DO you have a set time that you "work"?

[Free Thinker]

I know all mamas never stop working, but do you have a set time everyday, or every other day that you sit down and do only paperwork? Today I had to get a babysitter b/c I am so far behind. My baby refuses to take naps, and likes to have lots of attention all day long. So for the last 3 months I have only did payroll, weekly tickets, writing checks and balancing the checkbook. Even that is a challenge sometimes, and DH has to keep DD alot of the time. I need to get my expense and income notebooks up to date, and also figure out what the business owes me.

Oh,. and the babysitter was DH's cousin, and she just kept DD entertained in the living room, I was only about 20 feet away I don't want to have to take her to a sitter. Also, my MIL has been coming over to play w/ her a few times a week so I can work, but she is a teacher and goes back to work next month.

Any good tips on finding time, or scheduling your day would be appreciated

[mamaluvs3girls]

I do most of my paperwork at night after the kids have gone to bed. DD hates it when I'm on the computer so I do most of my stuff early in the morning, during naps, and later at night.

[Rebecca]

I work when Sean is sleeping. I still get a 3 hr nap from him in the afternoon and he sleeps all night. I had a mother's helper coming once in a while, but the most convenient time for her was when he was asleep (after school hours), but I really didn't need her then. I also would get lots done on wkends when dh ws around to play with Sean.

Right now I'm not doing much of anything.. Newly preg and sick as a dog. Customers have been understanding, but still it stresses me out a bit to have basically nothing to show for weeks at a time. I just want to sleep (or vomit) all the time.

[carminex]

I need a sitter to get anything done. I am too tired at night (pregnant and chasing a 23 month old all day!) I prefer mornings to work and afternoon to spend w/ DD. Usually 2-3 mornings a week.

[Colorful~Mama]

yes

right now its ONLY 106 degrees during the day. compared to 117 last week. so i only work early in the a.m. and after the sun goes down at night. I tiedye / hand dye and i work outside cuz its just too messy indoors. lol. so i work before my kiddos wake up or after they're in bed.

as for marketing, paperwork, wrapping orders, washing and drying and folding tiedye - i can do all that in the house and while my kids play for the most part. I have an almost 3 yr old and i babysit an 18mo old. They play together beautifully. If i'm doign the laundry we're in the back room whcih is the girls playroom and i set them up with blocks, or dolls or coloring. If i'm wrapping orders i give them tape and tissue paper and they "wrap" stuff too. If i'm on the puter i try to do that when the 18mo old is napping and my 3 year old is having 'quiet time' (ie. books, movies, coloring while the little one sleeps).

all this will change soon tho. I'm on maternity leave right now, so just dyeing some last orders and trades. then the baby will come and my schedule will change again. lol. most likely i'll work on the puter when he's nursing and outside when he's sleeping.

once it cools off a bit my toddler likes to come out and watch me d ye and do sidewalk chalk or other outdoor stuff while i work. but is so hot right now i just try to do it wh en she's asleep

[HeatherSanders]

Well, this fluctuates slightly, but not by much if it all gets done.

I get up at 5:30 to check the boards here and to catch up on emails that came in during the evening hours. Then, I balance the books from the previous day.

Kenny usually wakes at 6:30 to eat and so I nurse him back down and usually get busy with researching/writing for articles and the like. I do inventory in the early hours too - if that needs to be done. That way it is quiet while I'm trying to figure out what orders I need.

By 7:30 or 8:30 the girls are up and so is Kenny so we do breakfast and all of that and I get them settled in an activity. Phone starts ringing after 9:00 and we answer it from 9:00 to 5:00 here in the office. I am off and on the computer all day between tasking with my kiddos.

After lunch - around 2:00 ish, I start packing the day's shipments (usually Kenny is in his 2nd nap and the girls are having 'rest' time). I also will return phone calls I missed at this hour.

Shipments go out at 4:30 or 5:00 for the day's postal run.

At 5:00 I stop answering the phone and rarely answer e-mails unless I have a quick short answer or am waiting for a reply on a thread here!

It is really full-time hours worked throughout a really FULL DAY! HA!

[maddysmommy]

Man am I impressed with how early you get up Heather! I rarely get up before Maddy (she gets out of bed around 7-8, tho today it was 9:15 and I was up before her!) When I'm preparing for a big show or festival (a few months ago I double fired 3 kiln loads in a week!), I need babysitting help, but mostly I'm in the studio after dh gets done with work. He works from home too so mostly if I need to I can get a couple good hours a day. My biggest problem is marketing etc, doing phone calls and go-sees because Maddy doesn't nap consistently and it's hard to be business-y during the right hours. I'm actually investigating hiring an agent/promoter (who's also a friend lol) to help with that stuff as I'm not really getting much work in the market right now. I'm lucky i don't have to support us right now, but I hope by the time Maddy is in school I have a full-time work load with my art.

Leah

[twirlgirl]

I used to have our sitter take the boys every friday morning while Cassidy was in preschool. But schools out, and I see no point in paying her as much as she charges for all three kids when I can just work when the kids are sleeping.

I'm not a schedule driven person. If I have a strict schedule, I'm doomed to screw it up So we're a fly by the seat of our pants sort of family, yet everything always finds a way of getting done, even though sometimes its at 4AM!

[twirlgirl]

And I forgot to mention...
About scheduling..I've tried different methods and all worked to some degree, but again, I'm not a schedule person. Its REALLY hard to keep a schedule with three very active children all under the age of 5

Franklin planners or any type of day planner. A friend once suggested it and how it chaged her life. I tried it and it worked for a while, but I wasnt good about opening it, first thing every day and maintaining what had been completed. It has worked wonders for her though and she sticks to her schedule. Shes actually quite obsessive about her planner LOL

Calendar planners on your computer. This worked the best for me by far because I spend so much time on my laptop.
I have a macintosh, so I use one called iCal that is excellent. I keep all important dates, meetings, etc in there and can set it with alarms to go off up to three days before the event. I can also set it to email me reminders (I think yahoo also has this in their calender feature, and my DH used it before he got his second brain, err...Sony Clie' )
What I also like about iCal is I can keep a running "to do" list that is anchored to the right of the calendar itself. Its similar to my notebook method below.

Keeping a notebook list. This is mostly what I do now other than setting my iCal to remind me of things.
I keep track of important things in there. Usually once a week I write down a long list of things that 1) NEED to be done and 2) Things I would LIKE to get done (cleaning my basement has been on that list for weeks now )
Then I just cross them off as I do them. I also keep all sorts of notes in there. Its a bit unorganized, but again I'm an unorganized person and this works for me.

Rambling...morning must have kicked in!

[LuvMy2Kidz]

Since I am just sourcing I am mostly working at night b/c my suppliers are overseas and that's when they're at work. It's easier to deal with them during their working hours than to e-mail back and forth for several days.

[KathyS]

I really Need to stick to a scedule or I find that I don't get anything else done and I am always Online.

I too get up before everyone else- around 6 in the summer and at 5 during the school year. During this time- I check the boards and email and package up any orders left over from the day before. My mail man comes at 11 am so I like to have them ready when he gets here.

At 6 ( during the school year) I have to get kids up and out by 7.
So - I'm done at that point. I usually work again at Caleb's nap time and he usually sleeps for 3 hours . SO from about noon- 3. During this time- I package up orders, mark items as sold and add new things to the store ( which is the most time consuming task of all). answer emails- etc.
The kids get home about 3:30 so this scedule works well.

I often take 5 minutes out during the day to check and answer any emails as well.

~ Kathy

[merpk]

Yeah. It's supposed to be now. :LOL

I go to sleep with the kids, then DH wakes me as he goes to sleep (around 11-ish) and I'm supposed to be working from about then till whenever ... sometimes don't go to sleep until 3 or 4.

And sometimes procrastinate on MDC so that there's no excuse for me being up so late ...

Gotta get out of this habit ...