I’m a working stay at home mom, and these are my must-do routines to get sh*t done.

I’ve started doing an “Ask Me Anything” series on my Instagram Stories lately, and one of the questions shocked me: “Are you a stay at home mom, or do you have childcare?” This one was confusing because I thought I openly share how we don’t do the daycare dance, or have a nanny, or anything like that. I’m the primary parent during work hours and dedicated to running my business too. As of writing this blog post, the grandparents have offered 1 day per week for me to get focused work, which we’re so thankful for! But with this question, I realized there may be a gap in what I’m sharing, specifically the routines I have as a stay at home and working mom. So that’s what we’re covering here: My typical stay at home mom routines, as they relate to how I run my business too.

Basically, how I get sh*t done as a working stay at home mama with 2 boys, 2 years apart in age.

My stay at home mom routines, as they relate to work

I could talk forever about all my stay at home mom routines. As the primary parent during work hours, there’s of course the responsibility of taking care of our boys. But I also try to get as much done around the house as possible during the work day, so when we both clock out for the day, my husband and I can both chill. While we split the chores 50/50 after we’re both done work for the day, there’s no need to make things drag into the evening. We’d rather have family time, or space to do whatever we want versus picking up after the day. So I know how to get sh*t done efficiently.

With that said, for the sake of this blog post, I’m going to focus on my stay at home mom routines as they relate to running my business.

We’ll cover things like:

• My take on routines in general, and what my expectations are for myself in this season of 2 littles 2 and under.
• How I fit things like working out and pursuing hobbies into my full schedule.
• Where I do household things like chores and meal prep around my work responsibilities and taking care of the babies.
• My work schedule currently, including things like how I schedule meetings with babies around.
• Productivity habits and rituals that help me show up better, like my morning routine and wind-down routine.
• Prioritization tricks so I know what to focus on and when.
• And how I stick with all of the above.

Context: Coming back to work after maternity leave

At the time of writing this, I’m 7 months postpartum and (working on) hitting the ground running again for my business. I’ve dabbled throughout the last few months, showing up when I feel like it or maintaining some client work. But my work has been done mostly in the windows of our life, in a no-pressure way.

Now, I’m ready to come back. And I’ve been given the opportunity of a small amount of time to do so. The goal is to get about 10 hours per week, with most of those happening on my 1 work day. I’m adamant about sticking to this schedule because I want to spend the majority of my time with my family. And I think business needs to fit around life… That’s why we start online businesses in the first place, right? For the flexibility. So that’s what I’m on a mission to maintain without sacrificing growth.

It honestly feels good to be back. And the last few months of dabbling have been a crash course in what works for me and my family. Now that we have this extra space, it makes a huge difference in how we feel at the end of the week too.

My take on stay at home mom routines, and routines in general…

I’m in a full season right now. I specifically say “full” because I want to avoid the negative connotations of “busy.” When we think of busy, we think overflowing with a tinge of overwhelm. But my tinge is one of reward. I feel so rewarded and grateful at the end of most days. Exhausted, yes of course. But mostly fulfilled and excited about everything that’s happening. It’s wild, to say the least.

That’s not to say things are perfect. Anything but that! It’s a work in progress, and the days that do feel harder than others are the ones that I try to force myself to follow a rigid routine. Or I pack my to-do list to be too long. That’s not realistic right now.

I need flexible, flowy, and fluid. Things that fit around my life. Habits that allow me to show up first for my family, raising 2 littles who are 2 and under right now, but also show up for myself and in my work.

Supportive. Ease. Freeing… These are ways I’d describe my current approach to routines in work and life. A lot of this has come from an adjustment of my expectations for myself. Before kids, I wasted so much time stressing about things that don’t matter and tweaking tiny details. Now, I know how to prioritize for effectiveness and results. I can change plans as needed.

Routines aren’t all or nothing

The most important thing to note here is that your efforts don’t need to be all or nothing. Your work routines and your stay at home mom routines won’t hit every single day. Some days you’ll miss a lot of the things you normally check off. But that’s okay. It’s important to shift your expectations so you don’t beat yourself up if some days don’t work out. I aim for most of the time versus all of the time.

For example, if I get to start a workout and make it 20 minutes, that’s a win. Even 10 minutes is better than nothing right now. Of course, it’s not ideal, but I’m still trying. And that effort, then follow through, matters more than checking off specific standards.

This mindset shift feels good for me. And if you’re in a position like I am, it might work for you too.

Must-dos in my stay at home mom routine

There’s a few things I try to always do, no matter how busy the day is with work and momming: Movement, daily maintenance around the house, my morning and wind-down routines, and meal prep (of course we need to eat). The level of which I do everything can change. Because, like I said, I need flexible right now.

Stay at home mom workout schedule

Movement is so important to me, and I’m reminded of this more when my habits start to slide. Also when I’m freshly postpartum and craving physical exercise again. 7 months postpartum, I’m starting to get back into the movement routines that feel good for me.

In general, my stay at home mom workout schedule is simple: I try to get 20-30 minutes of movement in each day. I’m improving here! I do this with the babies on good days, or when they’re napping if I need a refresh alone. If they’re with me, they’ll play around me, or I might wear the baby while lifting weights. My toddler likes to join in. I like to involve them and show them I take care of myself.

It’s not nearly as efficient as before kids, but it works right now and feels good to prioritize.

My typical workouts include:

• Walking/hiking
• Pilates (regular and restorative)
• Yoga
• Road biking
• Les Mills Bodypump
• Spin / Les Mills RPM
• Core restoration

I aim for daily movement, more intense and intentional exercise 5 x a week. Ideally, at least 20 minutes, but I’d prefer to increase this to 30-60 minute sessions. Something is better than nothing for now though! We generally hike weekly as a family, and go on walks together nearly daily. I also get to the gym at least once per week right now. I’d love to increase this frequency of gym time (I used to be there 5-6 x a week), but it’s easier to get to my basement setup than commuting to the gym right now.

My cleaning schedule as a working stay at home mom

I won’t bore you too much here, but it needs to be said! Babies make a lot of messes. Honestly, I probably spend more time cleaning up mashed bits of food on the floor than I do at my desk right now. So because of that, I break up the cleaning schedule into daily, weekly, and monthly-ish tasks.

Daily cleaning schedule:

• Kitchen open and closing routines to make life easier for myself.
• Laundry… yes, every day!
• Toy tidy. Everything goes away where it belongs before meals, naps, and bedtime. My oldest helps with this now.
• Garbage goes out daily… Nothing is left overflowing for tiny humans to mess with.
• Overall house tidy. We put things back where they belong when we’re finished, and I love that my husband and I align on this preference.
• Floors. There’s always crumbs to cleanup somewhere!

Weekly cleaning schedule:

• Floor deep clean.
• Bathrooms.
• The places that get neglected through the week!

My monthly cleaning schedule is more for deep cleaning specific rooms or spaces. Think: Baseboards, cabinets, etc.

I also try to do regular toy and book rotations to keep the boys entertained. All the toys in current use need to fit onto the shelf and storage space they have in their play areas. Everything else goes into storage for a while. This happens monthly-ish and has helped with engagement so much. We’re already fairly minimal people when it comes to toys, but this makes everything new and exciting when it’s rotated in and out.

How I meal prep as a working stay at home mom

Meal prep! This is a huge task, especially with a growing family. Right now I’m making 3 x variations of every meal and breastfeeding on demand. There’s the main meal, customized a bit for toddler tastes and food safety, and further changed for my youngest’s intro to solids. While we do a mix of homemade purees and baby-led weaning in order to get the boys eating as closely to the main meal as possible, there’s still extra work to be done to make it baby and toddler friendly.

Add in about 8 feeds per day… Feeding the family and meal prep takes up a lot of my life. So I need to have systems and routines to make this happen!

In general, meal prep looks like this:

• Monthly rough menu outlines. We have our favourites that happen weekly (like pizza, always), but like to try new things. So I look through new recipes and ones we love to build our main grocery shop for the month. We typically do 1 big online grocery order for pickup, restocking the pantry and freezer with this order too.
• Weekly, I curate a few dinners and breakfasts based on what’s in the house, what’s in season at the local market, and what we’re craving. From there, I can do a smaller weekly shop or hit up the farmers market. The goal is always to buy minimal things in the weekly shops to use up what we already have, and save time. Taking 2 babies to the store should be an Olympic sport, so I try to make it fast.
• When doing my weekly meal planning, I’ll either prep a few things the same day, or make a list of what needs to happen later in the week.
• Often, Sundays are when we put football on the TV and stay home while I do a few things in the kitchen. Lately, that looks like pre-cooking or marinating meats, mashing whole foods for baby food prep, mixing doughs, making healthy snacks like muffins and breadsticks. Yum! Anything to save time during the work week.
• Daily, I try to stay ahead. So in the evening, I might mix up something for breakfast the next day. Or dough that needs to rise for the next day.

I keep mentioning doughs here! I make 95% of our breads. Things like muffins, English muffins, cookies, waffles, pancakes, bread, naan, tortillas, crackers… All of this I make from scratch because we’re conscious of both ingredients and the cost of quality alternatives.

There are sometimes days throughout the week that I’ll make a double batch of dinner to freeze half for later. I either freeze this in small portions for just the baby and the toddler when we feel like grazing. Or a full freezer meal to pull out for all of us on a busy day.

My work schedule as a stay at home mom

This is what you probably came here for! How I work and what my work schedule looks like as a stay at home mom. I’ve tried a few different ways of working: Naptimes, before the baby wakes, after bed, before or after my husband’s work day. Some of these routines work, and some don’t. It depends on the season for us.

For example, right now I’m often up multiple times each night feeding the baby. So you will not see me setting an alarm to wake up early for work right now. It’s just not my turn for that, and that’s okay.

Before my second was born, the early mornings worked well for us. There was a sweet spot when my first was sleeping through the night, and I wasn’t yet too pregnant to set an alarm for an early work session. I know I’ll get back to that some day!

Currently, I get 1 day a week of grandparent care. Then the window hours around my husband’s work day as I need. The day is for all my focused work. Things like selling my offers and serving my clients.

Scheduling meetings with small kids around

My desk is in the playroom right now, which while a great decision also creates some complications sometimes. There are days where I take meetings in our bedroom because it’s a quick one that I don’t want to relocate for. Or meetings on a walk so I can multi-task.

Most importantly, I rely on a scheduler to help me save time with the back and forth. You can see my current list of tech tools I use in my business here. I have my scheduler set to allow specific blocks of time for different meetings types.

Given my situation these days, when scheduling, the type of meeting matters. Strategy meetings or coaching calls that require my full, focused attention get dedicated blocks. Quick check-ins or more administrative meetings might have babies playing in the background.

Sometimes, I walk the dog while taking meetings. Or I’ll take 1 baby on a stroller walk to the farmers market to pick up our produce for the week. Multi-tasking is a must for me!

It’s just about understanding the type of time I have available, and making the best fit. A lot of my meetings aren’t on my 1 work day each week, so I can keep that full day for focused work versus interrupting my flow.

Must-do self-care stay at home mom routines

Next, we need to talk about my self-care routines as a working stay at home mom! There’s a lot on my mind and to-do list, so I know I need to prioritize the things that help me feel good too. Those things are simple. Movement, of course. But also a simple check-in with myself 1-2 x a day. This manifests in the form of my morning routine and wind-down routine.

My stay at home mom morning routine

The funny thing about my morning routine right now is that it doesn’t often happen in the morning. At least not first thing. Because I’m not setting an alarm at the moment, the babies wake me. When they’re up, they need my attention. So I get ready for the day quickly, usually in athletic wear so I can squeeze in a workout somewhere.

My morning routine happens when I have 20 minutes of quiet time. That might be when the babies are playing independently, or when they nap. What matters less than the time this happens throughout the day is that it happens at all.

My morning routine includes things that are good for my mental and physical health, and focus: Reading something (anything!), free journaling, gratitude practice, and stretching on my yoga mat. The most important thing I stick to every day is no socials before 8am. I don’t open my phone immediately these days, and that’s a relief.

My wind-down routine as a stay at home mom

Some days, I’m on all day. My smart watch tells me I’m running at max for the entire day, chasing the boys, getting shit done around the house, sprinkling work throughout… So my wind-down routine is crucial. The days I skip a quiet check-in before bed always result in a poorer sleep because my mind is spinning still.

My wind-down routine happens after the babies are in bed for the night and includes:

• Skincare, and shower if I haven’t yet while watching a video on YouTube, listening to an audiobook, or a podcast.
• No social media after 8pm (weekends I sometimes break this rule).
• Sometimes more journaling on the day, or a yoga session or light postpartum recovery exercises.

I also started meditating recently… REALLY trying to dedicate myself to this. I think it’s helping calm my brain after a full day so far, so I’ll stick with it for now.

Your daily routines don’t need to look like mine. For example, I pushed back on meditating for years, but now it feels like a good time to start for me. You get to decide what your schedule looks like.

My weekly prioritization routine

The reason why I’m able to juggle all of the things, make progress on my goals while also maintaining the house and raising our babies is because of this weekly prioritization. Every week, usually on Sundays, I go through everything on my list:

• Work to-dos, projects, etc.
• House to-dos, bills, reno projects
• Meal planning
• Home inventory
• Errands
• Playdates to plan, and other kids events
• Appointments
• Friends and family get togethers

I make sure all of the important dates and times are in either my calendar or our family shared calendar. I check the status of work projects and basically line everything up so each day, my tech tells me what I need to remember. When you’re running on little sleep like I am nursing a baby all night long, you need those reminders!

How to stick with routines as a stay at home mom

If you’ve made it this far and you’re wondering how you’re going to juggle everything or stick to new routines you try… You’re not alone. It’s a lot! Mothering and running a business at the same time is hard, but you can do it. I know you can.

The biggest thing to remember is that you need to be realistic with your expectations, and kind to yourself. Try things to see what works for you and your family. It’s okay if not everything works. Try again tomorrow, or next week. Just stay disciplined with the things that do work because you’ll feel better for it.

Sometimes the things that are good for us feel hard to stick with until they become habits. It’s about repeatedly deciding how you want to live and who you want to be. Every day. Over and over again.

Resources to get started designing your work around life

To wrap up, I have a resource for you to imagine the possibilities for yourself. First, if you’re already running a business and want to grow that impact in fewer hours, check out the 6-Figure Schedule. This is a look at my actual schedule to help you see that it is possible to have both. All. Learn more here.