I’ve really been struggling with managing my time effectively lately. I feel like I’m not giving Olive, Charlie, Mr. Bee or work enough time. And cooking and chores are taking up too much of my time even though I hardly cook, and the apartment is never clean enough. In a recent post, I said that I give Olive 35%, work 35%, Charlie 20%, house stuff 10%, and Mr. Bee 0%. But I wanted to know exactly where my time was going, so I broke down a typical weekday before Charlie was born, after Charlie was born, and after Olive was born. This is what I came up with:
Before Charlie (no kids):
Work – 11 hours (46%)
Sleep – 8 hours (33%)
TV/Internet/Blogging – 2 hours (8%)
Mr. Bee – 2 hours (8%)
Dishes/Laundry/Cleaning/Eating – 1 hour (4%)
After Charlie, Before Olive (1 kid):
Work – 9 hours (38%)
Sleep – 7 hours (29%)
Charlie – 4 hours (17%)
TV/Internet/Blogging – 2 hours (8%)
Dishes/Laundry/Cleaning – 1 hour (4%)
Cooking /Eating – 1 hour (4%)
After Olive (2 kids):
Sleep – 7 hours (29%)
Olive – 6 hours (25%)
Work – 5 hours (21%)
Charlie – 3 hours (13%)
TV/Internet – 1 hour (4%)
Dishes/Laundry/Cleaning – 1 hour (4%)
Cooking /Eating – 1 hour (4%)
Launching Hellobee has been very different than launching my last site when I didn’t have any kids. I’m working half as much as I used to, I have and need a lot more help, and I’ve cut out Mr. Bee and personal time. I’m not sure where I can cut back to be able to work more hours unless I give Olive formula, but that’s not something I’m ready to do at this point. Trying to achieve a great family/work/life balance is a constant struggle, and I always feel like I’m just not doing enough in every area of my life. I know things will get easier as Olive gets older, but for now I’m just going to have to keep on trying harder.
How do you divide your days as far as work, childcare, household duties, personal time and time with your SO?
pear / 1852 posts
I have no idea how much time I devote to anything right now, I know I waste a lot of time commuting to work on the bus. I do wonder how I’ll juggle everything once the baby comes, but luckily around here you get about a year of maternity leave, so i’ll have lots of time to figure it out!
hostess / papaya / 10540 posts
Sometimes I just don’t know where the time goes. Working moms, especially ones that work as hard as you, always amaze me so much!
GOLD / wonderful coffee bean / 18478 posts
Amazing that you are still getting all that sleep. That is the most important thing!
admin / watermelon / 14210 posts
@andrea – if i get 6 hours at night, i usually take a nap in the day. i need my sleep!
pomegranate / 3053 posts
I have no idea how much time I spend on each…but I somehow manage to get the important things done. However, I’m exhausted at the end of each day…totally exhausted! I definitely need a nap in the middle of the day to give me some energy in the evenings though.
pomelo / 5866 posts
When I saw your board post about percentages, i found myself in a similar boat. I was motivated to make some changes almost immediately. First of all, I felt much less guilty about using paper plates. Then, I chose to go to the local (slightly more expensive) grocery store, instead of the one down the hill for a few items. I actually found a bunch of things on sale there. Best of all, Hubs and I had an amazing QT (read: ST) and follow-up family time. I also made a point to eat out at our local (also on the pricier side) restaurant *but ordered cheap* and vowed to eat out more often to save cleaning and multiply family time. Time is so precious, isn’t it!?
wonderful pomelo / 30692 posts
Thanks for posting this, Mrs. Bee! I’d be interested in seeing what Mr. Bee’s percentages are before Charlie, after Charlie, after Olive to see how they correlate with yours!
apricot / 260 posts
Since my husband is in grad school, if I have time for him, he doesn’t have the time for me. I can’t even imagine what a second child would do to us. We are starting a business, so that’s a whole other level.
pea / 19 posts
some days, i just need to veg out. luckily hubs will allow me to do that with minimal complaints. there are other days when i have to work more than i would like, so the kid time gets reduced (which i hate). but i would say that my typical day = 7 hrs sleep, .5 hr getting ready, 1.5 hours commuting, 8.5 hours work including lunch, 3 hrs cooking, cleaning, playing w kids, 1 hr bath and bedtime. i honestly have NO idea where the other 2.5 hours go – some tv, some reading, but i dont think i do that much of either on a day to day basis. hmmmmmm? where DOES the day go?
GOLD / pomelo / 5167 posts
this is interesting, i’ve never really calculated it like that, but I’m sure it will be very similar to you (minus the work… seeing I work automatically 8 hours a day – when not on mat leave)
persimmon / 1255 posts
I have no idea where the day goes but at the end of the day, I’m lucky if I’ve checked off 3 items on my list of 10 or so to do’s.
olive / 54 posts
i worry about this when baby #2 comes… right now we’re getting help from both sets of parents. next year we’re not. it’s going to be interesting to know how much time i can spend with family since i’m at the office for about 10 hrs.
kiwi / 718 posts
I worry about this as well, once baby gets here. I’m going to have to go back to work after, which I really don’t want to, but what do you do? And the husbone has a crazy hours job where he has to be various places at various hours & there is not consistency, plus he is going to school, so that will automatically take out 2 week nights from us, not including homework & study time. it’ll all work out in the end, though!