My Stay-at-Home Mom Schedule

My stay-at-home mom schedule consists of dividing my days into five blocks of time. Each block is dedicated to certain tasks and activities. This makes my days simpler to schedule and helps me efficiently manage my time.

As a stay-at-home mom, I’m so surprised by how little time I actually have each day. From the moment I wake up in the morning until 9 PM, there is always someone, or something, that needs my attention. I constantly struggle with guilt. That guilt comes in many different forms. Sometimes I feel guilty because I didn’t play enough board games with my kids. Other times, I forgot to send out my weekly newsletter. Or I just feel burnt out and like I have no time for myself. The result is often me jumping from task to task and exhausting myself. Either that or I shut down completely and spend hours falling down the TikTok rabbit hole.

I desperately needed a way to schedule my days. My stay-at-home-mom schedule allows for a lot of flexibility. However, it’s specific enough that my days are structured. I created a daily block schedule. The blocks remain the same each day, but the activities within the blocks change daily. I first discovered block scheduling from an episode of Miranda Anderson’s Live Free Creative podcast. I fell in love with the system and immediately started implementing it in my life.

How I Developed My Stay-At-Home Mom Schedule

Here’s how I set up my block schedule. Each day is divided into five blocks of time: Morning, Work, Lunch/Play, Pickup/Dinner, and Night. Different activities and jobs belong within each block. This helps me to prioritize tasks based on the time of day. This type of schedule is also great if you work from home! It helps add some structure to the day, but still provides plenty of flexibility.

Create Your Own Stay-At-Home Schedule

To create your own schedule, divide your day into 4-5 blocks of time. Each block is reserved for different activities. While the activities can differ from day to day, they should all be in the same category. Let’s take cleaning for example. You may decide to clean in the mornings. You can work on different cleaning tasks each day. While the specific task changes, the time of day when you clean remains the same.

My Daily Stay-At-Home Mom Schedule

Morning Block

Breakfast

I wake up at 7 am every day and immediately head downstairs. After pouring myself a cup of coffee and filling up my water tumbler, I start on breakfast. The girls eat oatmeal and eggs every morning during the week. My husband and I have toast and eggs.

School Prep/Get Dressed

After breakfast, the kids get a little bit of playtime while I pack lunches. I also pack bookbags, sign papers, and do any other administrative tasks for the day during this time. Then I spend a little time dressing and preparing myself for the day. I always try to fit a little something for myself into my morning stay-at-home mom schedule. Sometimes I take the time to dress. Other times it’s sitting alone with my coffee. Once I’m ready, the kids dress themselves. Then, I help them brush and style their hair.

School Drop-off

After everyone is dressed and ready, it’s time for school. I drive my oldest to school, so we spend about 30 minutes every morning waiting in the school drop-off line. The drop-off line is where I drink most of my coffee! After I drop off my oldest, the little one and I head back home.

Work Block

Solo playtime/Work

My youngest loves to play independently after we drop off her sister. She disappears into her room with her LEGO sets and doesn’t come out for at least an hour or two. I take advantage of this time and knock out as much work as I can. Usually, I focus on writing content and answering emails.

Mondays: Groceries and cleaning

My Monday schedule is slightly different. I try to knock out most of my errands and chores on Mondays. After school drop-off, I pick up my grocery order. When we get back home I put away the groceries. Then I start cleaning. I vacuum, mop, dust, wipe down the kitchen, and clean all three bathrooms on Mondays. I use a timer to help me clean the house quickly and efficiently. On Mondays, I also wash all of the bedding and do several loads of laundry.

Afternoon Block

Lunch

We eat lunch every day at noon exactly. Since my husband works from home, he also eats with us. I keep lunch simple with sandwiches, fruit, and chips.

Mom and Me Playtime

After lunch, I combat any feelings of mom guilt and play with my little one. We read books, play board games, and just spend time together. When the weather is nice we walk to the playground. Uninterrupted time together is so important. And because I spend the mornings working or cleaning I’m not distracted from being in the moment with her.

School Pickup

After playing with my little one, and sometimes knocking out a few more chores, it’s time to pick up my oldest. Other parents show up SO early for pickup! I learned to get there at least 1.5 hours before dismissal to avoid being towards the back of the line. My little one and I pass the time pretty well though. She colors and plays on her tablet. I use the time to read or catch up on social media. I’ve read so many more books this year thanks to that time in the car line!

Evening Block

Dinner/Clean Kitchen

After we all get home from school pickup, it’s usually time to start prepping dinner. My husband and I rotate dinner duty throughout the week. He typically cooks on the weekends and once or twice during the week. We usually get takeout once during the week. And I cook the rest of the time. We all eat dinner together as a family. While I hate cooking dinner, I do love sitting down and spending the evening together. After dinner, I clean the kitchen while my husband plays with the kids.

Family Time & Bedtime Routine

We spend a few hours hanging out as a family in the evenings. About 30 minutes before bedtime the kids clean up all of their toys. Then we start their bedtime routine. Having a solid bedtime routine is so important for young kids. Our routine includes tidying their spaces, basic hygiene, winding down with a short show, and reading a bedtime story.

Night Block

Blogging

After the kids go to bed, I get back to work. Nighttime is when I do all of my photo and video editing. I also work on the backend of my site. I’m usually too mentally tired in the evening to write posts from scratch. I usually take one or two evenings off throughout the week. On those nights I don’t blog, edit content or even check my phone. That is my time to watch a movie, spend time with friends, or have an at-home date night with my husband.

Relaxing

I typically finish working around 9:30. This gives me at least an hour to relax and decompress from the day. I usually watch TV or read at this time.

Nighttime Routine

In order to fall asleep at night, I need to follow a regular nighttime routine. That means not checking my phone, washing my face, and just winding down in general.

My stay-at-home mom schedule isn’t revolutionary. It’s incredibly simple. But that is why it’s so effective for me. I know which block is reserved for which activities. From there, I can fill in the daily tasks as I need to. Obviously, I go off schedule some days, but that’s part of life. This schedule has been the best time management tool I’ve ever used.