I thought to myself, “There is no way on earth I could possibly fit anything else into my life right now without my head exploding.” After all, I was juggling being a stay-at-home parent to two toddler boys (as any parent knows, that is a full-time job), cooking for my family of 4, and managing a household. Additionally, my husband was in graduate school, and working full-time. Needless to say, I was taking on a lot, alone. Although I was feeling overwhelmed with responsibilities, I knew I wanted more out of my life. Not more dishes, not more stress, but I wanted to contribute in a fulfilling way, and I wanted to travel eventually.
I made a decision, standing in my living room and gazing out the window — I was going to take action and pursue something that would give me a sense of accomplishment, and make it possible for my family to see the world. My brother and father had been successful with branches of software development, and I dabbled with HTML in high school creating websites for my friends. Why not me? Why couldn’t I take control of my life in a way that felt right to me, and become a developer too? Well, I could, and I did.
I knew I needed to get organized and shape my life around my goals, starting with my schedule. I read about the schedules of people in powerful positions, like Barack Obama, for example, and adjusted my life accordingly.
Here is what that looks like as it fits into my life.
- 7 am — Wake up!
My alarm goes off. I have a sleep analysis app on my phone to remind me of my bedtime so I get at least 8 hours of sleep. If we’re being real, I shoot for 8.5 hours so I don’t feel like a zombie (my spirit animal is a sloth, I’m sure). My kids come into our bedroom and we cuddle with sleepy eyes for at least 10 more minutes.
- 7:20am — Exercise and Breakfast
Doesn’t matter what kind of exercise, it only matters that I get out of bed and exercise before anything else. I’ve skipped this step on a few days, and when 12pm rolls around, I’m falling asleep at my computer. Keeping this consistent is crucial for sustained energy and productivity. After this I skip coffee, drink water instead, and start breakfast for the kids. We take breakfast seriously to keep mentally alert and energized, and avoid meltdowns. After breakfast, I set them up with some quiet playtime.
- 9am — Morning Work Session
Morning Work Session begins. This is when I really crank it into high gear as far as efficiency goes. I get my best work done first thing in the morning when I haven’t made too many mentally draining, parent related decisions yet. During this time I work on my code, and keep going until my kids bump heads: *bang* *crash* *yell* — Up I go to address that… solved? Okay, back at it.
- 12:30pm — Lunch/Cleanup/Nap
A reminder goes off on my iPhone around noon, which signals it’s time to make lunch and get the kids cleaned up and ready for their nap. We eat lunch together, something simple, usually a sandwich with fruit and vegetables or leftovers. Afterward, I usher them into washing their hands and cleaning up their playroom. Then it is off to their beds for nap. My kids will end up staying awake and talking to each other for this block of time unless I am physically in the room, which was a problem. I solved for this by taking my work chair and plopping it down to code while they fall asleep. And bonus — they love having me in the room with them.
- 2pm — Afternoon Work Session
Sometimes, if their sleeping faces are just too sweet to leave, I stay in the room and continue working until they wake up. During this time, my pace usually slows, and I secretly wish I was napping with them (not so secret anymore).
- 4pm — Make Dinner/Eat Dinner/Cleanup
I start to make dinner; usually a meal that I planned the last week and shopped for ahead of time. Planning my meals for the week saves me a ton of time and headache when dinner rolls around. Sometime during the cooking process, my babe gets home from work. We all eat together, and he gets the cleanup. This is also the block of time where we all clean the house together.
- 6pm — Evening Work Session (Optional)
I save this chunk of time to finish any uncompleted tasks from the first two sessions in my day. But I’m usually productive enough during those times that I end up spending the evening with my family. Sometimes we play Candy Land, Pie Face, watch a “family movie” (as my kids call it), or play Forza together.
- 8pm — Bedtime
We usually start the bedtime process at 7:30pm. My husband does reading and math practice with them, and they are in bed with a story by 8pm. After they are in bed, we flip on meditation music for white noise, and I spend some necessary time with my honey. We drink wine, eat chocolate, play Monopoly, play Skyrim, or watch one of my sappy tv shows. Lights out by 10:30pm to get a full 8.5 hours of sleep!
The one thing we do well, even with our copious amounts of work and heavily uniformed days, is balance. When we work hard, we play just as hard. We value the time we have as a family, and we support each other in our goals. When needed we shut off our electronics, and align ourselves with the intention of pouring into each other. Without harmony in our home, our structure and goals would not be possible, or at least, not nearly as enjoyable and fulfilling.
This structure is how I am able to juggle life as a developer, a full time parent, wife, house manager, and have somewhat of a social life. This is also the platform we will continue to rise from, and accomplish our short and longterm goals. It won’t be so busy when my husband graduates, but for now, this keeps me sane.
‘’If you have a positive attitude and constantly strive to give your best effort, eventually you will overcome your immediate problems and find you are ready for greater challenges.’’
- Pat Riley
