It’s always fun to get a peek into the routines of other moms (at least I think so!). Here’s a look at a day in the life of me during the workweek as a working mom who’s also juggling all the usual homemaking routines.
I always find it super interesting to get a peek into someone’s life via day-in-the-life style updates on Instagram or in a blog post. So I thought it would be fun to share one of my own here!
Today we’re going to focus on all of the little household routines that are engrained in my day. I often talk about the 6 essential routines that I believe keep every home running smoothly, and every time I mention them I get questions about how we approach those basic household tasks in our house. So today’s the day!
Related Articles:
- 6 Must-Have Homemaking Routines For Busy Moms
- My Proven 5-Step System For Creating A Daily Routine
- Creating An Evening Kitchen Shutdown Routine (So Your Kitchen Is Always Clean!)
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Working Mom Day In The Life, 2021
Today I’m going to share what a typical Friday looks like for me as a working mom.
To give you some context, my husband and I both work full-time and we have a three-year-old daughter who goes to daycare every weekday. Due to the pandemic, my husband is currently working from home full-time but spends most of his day hunkered upstairs in his office on the phone.
I currently spend Mondays and Tuesday in the office and work from home the rest of the workweek which has been a really nice balance for me. Although I stay plenty busy with work, being remote gives me a bit more time in my day to squeeze in house stuff which is awesome.
Rise & Shine
5:45 am – My alarm goes off at 5:45 every weekday. I always hit the snooze button once and then hop up and take a quick shower. David and Chloe like to sleep in and I really enjoy having the quiet house to myself first thing in the morning.
After my shower, I throw on a robe and head downstairs to feed the dog and let her out. I also eat a bowl of cereal while listening to NPR’s Up First podcast.
6:15 am – I take 20 minutes or so to tidy up the kitchen and open the curtains downstairs while listening to podcasts. Podcasts are my favorite thing and are a great motivator for accomplishing mundane house things while listening.
I had our dishwasher running when we went to bed last night, so I quickly put the clean dishes away and load the dishwasher with any dishes that have gathered on the counter.
Starting the day with an empty dishwasher is a great way to ensure dirty dishes can go directly into the dishwasher instead of piling up on the counter. I always say dirty dishes attract more dirty dishes and making it a point to put things directly in the dishwasher really helps prevent us from just getting lazy and stacking dishes up next to the sink.
Since I’m working from home today, I don’t need to pack any lunches. I just fill up Chloe’s water bottle and stick it in her backpack quickly. On days I’m going to the office, I would take this time to pack a quick lunch for myself.
6:40 am – I head back upstairs and dry my hair, put on a little makeup, and get dressed. I like to take the time to get ready even when I’m working from home, but I do often opt for leggings instead of jeans.
7:00 am – David’s in charge of waking Chloe up around 7:00 and getting her dressed for daycare while I finish getting ready. Then she finds me in the bathroom to have her hair done and brush her teeth.
7:25 am – I load Chloe up in the car with her backpack and snow gear and drive her to daycare. Daycare drop-off has always been easy with Chloe, but it’s especially efficient these days when parents are not allowed inside the building (to minimize exposure). So I just pull up, get her out of the car, and off she runs into the lobby where staff are waiting for her.
The Workday
7:50 am – I get back home and open my laptop. Before I start my workday, I place a quick online grocery order and schedule it for a pick-up at 5:00 tonight.
David and I brainstormed a quick meal plan after dinner last night so it’s pretty quick for me to get our order in since I know what ingredients I need to buy. I try to add other essentials to my cart in our grocery store’s app throughout the week as I notice we’re running low on things. This means the basics like bread and milk are already in my shopping cart and ready to go. Our store’s website also pulls up a list of my frequently bought items so I always scroll through that quick and add anything else we need–this list is a lifesaver for remembering all of the basics!
8:00 am – I log into my Grove Collaborative account and customize my shopping cart. I get almost all of our cleaning supplies and many of our personal care items from Grove. Although they’re subscription based, it’s really flexible and I only schedule a shipment every few months as we run low on things.
Today I’m ordering my usual cleaning concentrates, a few more microfiber cloths, laundry detergent, more hand sanitizer, kids’ toothpaste, and a few other odds and ends. Use this link to get a free gift from Grove with your first order–they’re amazing and the gifts are always very generous!
Taking a few minutes to get some of my personal errands and to-dos checked off my list always feels like a big head start on my day and clears my mind to really focus on work. I’m thankful for a job that gives me the flexibility to do that type of thing quickly without needing to “clock in” at a specific time.
8:15 am – I grab a drink and a snack (I’m a big snacker) and settle in for a full morning of work. I work for a product manufacturer and manage all of our social media accounts and emails. My days can vary a lot, but it’s typically a nice mix of replying to social media messages/comments, schedule social media posts, designing our weekly emails, filling out reports, and a couple virtual meetings sprinkled in.
10:30 am – David comes downstairs mid-morning for a quick break and we chat for a few minutes about our weekend plans and any to-dos/projects that need to be discussed. We always do a quick weekly meeting on Sundays where we make sure we’re on the same page about what’s ahead for the week, but on days we both work from home we find ourselves doing more regular check-ins which is really nice.
Lunch Break
12:00 pm – David doesn’t usually break for lunch until 12:30, but I often stop work around noon. I love having a tidy house going into the weekend, and I use my lunch break today to tidy up the living room, straightening up the entryway, watering the plants, and doing a few dishes.
Doing a quick 20-30 minute reset like this saves my sanity so much. Our house is never spotless and I’m not so great at the cleaning part of things, but I love having a house that’s picked up and clear of clutter so this is time well spent for me. It’s something I normally try to do after work on Fridays and I love being home during the day so I can get it done earlier. It also makes my afternoon so relaxing when I’m sitting in a clean house with a candle burning in the kitchen.
12:30 pm – We don’t take on the mental burden of planning lunches (just planning dinners is enough for me!), so we put them on autopilot. This means our options for lunches are pretty much always leftovers or cold sandwiches/salads. I keep a bin in our fridge stocked with sandwich supplies so we always have something to grab, and that’s typically what I opt for.
We each make our own sandwiches and eat a quick lunch while chatting. I love this quick time to connect during our workday (and without a chatty toddler around). I make sure our dishes go directly in the dishwasher when we’re finished so the kitchen stays fairly clean.
Afternoon
1:00 pm – Friday afternoons always fly by for me at work. I’m not sure what it is, but I almost always get a big burst of creative energy on Fridays. I guess it’s because it feels like the weekend is so close and I’ve (hopefully) wrapped up all of my must-do projects for the week. I usually save afternoons for bigger work projects, and I try to plan something that needs my creativity or brainstorming power for Fridays after lunch.
4:45 pm – I shut down my computer for the weekend and pack it up in the backpack I take to work (since I’ll be going to the office Monday morning). Getting my bag ready to go now is always so helpful come the morning rush!
4:50 pm – I jump in the car and pick up Chloe at daycare. Then we swing by the grocery store on our way home. They have a great pick-up service that’s free with a minimum purchase (like $30 I think, so obviously easy to do).
Ordering groceries online and doing curbside pickup has been a game-changer for me. I imagine with the pandemic that by now most people have given this a try if you have the option locally. But if you have this option available and don’t take advantage of it, you should! It literally saves me a solid hour of my time every week.
Dinner Time
5:30 pm – I carry groceries in from the car and get Chloe situated with a snack in the living room. Then I get dinner started so it can start cooking while I’m putting the groceries away. We’re having tacos tonight so I start browning the ground beef while I unpack everything.
I really try to clean out the fridge before getting groceries, but that didn’t happen this week. So I take 5 minutes to clear out some expired veggies and old leftovers before I start filling the fridge with new food.
6:00 pm – David gets done with work at 6:00 and comes downstairs to help finish putting the last of the groceries away before we sit down at the table for dinner.
6:20 pm – After we eat, everyone helps with our Kitchen Shutdown Routine. You should know that my family has no idea this is any kind of official “routine”, I’ve just slowly asked them to help with things after dinner and now they usually do them out of habit. It’s awesome!
We clear the table, put away food, and I take care of the dishes (we have a deal in our house where I do the dishes and David does the laundry). I load the dishwasher up with everything that’s dishwasher-safe and set the delay start so the dishwasher will start running once we’re all upstairs getting ready for bed.
I wash any remaining things in the sink which I’m always so tempted to skip, but a couple of minutes scrubbing those dishes now is always so much better than having to catch up on a mountain of dishes a few days later. So I usually force myself to just do the dishes quickly, even if I just do as many as I can in 5 minutes and leave a few tough pans to scrub tomorrow.
6:50 pm – We settle on the couch for a little family time before bed. Our Friday nights are not very exciting typically, especially during a pandemic!
Bedtime
7:30 pm – David and I take turns putting Chloe to bed, and tonight’s my night. So I head upstairs with her while David gets the TV to himself for a while. We get Chloe’s jammies on, brush her teeth, and Chloe gets some iPad time for a bit.
While she’s absorbed in her iPad, I get my pajamas on and take the time to wash my face really well. This has become a big self care thing for me this year and I’ve found this little pocket of time while Chloe’s busy watching her show and it works out so well.
8:15 pm – It’s lights out in Chloe’s room. We traded her crib for a full-size bed for Christmas and that was the best decision ever. I’m just starting my second trimester of pregnancy and still very tired. So I’m pretty cool and just curl up next to Chloe while she falls asleep, often falling asleep before her these days.
We haven’t been the best at getting her to fall asleep on her own, but I think as I start to have more energy again we’ll be able to leave her alone before bed and get a little time in watching a show just David and me.
Looking for more routine inspiration? Take a look at these blog posts:
- 6 Must-Have Homemaking Routines For Busy Moms
- My Proven 5-Step System For Creating A Daily Routine
- Creating An Evening Kitchen Shutdown Routine (So Your Kitchen Is Always Clean!)
- Our Evening Routine With A Baby In The House
- Creating A 10-Minute Morning Journaling Routine For Self Reflection & Goal Setting
Have a fantastic day!
I loved reading this peek into your day! I think I’m just naturally nosy, but I always love hearing about people’s routines and seeing their houses and work spaces. Working from home has been such a great way for me to incorporate all the little household tasks into my day instead of letting everything pile up for me to deal with on weekends. Friday is my laundry day, and I love that I can take 5 minutes between meetings to switch a load or fold some things.
Glad you enjoyed it, Anne! I also have really enjoyed the flexibility to better keep up with the little house things during work days at home. It’s really helped me keep up with things during the work week.