5 Ways to Create a Stay-at-Home Mom Schedule Using Time Blocking

by Neha Ruch

Create a stay-at-home mom schedule you can stick to, thanks to these time-blocking hacks I swear by.

It's a privilege I'm acutely aware of to have two days I can work out of the home on my own projects and have the rest of the week to care for my children. I get that this is not everyone's set-up, so if you're working on yourself or your own creative projects alongside motherhood without structured hours away, nap times are precious. Even with my designated work time, there are site to-dos that trickle through the rest of the week and I've slowly found a groove with parenting to keep a handle on things and preserve those mid-day nap hours for myself. A few habits I've picked up at home that have helped: 

1. Errands with Kids

In the first year of parenting, I would conserve every waking hour with Bodie for activities I believed he'd enjoy. I'd save things like picking up medicine from the pharmacy for my Mondays and Tuesdays. I've come to realize my kids learn just as much watching interactions that don't revolve around them, and it allows our life to be more hand-in-hand.  

I've come to realize my kids learn just as much watching interactions that don't revolve around them, and it allows our life to be more hand-in-hand.

2. Household Chores with Kids

This one is my favorite. I would save unloading the dishwasher or laundry for nap time until one day it had to get bumped up and, lo and behold, Bodie was a willing participant. He got into the habit of pulling up a little chair to the cutlery drawer and taking on the task of sorting the silverware. When he was younger, he’d also pull the laundry baskets over to the washer and happily push every last bit of clothing into the far reaches of the washer. It wasn’t perfect and I may have had to redo it later, but I loved watching him understand the concept of "helping.”

3. Independent Play Corners

I wouldn't say we're experts at this one. It took us an easy 18 months to get to a place Bodie was happy to self-entertain without me at his side, but I learned to set up little baskets of cohesive activities scattered around our home. At one point, we had one for Legos, interactive books, stamps and stickers, and little puzzles that occupied both kids for a little while if a time sensitive to-do cropped up.  

4. Designated TV and Email Time

Also around 18 months, Bodie started watching a couple minutes of Peppa Pig at a time. He built up to a whole string of short episodes, and later added Thomas & Friends to his repertoire. I found I felt less guilty about screen time when I made it part of our routine. My kids grew accustomed to watching short shows after naps with a snack. And I used that time to sit next to them and catch up on email for 20 minutes.

I found I felt less guilty about screen time when I made it part of our routine.

5. Eat When They Eat

Have you ever gotten to nap-time and thought, “Should I eat, shower, or work?” I shower in the evenings, but eating was getting forgotten or becoming a nuisance until I realized how much more I enjoyed mealtimes with my children when we were side-by-side, as opposed to me solely focused on ensuring they got every morsel in their mouths.