I wasn’t sure if anyone would be interested in an update on what my daily routine as a blogger looks like now Miles is a year old, but an Instagram poll proved me wrong. (These are my people as I’m totally keen to know what goes on behind the scenes of a blog, especially if there is an unpredictable little one in the mix!)
I thought to be most accurate I’d share exactly what I get up to today (Monday) but wanted to clarify that by no means are all days created equal. Miles had a virus last week, he hardly ate or slept, and as a consequence neither did we. For a few days, the focus was all about getting him better and getting through the days, opening my laptop was the last thing on my mind.
I should also say that I don’t always work every day of the week – I guess the beauty of being my own boss is that if I have no deadlines and would rather spend the day taking Miles to visit my sister and nephews, I can do that too.
But below is reflective of our standard routine and an indication of how I get work done while also being a stay-at-home mum.
PS Writing anything involving parenting makes me super nervy as I’m totally just winging it. I don’t want anyone to think I’m saying this is how you should do things, I’m just sharing my reality at the minute. If things are sounding too much like I have my shizz together, just scroll down to the end section to see all the things I’m failing at!
A day in the life of a blogger with a baby
7.00 Get up. I usually have to wake Miles or else he will happily sleep until gone 8 but if I let him do that it makes it harder to get 2 naps in. So, on weekdays I try to start our day around 7.00 in order to stick to a more regular routine. He has some milk, a play, we both have brekkie and then he goes back to bed.
9.00 – 10.30/11.00 This is my first working window of the day. First I have a quick shower, bung a load of laundry in the washing machine and tidy anything up I didn’t get to when Miles was awake.
On a Monday I tend to be planning content, scheduling social media and loading up pins on Tailwind. Today I did the above and then started writing this post. I honestly amaze myself how much I can get done in this time compared to what I used to achieve in a whole day of working prior to having a baby.
As my working hours are much less I have had to strip back what I do and don’t do in terms of promoting new blog posts and updating old ones though. I’m on social media a lot less, which isn’t necessary a bad thing, but I have noticed that doing less work on SEO and revising old posts than I used to has meant my page views stagnated a little over the past few months. I want to carve out more time for this in future.
Read also: How I make money travel blogging
11.00 Miles wakes up (today he went down at 9.00 and woke at 11.15) and I get him washed and dressed. During the next few hours we’ll do a mix of playing, going to the park, popping to the shops and having lunch together.
2 days a week we do music-based classes because Miles loves all things singing and instruments. (For UK mums these classes are Music With Mummy and Hartbeeps. We used to do a sensory class too but Miles kept trying to leave the room!)
I’m a huge fan of Music With Mummy – a 30-minute burst of song and actions – and feel like a fish out of water at Hartbeeps as it involves more imaginative play, sensory and the odd bit of dress up for the parents. (I know I’m a killjoy.) I love the way these classes break up the week though and teach us new songs and games to play at home. After class we might do a coffee or lunch with another mum and bub, and then it’s back home for the next nap time.
Wednesdays are slightly different as (since earlier this month) my mum has been watching Miles for me from 10am to 1pm. I’ve started to take on freelance writing commissions again and, as babies sleeping habits can be unpredictable, my mum has Miles for these hours so I know I can get that work done no matter what happens. I tend to head to a café and write solidly for 3 hours and in my world that’s a little slice of bliss! I have a cup of coffee while it’s still hot and work uninterrupted for the longest stretch I’ll get all week. Afterwards, I head home for lunch with my mum and reassurance from Miles that he missed me. (I’m so needy!)
14.30 – 16.00 Miles has some milk and hopefully another sleep. If he’s woken up late and/or slept for over 2 hours in the morning he may skip this nap but usually he’s pretty ready for a lie down by now. (On the day of writing this he went down at 14.25 and woke at 16.00.) On a good day he’ll sleep until 16.00 and I’ll be finishing off tasks and editing any words I’ve written that morning while he sleeps.
16.00 – 17.00 AKA the longest hour that ever existed. On days Miles doesn’t have an afternoon nap we fill this time with play dates, messy play or soft play and it passes much more quickly, but we mostly play at home at the minute doing lots of different indoor activities for babies.
17.00 – 19.00 I start cooking Miles’ dinner, do his bath (scrub food from his hair/ears etc), he has another play, we read some books, then it’s bottle and bedtime.
19.00 I have my dinner once Miles is in bed. (Usually something I’ve cooked earlier or can just bung in the oven like these delicious vegan AllPlants meals* we are having delivered at the minute.)
*Not an ad but this is a referral code. Genuinely love these meals if you haven’t seen them on my Insta.
Justin works in London and isn’t home until 19.30/20.00 most weekdays so we often eat separately (sadly) as I’ll be starving by this point. If he’s not back until late I’ll crack open my laptop and keep busy, but I try not to work evenings as my brain is like fudge by then.
If Justin is working from home, he’ll take over at bath time and in that case I might do a bit of work around 6pm, if I’m not lying on the rug complaining about sore limbs. (Seriously, how physical is it taking care of a toddler!?)
On the day I wrote this diary I put Miles to bed at 7 as usual but could see on the monitor he spent about 15 mins struggling to settle. He then started grizzling and sucking his fingers and, long story short, I worked through the teething tacklers of Bongela, granules, Nurofen and distraction before he finally fell asleep at 8.
20.00 – 22.00 Box-sets, books, a cheeky Crème Egg and bed for me.
Things I’d like to include in my daily routine as a stay-at-home-freelancing-mum person
Please don’t take my example of a fairly productive Monday as reflective of everyday. You’ll also notice that while I get to spend some decent time working on my blog and playing with my son, my daily routine misses out a lot of things that I really should be incorporating.
These are some things I suck at/keep skipping at the minute:
Exercise – Apart from brisk walks to parks, classes and coffee shops I just don’t have the opportunity to work out like I used to. We’re currently in the process of buying a house, and I’m working on getting my driving license, and once these things are ticked off I’d love to add a regular yoga class or swim into the evening or weekend routine when Justin can watch the baby.
Emails – I struggle to stay on top of my inbox. I scan it all the time and am very responsive if I get a clear brief/enquiry from a client, but I also delete a lot of emails that feel like they would take too long to unpick.
Accounting – I used to be super organised about tracking all my income and expenses as and when they came in, but I seem to be behind now. All the time.
Mum stuff – I don’t do some of the extra mum stuff very well. I’ve been intending to send thank you notes for Miles birthday for weeks, haven’t printed a photobook since he was 6 months old and wrapped his birthday presents in leopard print paper as that was all I had in.
Ironing – Technically, I don’t suck at it, I just don’t do it!
So that’s where we’re at this week. Who knows what the routine will look like in a couple of months from now. Can any stay-at-home-and-freelancing mums relate?
You might also like:
How I’m balancing blogging with a baby (4 months in)
Newborn essentials: baby items we actually use
Such a fun age: Life with a 14 month old baby
24 thoughts on becoming a first time mum
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