I always love seeing “a day in the life” posts so today I’m sharing what a “day in the life” working and blogging full time looks like for me. The most asked question I get always revolves around my schedule and how I “do it all” (by the way, I always smile and laugh a little at that because while yes, I do do a lot, I don’t do everything at once, and I love everything I do, so it doesn’t feel like I’m “doing it all” and sometimes I feel like a hot mess and like I’m not doing enough).
5:00 AM
- Wake up, go downstairs and review to-dos for the day, look at goals/vision board, and quickly look at/check emails for work/blog/personal and turn on a podcast or book to listen to as I get ready (shower or just skin care makeup and hair).
- After I had the twins (same thing happened with Ben) I got into the routine of not waking up as early because I’d be waking up when I fed them in the middle of the night. As of a few weeks ago, I started waking up early again because I love the peace and quiet for a little bit before everyone else wakes up and it’s been great.
- Depending on what time Ben wakes up and how quick I am getting ready, I may even have 10-15 minutes to work on a creative project (something like reviewing/writing down ideas for a project or looking through a magazine) or just catching up on responding to Instagram or social media messages.
6:00 am
- Ben/Nick wake up and Nick brings Ben downstairs and we play/read books (sometimes…gasp…we turn on the tv and watch the news), he’s been waking up earlier lately (so it’s more like 5:45) which I’m really hoping stops soon. Twins usually wake up around 6 as well, so we change them, bring them downstairs and feed them.
6:30 am
- We have breakfast (or I pack something ‘to go’ that I can eat in the car – usually I have a cup of iced coffee with sweet cream in it and a freezer breakfast sandwich I’ve warmed (my favorite freezer breakfast sandwich recipe is in my 5-ingredient cookbook!).
- Ben eats a little something (like an egg cup or a banana muffin) because he gets a small ‘snack’/breakfast at school (we call daycare “school”).
- Between 6-7 I’m also packing bags (a work lunch for Nick and I (this is his fave lately) and a diaper bag to have just in case, and my work purse, and a bag full of Ben’s snow clothes…so many bags) and trying to get Ben changed and ready for school. Curious as to what I’m wearing? Here are my basics (fall/winter)
- We’re working on potty training Ben, so usually there’s some combination of me asking him if he has to use the potty and me chasing him around or reading him a book – while holding one of the twins.
- It’s a little chaotic
6:48 am
- Babysitter for the twins arrives, don’t ask me why but she comes at 6:48 like clockwork lol, we have a babysitter for the twins most of the week and a day of ‘school’ for them as well.
7:00 am
- I take Ben to school and take him into school and say goodbyes, check Insta in the parking lot after dropping him off, upload a story or two, then head over to work (my work is 2 minutes away from his school).
8:00 am
- Start work, it’s very busy, tons of to dos. I keep really good lists and try to stay focused.
- Check in on twins and Ben (love technology – Ben’s school has an app where you can see a report on what he’s eating or when he uses the bathroom and sometimes pictures of what he’s doing – my fave!)’
- This is the working full time part!
12:00 pm
- Lunch. I check in on blog emails and social media, and if there is a post that had been scheduled ahead for the day, I make sure it went live.
- Here are some work lunch ideas (I pack us lunch pretty much every day – in fact, I can’t remember the last time I ate out)
- Usually I get interrupted during lunch with something at work (like unloading a pallet which happened yesterday or a phone meeting which happened today)
4:00 pm
- Leave work and go pick up Ben
- We chat in the car on the way home and he tells me about his day, I love this time with him. He also runs to me and says “mama mama mama here” when I go into the classroom and it melts my heart. The other kids in his class call me “Ben K.’s mom” when they see me in the hallways and it’s too cute. Also, his teacher at school write on the white-board outside their room about what they learned and I always read it to know what to ask him about.
- One day a week I do drop off/pick up with the twins at daycare and it is a whole thing that takes way more time because I have to take them in and out of the car and put them in the stroller and then navigate them into the building, and if it’s snowed they usually haven’t shoveled the part of the sidewalk where I would move the stroller easily so it’s a lot of moving things over snow and then I have to take them out and settle them in their classroom by the end of pick up/drop off I’m sweating (they each way 15+ lbs, plus 8 lb carriers – about 50 lbs total)
5:00 pm
- Get home and play with the kids, another one of my favorite moments of the day.
- Make dinner or warm up dinner. Lately it’s either been a quick meal from my 5 ingredient cookbook, a meal delivery kit or a freezer meal. Freezer meals/freezer cooking and making meals ahead has been a total game changer/life saver. Otherwise we’d be having take out like every night because at 5:30 babies need to be fed.
5:30 pm
- Feed twins (I’m working my way through my baby food cookbook)
- Family has dinner
- Babies have a bottle
6:00 PM
- We take kids upstairs (to their twins and a toddler shared bedroom)
- We give them baths, read them books, put them to bed. Ben tries to stall by saying things like (“me awake” “need water” “me play”…or the one that pulls at your heartstrings “me need a hug”…what are you going to say to that, the answer is always YES and he knows it lol).
6:30 PM
- Nick and I come downstairs and look at the mess that has been created in the last 2 hours and let out a sigh lol.
- Nick is beyond helpful and we clean a little/talk about our day, watch a little TV
7:30 PM
- I’ll either grab my computer and come to the couch or go into my small home office and work!
- This is my primary time I get stuff done, when the kids are in bed
- I post daily to my Instagram around 7 pm ish, so between 7-7:30 I’m on Instagram, then I get into other blog work.
- I do a lot of ‘batch work’ where I’ll do a bunch of the same task at the same time, so I’m not all over the place.
- Working on the blog means: writing blog posts/developing recipes/testing recipes/taking and editing photos/styling photos/taking and editing videos/scheduling social media posts/responding to comments/writing my newsletter/creating content and content ideas/doing follow up and working with others/researching how to do something/and the million other things that go into blogging and being a business owner!
- Nick and I talk, he’s the best sounding board
10:30 PM
- Bedtime – it’s gotten later and later lately because I’m working on so many cool things and lose track of time, so I need to work on getting this a little earlier.
Work from home day:
- One day a week I work form home. It’s glorious and gives me roughly an extra 2 hrs work time where normally I would be in the car and dropping off/picking up at school.
- I get so much done on my work from home days.
- I usually have a meeting at the house or go to a meeting I normally wouldn’t be able to go to.
- On work from home days it’s more relaxed and I have breakfast with the kids and I also have lunch with them.
- Ben likes to come in to my office and he’s so sweet, he knows he has to be quiet and he does a good job keeping himself occupied (by looking through cookbooks and bringing in his toys and laying on the floor and lounging, he just brings in a blanket and pillow and it’s the cutest thing ever.) I’ll be on phone meetings all morning and he’ll just be quietly behind me.
A few things to mention:
- I work full time running operations of a natural products company, have a very full time blogging business, and love spending time with my family (I’m mom to boy-girl twins and a 2 1/2 year old toddler-so three kids under three-see Catching Up With The Kelnhofers)
- One of these days, I’ll be sharing this “a day in the life: weekend edition” because while working weekdays are very full, there’s also the weekend days I work during kids nap times or where I have a photography day so I’ll share what that looks like.
- I absolutely LOVE learning new things. As you can see from above, I listen to about 2 hrs of “stuff” a day…that’s 10 hrs a week.
- I’m all about small progress. In my office, I have a sign hanging that says ‘Big things happen one day at a time.” I’m such a huge believer in that. If you’re working on something doing a little something each day, it adds up to a lot.
- Cheesy – but I try to be ‘forgiving’ if something I want to get done doesn’t get done. Yes, I get frustrated at myself, but I try to keep things in perspective. For example, the world isn’t going to end (and probably no one will even notice) if instead of getting a post published on a Friday I get it posted on a Sunday. I’d rather spend that few extra few minutes with my family.
- BIG NOTE: I’m blessed with three kids that sleep through the night and share a room so when they’re in bed I get to work, and I’m blessed to have the most wonderful husband in the world and awesome people around me who make all this possible.
- I feel like I’m so much more focused and productive since having kids because I know I’ll have 2 or 3 hours to do something vs 8 hrs.
- I literally have to set timers to stop working because I love it and get lost in it.
Hope you’ve enjoyed reading what a “day in the life” working and blogging full time looks like for me. Did anything surprise you?
Alice says
Honey, you really need to sleep more. Sleep is important! You might get a little less done, but it is so important for your health. I know the quiet morning hours are your only time to hear yourself think, but an extra half hour of snooze time would make a world of difference to you in the long run.
Sweetphi says
Thank you thank you for your super sweet comment. I couldn’t agree more! This past week I tried to go to bed a little earlier. I know it’s a busy season in my life, but I’m definitely trying to be more cognoscente of how much sleep I’m getting because like you said – it definitely makes a world of difference.