“You cannot save, buy or steal time, but you can invest it.”
Oooooh boy. Working, parenting, cooking, cleaning (HA!), getting enough nutrients, bathing on a regular basis, exercising, etc. How many hours are there in a day again? 50? NO wait, it’s only 24. They only gave us 24 hours per day to get this crap done. 18, really, if you want to schedule in at least six hours of sleep per night. I’m on about 3,629 parenting forums, and one of the questions I see come up the most from new moms or moms entering back into the workforce, or just moms in general after a long day that resulted in a full sink, early bedtime for the kids and a questionable level of sanity is “How do you all get it all done everyday?!”
I confess. I still haven’t figured this out. I’m not sure it’s possible to get everything done everyday. And, just to be clear, I’m not sorry about that. That’s okay.
Did I eat? Check.
Is my home still standing? Check.
Did my clients and customers get their work? Check.
Did my kids survive, eat, and go to bed? Check!
Sometimes, that’s got to be enough. However, after being a stay-at-home-parent, a parent working outside the home, and a parent staying at home and working from home, I do have one tip for maximizing what you can fit in those 16 hours (because, c’mon, you deserve eight hours of sleep—just do it).
TIME BLOCKING
Time Blocking has SAVED MY BUTT more times that I can count. Along with working from home, I have a very neurodiverse family. On any given day our family’s needs and schedule can need to be changed at the last minute. This requires flexibility. However, I function at my highest level of productivity with some form of routine or schedule. And my kid prefers, at minimum, some level of predictability to his day. So, that’s where time blocking comes in.
WHAT IS IT?
Time Blocking is pretty much exactly what it sounds like. You schedule your day in “blocks” of time dedicated to specific types of things. This gives me a rough layout of what to do and when. The great thing about it though, is that when my son wakes up with a stomach virus, or when a client reaches out and needs a rushed order project, I can just rearrange my blocks.
I NEED SOME EXAMPLES
Sure thing, visual learners
Here is what a typical day might look like without needing to rearrange anything:
5:00AM - 6:40AM: Wake-up (Coffee, non-negotiable), Plan Day, Get E Ready for School
6:40AM - 7:30AM: Get E to School
7:30AM - 9:00AM: Housework, Breakfast, Meditation/Devotion
9:00AM - 12:30PM: Client Work
12:30PM - 1:30PM: Workout
1:30PM - 3:30PM: Lunch Break, Pickup E from School, Get E Settled Back at Home/Mommy & E Time
3:30PM - 6:30PM: Business Development, Any Extra Client Work, Customer Service
6:30PM - 8:00PM: Family Time, Dinner, Bathtime for E, Any Leftover Housework
8:00PM - 10:00PM: Hubby Time, Reading Time, Any Leftover Business Development
WHY THIS WORKS FOR ME:
Say, I have guests coming over tonight, and I need to give my house an actual cleaning. No problem! Aside from meal times, and picking up and dropping off my son at school, nothing is set in stone. I can extend my 7:30-9:00AM housework hour, do the rest of my client work in my evening work session, and ask my husband to help with bedtime or let E “help” mommy with work as our together time. Or, for example, if tomorrow is going to be a school holiday and E will be home with me all day, I can just cut my housework hours today, get ahead on client work today and do extra housework tomorrow.
The benefit to the schedule/routine oriented person, like myself, is that I have a general flow and routine to the day. I’m not constantly staring at my planner (though I could because it’s my second husband, and I’m in love with it), trying to figure out how to fit everything in or what I should try to tackle next. Another benefit to the flexible routine is focus. I’m that person who walks by every room in my house noticing what needs to be done.
For example, walking through my upstairs hallway:
*glancing to my right into E’s room*: ugh, he left his plate from dinner in the floor. I need to round up all the stray dishes and check his room for molding leftovers.
*next I pass E’s bathroom*: I need to change the bathroom trash too. I wonder if our bathroom needs to be changed, as well. I need to clean the bathrooms.
*for absolutely no reason at all*: I haven’t updated our legal documents filing system in years. I need to do that. Is the dog up to date on his vaccinations?
Time Blocking CURES this scatterbrained, distracted, anxiety for me. Dishes? Have already been done first thing in the morning. Bathrooms? I have a specific, set aside, time I know I can get to them—tonight. All I have to think about is what I’m working on right now. Writing this blog. Everything has space. Well, most things. I may never update the filing system. That’s on me. No apologies.
If you’ve tried it out or currently use time blocking, let me know in the comments! What helps you organize your day? Do you need something more rigid or more flexible?
-K
