Hey friends! I’m so excited to bring this series of blog posts to you! I’ve had so many questions about how on Earth I manage to survive the RV life with a toddler, especially when it comes to working at home.
If you’re new to the blog, I create educational resources for Elementary teachers and homeschool parents to use with their kiddos. I sell these resources through a fabulous site called TeachersPayTeachers. I started this after I left the classroom, so all of my experience with working from home has involved having a little one at home with me. While I’m certainly no expert, I hope to offer some advice to those of you who are doing the same!
Find a Routine
The first thing to tackle is finding a routine that works best for you and your family. This will likely change as your family goes through different seasons. My routine when LG was 6 months old looks nothing like it does now that she is 2 and a half.
Notice I suggest a “routine” and not a schedule. If you’re a schedule person, go for it! But personally, having a toddler at home makes it difficult to stick to set times because, well… #toddlerlife. I’ve found that the more I try to stick to a schedule, the more stressed I become and we just don’t need that!
I follow 2 types of routines – daily routines and weekly routines.
Daily Routine
My daily routine is a mix of all my responsibilities each day – wife, momma, TPTer, etc. To help keep things straight, I love to record all of my tasks in my Happy Planner. The setup in this planner gives me exactly what I need each day. In the three main sections I list – 1. errands/family information 2. activities/”school” for LG and 3. work projects.
From there, I follow one simple rule – LG’s sleep time is my work time. Sometimes this means I am able to get everything done during her nap time. But often I wake up before her to work, and stay up working after she’s in bed. It truly depends on how much work I’ve put on my plate.
For a peak at my daily routine with my 2 year old, click HERE! And stayed tuned for my post on keeping your little ones busy if you need to work while they’re awake!
Weekly Routine
My weekly routine is my biggest help in this wife-momma-TPTer balancing act. If I make a list and give myself all week to complete it, it’s in my nature to work nonstop until it’s completed early. You can imagine how that adds unnecessary stress every day.
To break things up, I assign myself a few tasks each day. If I have time once those are completed, I’ll work on other tasks. But I know that my work is done for the day if I choose.
This weekly routine varies depending on current projects, but usually looks something like this:
Monday – Thursday: Product creation, updating, listing, etc.
Friday: Social Media planning (Instagram and Pinterest)
Saturday – Sunday: Blogging, Social Media planning, RESTING
I hope this glimpse at my work routine is helpful for you and your family! As always, please feel free to send me any questions by commenting on this post or connecting with me through Instagram! I’d love to meet you!
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