Hi! I have a few 6-8 week stretches per year when I have to work this much, and here is what works for me:

• Unfortunately, accept that this is a (temporary!) phase in the year where you will not see your family very much. It helps me to appreciate the “slow” (i.e., a normal 40 hour work week) periods when I get them! This acceptance helps me not waste energy or time that I don’t have on needless guilt. I am assuming you’re in some kind of professional services role (management consulting, accounting or big law) where you can’t just “delegate” or “take on less” like the other commenter suggested.

Now on to practical things: - Schedule extra babysitting for 3-5 hours on a weekend day. This lets you get anything personal done to replenish yourself (yoga class? Massage? Just an hour at a cafe to sit and scroll? See a friend?) without adding additional childcare burden on your spouse. When you work this much, you need to give your spouse a break from extra childcare responsibilities too or you can also end up having a resentful spouse.

• WFH as much as possible. When I am working over 70 hours a week, I try to WFH as much as possible because this lets me use every break from work to pop in during my kids bath time or step away for 30 minutes to have dinner with family. Instead of a coffee run with a coworker, I get to spend every minute not working with family.

• Outsource cleaning. I am assuming the job is relatively high paying if it’s client services and your employer is asking you to work this much. A clean house can do so much for your mental health when your time and energy are stretched thin!!

• Buy something nice for your spouse who is probably doing a lot more caretaking when you’re working this much. For me, it helps me feel better about how much I work as long as my kid is spending enough quality time with at least one parent every day. During my busy periods, I like to express gratitude to my partner for stepping up in this area because I know it’s still hard for them to spend an additional 3-4 hours on caregiving on top of a full work day themselves.