My Weekly Routine

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While it feels like every week requires some kind of shift, or adjustment, in the schedule, this is a general “birds-eye view” of my week:

M o n d a y 

 

5:20am: alarm goes off and I get up and get ready to work out on my Peloton bike. I get dressed, fill my water bottle downstairs, and then quietly make my way upstairs to my office where my bike is located to be ready for my 6:00am ride.

6:00-6:30am: ride!

6:30-8:30am: shower, get myself ready for my workday, make kids lunches, drink 2 cups of coffee, make myself breakfast, tidy the kitchen, greet the nanny at 8:30am when she arrives!

8:30am: head up to my home office.

8:45-10:30am: work, which could be shooting content, editing content, writing copy for blog posts, creating concepts for campaigns, responding to e-mails, answering questions Amanda (my assistant) has for me, etc.

10:30am: I sneak down to the kitchen to grab a snack.

10:45am-12:30pm: back to work.

12:30/1:00pm: make lunch and bring it up to my desk to eat while I work.

1:00pm-3:00pm: last two hours of work and this time of the day is usually when calls are scheduled as my management team is out west.

3:00pm-5:00pm: this is when I’ll run any errands that I need to. It could be a post office drop off, a grocery run, or anything along those lines.

5:00pm-7:00pm: dinner with the family, spend time with the kids, evening routine, etc.

The rest of the evening involves the kids’ bedtime, spending time with Justin, tidying the house, and sitting on the couch for a bit before bedtime around 9:00-10:00pm.

T u e s d a y

 

5:45am: my alarm goes off and I hop in the shower right away with a shower cap on because I don’t plan on restyling my hair, and start getting myself pulled together before the kids get up around 6:30am.

6:30am: all the kids are typically up, sometimes Luke sleeps in, and we head downstairs to the kitchen to start early breakfast and get David’s backpack ready for school.

7:20am: the kids and I take David to school.

8:00am: return home, tidy the kitchen, send Luke and Emily to the playroom to play for a bit before diving into homeschooling.

8:30-9:15am: start Luke’s homeschool work for the day while Emily plays nearby.

9:20am: Take Emily to preschool.

9:45am-10:20am: Spend focused time on school with Luke.

10:20am-11:00am: pick up David from school.

11:25am-1:20pm: return home and dive into more homeschool work for Luke, David’s homework, and make the boys lunch.

1:20pm: pick up Emily from preschool.

2:00pm: put Emily down for a nap and let the boys do some media time.

3:00pm: Wake Emily up!

3:00pm-3:30pm: the boys do “room time” where they are alone in their rooms without any devices/media. Luke usually spends his time doing art and David likes to do legos!

3:30-4:45pm: get outside!

4:45pm-5:30pm: I make dinner while I try to encourage the kids to play upstairs in the playroom but they typically end up in the downstairs living room.

5:30pm-6:15pm: dinnertime!

6:30pm-end of the night: Like Monday, this is when we’ll do the evening routine. If there is time we will play outside again, otherwise we’ll just play upstairs and then do bath time/showers and get the kids in bed. Typically on Tuesdays Justin and I get on a Zoom call with our small group from church.

W e d n e s d a y

 

This day matches up exactly like Monday except for a few changes. If Amanda and I are having an in-person meeting, it’s typically on a Wednesday. And at 3:00pm on Wednesday, I relieve our nanny and Justin has time to himself in the afternoon.

T h u r s d a y

 

Thursday morning until around 11:00/11:30am is a flexible time. I either use it to run errands, schedule appointments or exercise a bit later in the morning. But usually, I end up working in some capacity because I’m an enneagram 3.

I take over being in charge of the kids from Justin at around lunchtime, and Justin heads out to his weekly drone job, and usually has a few more shoots in that time as well.

The rest of Thursday looks almost exactly like Tuesday except we don’t have our small group meeting.

F r i d a y

 

5:20am: alarm goes off, I get up and get ready to work out on my Peloton bike. I get dressed, fill my water bottle downstairs, and then quietly make my way upstairs to my office where my bike is located to be ready for my 6:00am ride.

6:00-6:30am: ride!

6:30-8:30am: shower, get myself ready for my workday, make kids lunches, drink 2 cups of coffee, make myself breakfast, tidy the kitchen, greet the nanny at 8:30am when she arrives!

8:30am: head up to my office.

8:45-10:30am: work, which could be shooting content, editing content, writing copy for blog posts, creating concepts for campaigns, responding to e-mails, answering questions Amanda (my assistant) has for me, etc.

10:30am: I sneak down to the kitchen to grab a snack.

10:45am-12:30pm: back to work.

12:30/1:00pm: make lunch and bring it up to my desk to eat while I work.

1:00pm-3:00pm: last two hours of work and this time of the day is usually when calls are scheduled as my management team is out west.

3:00pm-3:30pm: I relieve the nanny and the boys do “room time” where they are alone in their rooms without any devices/media. Luke usually spends his time doing art and David likes to do legos. Sometimes on Friday’s we skip room time and head outside right away if the weather is nice!

3:30-4:45pm: get outside!

5:30pm: I like doing something different for dinner on Fridays, whether that is getting together with my sister and her family, or grabbing carry out from somewhere nearby.

6:00pm-bedtime: Friday night is movie night! Emily can watch about 20 minutes of a movie before she loses interest so typically it ends up being the boys watching a movie and Emily playing with Justin and me.

___

What isn’t mentioned, but certainly takes up a good deal of my mental space and time, is squeezing in work-related tasks amidst the weekly routine. Having a job that never turns off can be challenging at times but I’ve learned to set pretty good boundaries and also know my limit of what I can take on. A few other things worth noting for transparency is that we have our house deep cleaned monthly, and I regularly use Shipt for grocery delivery. Justin and I split a lot of the household tasks (laundry, cleaning, dishes, cooking, etc) and make it a point to communicate our needs based on what we need to do in a given week with our work.

Justin and I have been married for 11 years and we’ve been entrepreneurs running our own businesses for a long time. I started my first business in 2007, and Justin launched his business in 2016 . Since neither of us work traditional jobs with traditional schedules, we’ve learned and adapted to tag teaming with the kids and hiring childcare when we need it. It seems like each season presents us with new schedules or changes but in general we have developed a routine that allows each of us to support each others’ careers while still also focusing on our family.

There are risks and unknowns in entrepreneurship, but the ability for both of us to do what we love and be able to demonstrate that to our children is truly a gift.

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Ashley Hayes says · 01.11.21

Thank you for sharing this!! It was very interesting to read! You weren’t kidding when you said that Tuesdays were a marathon!!!!

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Hilary says · 01.11.21

Kate- This was a super fascinating read! It’s fun to see how other working moms balance their day to day loads. I’d love more behind the scenes posts like this!

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Michele says · 01.11.21

You had mentioned at the beginning of the school year that you had transitioned into homeschooling. As a teacher who currently has half of her students learning in the fully remote model, how are you working that into the daily routine? My parents have been good about letting me know how they do it, but I always love hearing more perspectives and strategies for those who are struggling with this new world of online/home schooling.

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Kate says · 01.11.21

Our nanny does it Mon, Wed, and Friday. And then Justin and I split between tuesday and thursday. Basically, we try to get as much done in the morning and supplement any extra work around the afternoon when necessary. It definitely feels like we have to squeeze it in amongst work commitments and other family obligations, which I hate, but we are doing our best!
I cannot imagine how difficult it is to be a teacher this year. Stay strong!

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Pam Webreck says · 01.11.21

Kate,
Thank you for this post! It was very interesting to take a look at how you schedule your time.
Pam

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Kate says · 01.11.21

thanks Pam!

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Charmaine Ng | Architecture & Lifestyle Blog says · 01.11.21

Wow, you get so much done in a day! So inspiring! ❤️✨

Charmaine Ng | Architecture & Lifestyle Blog
http://charmainenyw.com

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Sherry says · 01.11.21

Wow, I am tired just reading all that. Just kidding (sort of)…..posts like this are super interesting and I can see how tough it must be to manage everything with your business and also do stuff for the household/family. You weren’t kidding when you said you like things to be organized and scheduled. Happy New Year Kate !

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Kate says · 01.11.21

Thanks Sherry! You too!

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Kim says · 01.11.21

Not related to this post, but I purchased a Fit Track scale based on your blog post. I do like the scale but it is not registering a correct weight. The same weight shows no matter how much time has passed since the last weigh in. Have you had a similar problem or any problems with your scale? Thanks.

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Jaime says · 01.11.21

What kind of planner is pictured at the top of the post? I love how simple and streamlined it is!

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Kate says · 01.11.21

Sorry, I don’t know! This is a stock image from Social Squares 🙂

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Lisa says · 01.11.21

This post is so timely. I have been praying to be put on the path God wants me on. Last night I sat down with my planner and tried to write out a similar schedule. I have NEVER done this but I feel so all over the place I’m going to try it! Thank you for sharing your insights!
Lisa

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Sandra says · 01.11.21

Wow, I remember those crazy busy time raising a young family. Minus the Covid/Homeschooling of course! From one mama to another and of course with the experience of looking back, now that our kids are young adults.
Make sure you always take care of yourself first, always schedule self care time and put as much energy and care if not more into your relationship with hubbie as you do the with raising your kids. Kate you have such great balance, just wanted to pass along to all the mama’s out there!

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Kate says · 01.11.21

such great encouragement, thank you!

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Geralin Franchina says · 01.11.21

This is so very interesting! Scheduling my time at home has never come naturally to me. This insight has inspired me to try again. Thank you! 😊

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Emily says · 01.11.21

I am hoping to start working from home this next year plus my daughter will be starting K in the fall, and this schedule gives me hope that I can balance it all!!! Thanks for sharing.

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Beth says · 01.12.21

Thank you for sharing your schedule. It makes me want to be more purposeful with my time. I work full time, like many do, and with sleep hours added to that, it does make awake free hours precious and I should spend them more intentionally. I have a friend who manages his every day in 15 minute increments, that seems like it could be a lot of pressure, and yet, maybe there’s some wisdom in it. Again, thank you!

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Felicia Williams says · 01.12.21

Hi Kate,

I know you’ve mentioned how your family handles childcare before and that it has looked different in various seasons, but I’m still confused about HOW do you go about finding a nanny? Do you prefer professional services or recommendations only? Or only hire people you know personally?

I’m considering a career move as a work from home mom and would love any advice you or other followers could offer.

Thank you!
Felicia

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Ashleigh says · 01.12.21

I love the idea of having the house deep cleaned monthly. What does this service typically cover?

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Chelsea says · 01.12.21

Thanks for sharing a peek on the inside. Your days are very full. I can relate. I read an article recently about how Covid has changed the way Americans work with so many more people working from home. One woman was quoted as saying, (I’m paraphrasing here) “I’m tired of working like I don’t have kids and mothering like I don’t have a job.” This really made me pause. We require so much from women to hold so many roles at full capacity. It can be a lot to manage.
Do your ever feel this way and if so how do you handle imbalances in your work/personal time?

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Emily says · 01.12.21

I’m so inspired by your routine! This is really motivating me and I so appreciate you publishing this post. Thank you so much for sharing this – very helpful as my husband and I are also both working (now from home!) and will soon have have three kids! 🙂 I’ve been following your blog since you first launched, and your content is continually inspiring to me! Also, fun fact – my name is Emily, and I have a three year old daughter, Kate 🙂

You are a

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Olena says · 01.12.21

What a great routine! You’re so organized and you inspired me to be that focused when working from home. Hopefully I can pull it off.

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