Mom of 4: Daily Routine

Recently, I was asked what my daily routine looks like.

I figured this topic deserved a blog post and would take longer to answer than by putting it on an IG story slide. I’ve done public speaking engagements on managing my calendar before and juggling it all. Please note, this is not a quick fix nor will it work for everyone…but there might be something I share that resonates with you and can work it’s way into your daily routine.

In case you are new here, I own 2 businesses, run a successful blog, do multiple TV spots a month for various clients, workout 5 days a week, cook most of our dinners at home and homeschool my 4 children. I don’t have a sitter or nanny. I’m able to juggle it all by running a very tight ship with very little downtime.

My Daily Routine:

(8:30-9:30pm) My day actually starts the night before. If I don’t write everything out for the next day, I wake up in the morning already behind schedule. Jot a list down in a journal, on a Post-it, on the notes app in your phone. Whatever works best for you, but be sure to make that to-do list before you go to sleep.
(6am) I start every single day in a hurry.My alarm goes off 2 hours before the rest of the house wakes up. I never hit the snooze button, unless it was an absolutely horrible night for one of our 4 children. I wake up, roll immediately out of bed, drink some water, grab a coffee and head to our media room to start my day. Be sure to turn the lights on in the rooms you are in to wake yourself up a little.
(6-7:30am) I eat the frog first. There are some tasks I enjoy way more than others. I love all of my social media clients (I run accounts for 6 different clients), but this task can sometimes become repetitive. Emails are also somewhat of a time suck and tend to be monotonous. By eating that frog first thing in the morning, I am able to “look forward” to the tasks that I really love — like this!!! Writing here in my blog is by far, my favorite part of my job.
(7:30-8am) I give myself some morning downtime.After my client work and emails are finished and I’ve planned my personal content for the day (IG posts and Blog) I give myself some downtime to get lost on Pinterest, reading food blogs or doing some online shopping. Anything that excites me and feels like a small reward for eating the frog first.
(8-9am) Kids Up. By this time, usually around 8am, my kids are starting to wake up. Jude is always first, then Luke, then Adam and last but not least, Eden. I make them breakfast when they are all awake and ready to eat and we start our day! Breakfast usually consists of oatmeal or eggs and I read them our assigned homeschool reading while they eat.
(9am) Morning Chores. I do a quick cleanup of the kitchen while the kids do their morning chores. They get dressed, brush their teeth, make their beds and tidy their rooms. I clean the kitchen and get dressed myself. Even though we don’t leave the house until the afternoon (if we leave at all) I make everyone in the house get out of their pajamas. I think we all are more productive that way. We set a timer on Alexa and meet in our basement (homeschool room) about 15-20 minutes after our meal is finished.
(9:30-12pm) Homeschool. I homeschool the kids for 2-3 hours 5 days a week. Some days, we have a heavier load than others. Some days, they are more focused than others. Some days, I have a TV spot or meeting that I can’t miss so our homeschool is completely derailed or pushed back. I try really, really hard to not look at my phone while I’m homeschooling the children, unless they are on a break or recess. Getting all of my client work and emails finished before they wake up helps that tremendously. Giving my kids 2-3 hours of completely uninterrupted time has really helped our relationships and my “mom guilt” for not giving them undivided attention. While they are on a quick break (10-15 minutes) I can glance at my phone or computer and answer any pressing issues.
(12-3pm) Lunch and Break. We are almost always finished with our school day by lunchtime. It’s one of the most awesome parts about homeschooling! By working really hard for a few hours we are able to knock out our entire day’s curriculum before I make the first PBJ. While the kids are finishing up their assignments (usually Spanish ends our day) I make lunches for everyone. After lunch is another quick clean and then I either lay down with Jude to get him down for an afternoon nap or we head out of the house to go to golf, run errands, go to a park or something else. This is another time I am able to knock out some work, if need be.
Workouts.3 days a week I do live workouts virtually with a trainer. Those workouts are at 8:30am so on those mornings, our homeschool schedule gets pushed back a bit. The other days of the week, I will do yoga or go for a run after our homeschooling.
(3-6pm) Dinner + Evening Routines.Jeff is usually home from work every day by 3:30 or 4. At this point the kids are doing their own things and I am starting dinner. Our evenings are packed with swim, golf, gymnastics, art class and ballet. We usually eat dinner around 6 every night (some nights it’s earlier, some later) but I like to have dinner started early (around 4) before the chaos of the evening overcomes us. After dinner we do a “flash clean”. The entire family takes part cleaning the kitchen, putting laundry away and putting toys away on the main levels of our house. I can’t go to bed with a messy main level… EVER.
(7-8:30pm) Rest, Relax, Reset. I’ve never been able to work after the kids go down. When the kids go to bed, between 8:30-9:30, I go to bed too. Since I wake up really early in the morning, I am D-O-N-E by 9:00pm. After tucking the kids in, I write out my to-do list for the following day, I’ll take a few minutes to read or scroll Pinterest to wind down and I’m out like a light. It never takes me very long to fall asleep. I believe it’s because I don’t give myself many breaks during the day. I’m not saying this will work for everyone and for those who have a nighttime restless mind, but it does work well for me.

Additional Tips:

move every day (even if it’s for a short walk, move your body)
get outside (even when it’s cold)
get dressed everyday (even if you have no where to go)
clean the house before bed (you will feel so much more energized when you wake up to a clean house)
open the blinds and turn the lights on (daylight makes you feel more motivated)
drink lots of water
take breaks (but make them short! 15-20 minutes tops)
set timers and outline your day with a timeframe in mind

Your turn! What does you daily routine look like?