My daily schedule when we both work from home (with a toddler)

When Jake and I have both needed to stay home to take care of our son and still work, we’ve found some ways that enable both of us to provide great care for our kiddo AND get all the essentials done for work that we both need to. It just takes some planning, intentionality, and flexibility on our parts. But we’ve done it numerous times and made it work successfully for our whole family. Here’s how we break down our day: 

Early Morning

One of us (usually me because it’s my most productive time of the day) gets up and starts working by 5:15 (ideally before our toddler wakes up) and works until 7:30. Meanwhile, the other one of us takes care of our toddler when he gets up and has breakfast with him and gets him ready for the day.

Morning

At 7:30 we usually tag team and the other person takes over caring for our toddler for the morning and the other parent starts working. Usually, we’ll do this until 11:30, so the one of us working has 4 hours of uninterrupted work time. It’s amazing what you can get done when you know you’re uninterrupted work time is more limited than normal. ;) Usually, we’ve found that we’re actually MORE productive than when we have the whole day to get all of our stuff done.

Lunch

Often, we’ll have lunch together as a family. But if one of us needs some extra time during the day to get some things done for work, they’ll take a working lunch.

Afternoon

Then from 12:30-4:30 the other parent gets 4 hours of uninterrupted work time in the afternoon while the other parent takes care of our toddler. Our toddler still naps (mostly), so often the parent caring for our toddler in the afternoon also gets to take care of some work during this time. But we’ve also learned we need to hold this loosely because the day we NEED our toddler to nap he doesn’t. So, we’ve learned not to bank on this time to work, so when we do get it we’re pleasantly surprised instead of anxious and frustrated.

Evening (if need be)

After dinner (or after putting our toddler down for bed), if one of us still needs to get work done, we’ll tag team again and make sure that parent has the time they need to get their work done.

Is it ideal? No. BUT there are times, like right now, when being home with the kid(s) and needing to stay on top of work at the same time is a reality for both parents. So, it’s very possible to not only make it through to the other side, but to thrive in the midst of it. It simply takes being intentional about making sure each other gets uninterrupted chunks of time throughout the day to focus on what actually needs to get done for the day. And if either of you has meetings, simply make sure to work around them when planning your days.