage nearly everything while my toddler sleeps. But now that I’m here, I’m so glad I put my effort into the right places in my biz and learned how to harness the power of Mom Speed to get sh*t done faster, better, and in limited windows of time.

So what does life really look like now?

Steal these ideas for your own work at home mom schedule.

If you’re a work at home mom too, you know the juggle struggle.

There’s so many things on your plate! Mine too. I get it. And if you’re deep in the struggle land right now, I hope you know that I’m sharing this to help you pull through that tough spot.

Because if this is possible for me, it’s possible for you, too. I truly believe that.

My typical day with a work at home mom schedule.

The most important thing to me right now is that I keep work to the windows of time throughout the day when my toddler is sleeping. I want to be available for him during his waking hours, so that means most of my work happens early in the morning, during nap time, and after bedtime. And honestly? That’s the perfect amount of work for me right now. I can’t remember how I used to do full work days (and tons of overtime for a long time too!).

Lately, most days look something like this…

Early morning start!

Early rise! Either by choice with an actual alarm clock… Or by a toddler yelling mamamaaaa over the monitor from his room. Usually between 5-6am even though every evening I beg him to sleep until after 6am. Apparently he likes early mornings too.

Some mornings, I’ll say hey to the fam and immediately take my (hot) coffee into my office. I can get some good focused work time between 6-7:30 ish before my husband clocks in for the day.

But! I always try to journal before digging into work. Even if it’s just a bit while waiting for things to boot up.

By 8AM, I’m in Mom Mode, and I mostly work while he’s napping. Sometimes I have meetings over my husband’s lunch break. But like I said, I really don’t want to work while the little dude is awake—hanging with him is a priority for me.

The type of work I do varies on the week or day. I won’t bore you with the details of what I do for work because that’s not the point of this blog! There are some general trends though…

• Every day, I check in with my clients.

• I check how our meta ads are performing.

• Notifications in our project management tool and emails.

Some weeks are camera-heavy. Meaning that I have all calls and filming of some kind to do. YouTube, trainings, that kind of thing!

The opposite weeks I’m in hermit mode typing away at my keyboard with day 3 hair because no one sees me. I think at the time of writing this, I’m on day 4 hair… 😂 These weeks are dedicated to…

• Planning + strategizing.

• Chiefing client copy and/or writing.

• Creating sales and marketing content for the biz.

Mom Mode 8am – Noon

Sometimes we’ll go out for the morning to do a fun activity like a playgroup or the park. Or we tackle chores around the house and play. Other mornings we go do all the errands to come home by lunch. It’s a mix of productive and fun.

Lunch is anywhere from 11am-1pm, but typically earlier in that window so the little dude can get down for his nap sometime between Noon-1pm. He’s usually READY to sleep by that point. Sometimes he’s falling asleep in his high chair… And on those days, I feel like I’ve won already. 🙃

Naptime focused work!

While the baby naps, I quarantine myself in my office. I know that I can almost always count on an hour here, but usually it’s more like 1.5-2.5 hours. That’s just enough for me to cross a few things off my list.

I know it doesn’t seem like much to work with (okay, it’s really not). But I work super efficiently since becoming a mom. I call it Mom Speed! These hyper-focused bursts of work can be draining because I’m giving it 150%… It wouldn’t be possible to do that for much longer in one go.

I also had to learn how to be realistic with my to-do list. No matter how efficient I am, there’s only so much I can do in a day.

Afternoon play or activity

Little dude usually wakes up sometime around 2pm (or I’ll wake him to make sure that second wake window is long enough before bed time). Then we have the whole afternoon to do something fun. That might be going to the pool, for a bike ride, on a family walk with the dog, or a different playgroup if we didn’t go to one in the morning. Sometimes we just hang around the house, play in the backyard, or start getting dinner ready.

Regardless of what that afternoon activity is, we’ve learned that this needs to happen for everyone to get a good night’s sleep (toddler problems lol).

Family dinner (and the after dinner zoomies)

I don’t know if this is all kids, but mine is WILD after dinner some days. He gets the zoomies more than the dog. We usually eat together as family, do bath time, then he literally runs until he crashes.

Baby bedtime

After baby bedtime, my husband and I congratulate each other for winning another chaotic day. 😂 I’m not sure if this play-by-play paints an accurate picture of just how much running around is involved. Everyone who meets our son immediately comments on how busy he is. A boy on a mission!

From there, every night is different. We might hang out together or need some quiet time alone. If I’m alone, I’m either in the garden, on my yoga mat, or writing something… Or watching the Bachelor/Bachelorette because LOVE.

Things can get crazy, but I love it.

It looks like there’s a lot on my list when it’s all laid out like that, but it actually works out to about 15 hours of work per week. And the rest of the time? I’m living life with my family, raising the little dude, having fun doing it all. Even working on this blog in the afterhours because this is so much fun for me. It’s my creative outlet and connection point.

My work at home mom schedule can get PACKED sometimes. But I wouldn’t have it any other way. I think half of my Gemini self thrives in that crazy. It’s busy and rewarding and FUN all at the same time.

Tips to create your own efficient work at home mom schedule.

Okay, now that you know a bit more about what my days look like, how can you create something similar for yourself? Because the best laid plans aren’t copy/pasted ones. The trick is to find something that works for you so you can stick with it.

The following tips are must-considers when designing your ideal schedule too. These have been crucial to me understanding how and when to work around raising my baby.

Figure out when you do your best work.

When I realized that I’m a morning person, everything changed. I do such good work before the world wakes up.

Then I realized that my best focused creative work happens before I talk to anyone in a meaningful way. Armed with that knowledge, I was able to structure my days to align with when my brain works best on different things. For that reason, I’m writing this before 8am. Before I’ve checked emails. Before I’ve said more than a quick good morning to the family because I can breeze through this kind of work with a fresh mind.

In the afternoons, I’m better at planning, auditing or editing, and collaborative projects. Also getting on camera (you won’t see me properly ready for the day before noon). So that’s typically what I do!

Think about when you do your best work and try to fit blocks into your work at home mom schedule that align with your energy levels and focus.

Implement flexible time blocks for maximum efficiency.

Before having my son, I lived and thrived by rigid time blocks in my calendar. That might send some people running, but it really worked for me!

The biggest lesson that he’s taught me is that I need to be more flexible. As much as I try to ignore this fact, he’s very much in control of our days. For that reason, I’ve adapted my time blocking method to be more flexible.

For example, I’d love to wake up at 5am every day and have an hour to myself. Then work from 6-8am like clockwork. However… It doesn’t always work out like that. He still wakes up in the night sometimes (teeth, restless, the usual baby turning into a toddler stuff!). Which means that sometimes I don’t get up until 6am. So I might squeeze in 10 minutes of quiet time then start work.

The same goes for nap time. Sometimes he gives me a solid 2-3 hour nap. Sometimes it’s only 1.5 hours. You just have to roll with it!

Don’t use your uninterrupted time for chores.

This realization was game changing for me! In the early days, I’d use my precious hands free time to CLEAN. Like WHAT?! Then I discovered baby wearing while doing things around the house. I don’t know how I didn’t realize this at first, but it made things so much easier. Lots of babies like to be worn, and then you can get all your chores out of the way while you’re in Mom Mode.

There was a phase where this got a little harder because my son was starting to get mobile. He didn’t want to be stuck in the wrap or carrier. He wanted to try to crawl! So watching him while also getting house work done was tricky for a bit. But we got through that phase, and now he’s a walking and babbling toddler that likes to follow me around the house when I’m vacuuming, helps switch over the laundry, attempts to help with the baking… That kind of thing. Sometimes I’ll set him up with a toy in the kitchen (or with kitchen utensils for toys) while cooking. I’ll even occasionally wear him in the carrier still while cooking and he doesn’t mind.

Be kind to yourself on the tough days. And ask for help!

Some days, it feels like the babies won’t cooperate, right? Been there. You’re either nap trapped or navigating meltdown after meltdown, and nothing is getting done. Then suddenly it’s bedtime and you’re too exhausted to catch up.

On those days, you need to be kind to yourself! Keeping little humans alive is productive enough. This is something that I tell myself daily.

And when you really need help, ask for it. I definitely sometimes ask my husband to have a weekend morning to get caught up on work. Recently, I asked my parents to stay with us for a couple of days so I could have 2 full uninterrupted work days. That was the first time I’d asked, and it made a huge difference.

Remember that you’ve got this, Mama!

I get it. I’m right there too. But even through the tough stuff, remember that you’ve got this. You know exactly what to do and you are capable of overcoming every challenge you encounter.

If you have your own work at home mom schedule tips that you’d add to this list, comment below! Maybe there’s something I’m missing that could help someone else.