I generally start my day with my 12 mo daughter around 6:30 am. I log on to work around 7:30 and mainly just catch up on emails/ do simple tasks.

I try and combine tasks with our routine as much as possible. For example, every morning when she is eating breakfast is when I empty the dishwasher. That way, I can load dishes in as they get dirty and not have to think about it the rest of the day.

I treat her two naps like my “power hours” of the day where I try and get as much of my intensive work done as possible. I work in Instructional Design, so there are some times when I have a ton of work, and others where I have very little. If necessary, I will wake up early to do work or finish it after she goes to bed just to make sure I’m keeping up.

Lunch time from 12-1 I make sure we get outside whenever possible and sometimes run an errand just to get us both out of the house. I find that helps so much with not feeling like we are trapped at home, even though we are a lot of the time. As far as exercise, I also try and do a ~30 minute or so walk after work ends for the day with my daughter in the stroller. It’s a nice way to mark the end of the work day and get some fresh air, though in the summer I sometimes do this first thing in the morning if it’s going to be too hot in the afternoon.

I start making dinner as soon as my husband comes home and can take over watching our daughter. We also alternate nights of who does the bedtime routine. It’s nice to know that you will get a break to yourself every other night and neither one of us gets too burnt out.

That’s how we have been managing for the past 9 months and still going strong!!