A Mompreneur Schedule: How I Do It and 5 Tips For Work-Life Integration

Two of the greatest joys and sources of pride in my life are my roles as a mom and an entrepreneur, or a mompreneur. 

Since I began my business ownership journey while working from home as a mom with three children under five, these two principal aspects of my life have been intertwined. Fast forward 13 years, and the startup business I co-founded with my brother has grown into a thriving, fully remote company. Meanwhile, I am Mom to three teenagers thinking about their own futures.

A Day in the Life of a Mompreneur

With a busy family life and an executive-level career housed under one roof, organization and time management are essential to feeling fulfilled and productive both as a parent and as a professional. From spending quality time with my kids to making operational decisions for my small business, this is how I schedule a typical day as a mompreneur:

5:30 a.m. – Wake Up 

I am an unabashed representative of Team Morning People. Waking up at 5:30 a.m. affords me ample time to start the day unrushed and on my terms. Of course, there are days when even the most ardent morning person has a poor night’s sleep or needs an extra moment of rest before tackling the day. When those mornings hit, and I feel particularly tired as the alarm rings, I allow myself one snooze (and only one snooze) to catch a few extra minutes of sleep. 

5:45 a.m. – Make Coffee and Read

After wiping the sleep from my eyes and taking a moment or two for self-care, it is coffee time! Just before six o’clock, I brew coffee and read for 20 to 30 minutes. Depending on what I have planned for the day, reading time could be a good book or magazine centered around some of my important life values like mindfulness and simple living. Or it could be work materials to help me prepare for a meeting or a pressing to-do. However, work-related reading is something I try to avoid first thing in the morning. I find I am more motivated to work if I begin the day with a brain exercise, like reading, that is not work-focused. 

6:15 a.m. – Mingle and Meditate

Once I feel more engaged after my coffee and reading session, I spend time with my husband. Our early morning chats are ideal for sharing, listening, and connecting as a couple before we begin our respective days as parents and professionals. When my husband and I finish our talk, it is time to focus my thoughts and energies for the day. Chatting with my husband prepares me to engage with others, including my children, remote staff, and network, while meditation unlocks my self-awareness and channels my inner sense of mindfulness. Both factors are essential to communication and, in turn, my efficiency as a mompreneur. 

7 a.m. – Take a Walk

Early morning physical activity is a must for my daily schedule. It increases my alertness, improves my mood, and inspires me to make healthy choices throughout the day. Taking a brisk walk with my dog Jilly is one of my favorite ways to exercise in the morning. We get to enjoy the outdoors—and I get the chance to spend quality time with yet another beloved family member. 

7:30 a.m. – Complete Ready For the Day Tasks

Once I am energized from my walk, I can complete one of the essential aspects of my mompreneur schedule: Ready For the Day (RFD) tasks. RFDs, as I call them, are routine, daily to-dos that help me start the day on a positive note by reinforcing my minimalist values. In addition to practicing good personal hygiene and getting myself ready each morning, I do these three decluttering tasks without fail—even if I am a few minutes late beginning my workday:

1. Clean the kitchen including unloading and loading the dishwasher and clearing all counters 
2. Start a load of laundry
3. Make my bed

9 a.m. – Begin Work

My workday begins at 9:00 a.m. I live on the West Coast, but I work with distributed employees and contractors across multiple time zones. When I hop online, I am always met with emails and notifications from remote collaboration and productivity apps, like Slack, Basecamp, Asana, and Less Annoying CRM, since staff from the Eastern and Central time zones have already been at work for several hours. I spend a couple of hours every morning answering high priority messages and taking care of any quick-check to-dos—especially if my input or decisions are required for other staff to move forward on a project.

11 a.m. – Eat Breakfast 

Eating my first meal of the day at 11 a.m. seems like more of a brunch than a breakfast, but I am more productive and feel less sluggish when I do not start my day on a full stomach. Intermittent fasting, which means I only eat between the hours of 11 a.m. and 7 p.m., works best for my metabolism and schedule.

11:30 a.m. – Take a Walk: Part II 

Following a morning work session and a light, clean breakfast, I take Jilly on another short walk. Scheduling periods of physical activity throughout the day mitigates some of the effects of the sedentary nature of home-office-based work. 

Noon – Launch a Focused Work Session 

For the rest of the afternoon, until around 4 or 4:30 p.m., I give my undivided attention to my work. This is a block of flexible time I adapt to accommodate any business needs relevant to my role as CEO, including video conferencing with department managers, responding to press queries, hosting webinars, conducting appointments, and completing focused tasks. While the nature of the work completed during this time varies based on business needs, ensuring the noon to 4:30 p.m. hours are for professional to-dos is a rule I follow unless there are no other options available to me.

4:30 p.m. – Enjoy Free Time 

Giving myself 30 to 60 minutes of free time during the day is a grace period for life’s unexpected moments. Think of it as one of the lifelines on “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?” The time is there if I need to extend the workday. But, if not, I can still be confident that I have a schedule insurance policy in case I find myself in a productivity pickle or just simply need a brain break.

5:00 p.m. – Get Some Fresh Air 

Even though I work remotely and enjoy a flexible schedule, I try to end my day as I would if I worked in a traditional setting. At 5 p.m., I power down my computer and close up the proverbial shop. To signal the formal end of the work day, I go outside and tend to the yard and garden. The definitive change of scenery truly lets me know I can shift out of professional mode and engage personal mode.

5:30 p.m. – Evening Chores and Dinner

I devote a couple of hours each evening to household chores like cleaning and cooking dinner. In keeping with my minimalist lifestyle, I like to prepare healthy meals that take 45 minutes or less to cook. 

7:30 p.m. – Exercise 

Exercising after dinner is a strategy I deploy because I find it helps me sleep better. Something as simple as playing card games with my children or going on an evening family hike burns off my remaining energy and helps me unwind before the close of the day. 

9:00 p.m. – Plan Ahead for Tomorrow

As the day concludes, I find it beneficial to take a quiet 30 minutes to myself and think about what I need to do the following day. This planning time may be formal or informal. Sometimes I choose to update my calendar and project management apps and ensure to-dos are synced across my devices.

Other times, I may jot down notes in a journal or on a piece of paper in my office so that I can make formal updates in the morning. Either way, evening brainstorming helps settle my mind before sleep and lessens the likelihood that I will spend time in bed staring at the ceiling and wondering if I have forgotten an important appointment, upcoming event, or meeting detail. 

9:30 p.m. – Chat With the Children  

I do not want work to be the last thing I think about before bed, so after my planning time, I encourage my kids to chat with me about any subject important to them. With three teenagers at home, it usually takes until 9:30 p.m. for them to be awake enough to want to talk to dear ol’ Mom.

10:00 p.m. – Go to Sleep

With my schedule, I get around seven and a half hours of sleep each night. This falls within the generally accepted recommendations of seven to nine hours of sleep for adults and gives me the energy I need each morning to approach my day with an enthusiastic attitude that attracts success. 

5 Mompreneur Scheduling Tips for Better Work-Life Integration

While you may not be a mom or an entrepreneur, these five scheduling tips from my mompreneur journey toward improved work-life integration can be tailored to fit any lifestyle.

1. Adhere to a Firm (But Flexible) Daily Schedule 

I diligently follow my daily schedule because I believe scheduling is about more than simply creating a plan. The foundation of successful scheduling is rooted in developing a system that works within your unique work and life circumstances.

For example, I do not utilize peak afternoon work hours for insignificant tasks that could be completed before a morning walk or during evening downtime. I also don’t work late at night, because I know my brain is far less productive during those hours. After all, if you create an unrealistic daily itinerary that you ultimately cannot or will not stick to, what was the point? 

While I hold fast to firm scheduling rules, I also understand flexible scheduling habits are equally valuable when implemented appropriately. Life is unpredictable. There will be days when you have to squeeze in a doctor’s appointment during scheduled lunchtime or carve out the time you would typically spend reading to chat with the repair person about your broken dishwasher, but do so sparingly when other options are not feasible.

Allowing schedule changes for spontaneous events to become a pattern is a slippery slope to poor time management in personal and professional matters.

2. Share Meaningful Time with Important People in Your Life

Enjoying quality time with my children is essential. They are teens now with their own schedules, relationships, and commitments, so sharing time together does not happen as often as it did when they were little. It is important for me to be available to them when my kids want to interact and talk about life, and for those moments to be meaningful. I keep a chair next to my home office area with some candies to invite them to sit and chat for a few minutes throughout the day.

Since I work from home, I am nearly always visible to them, but they should be reminded that I can be engaged and present for them when they need me. Peace in my familial relationships reduces stress and distractions, which inspires me to be more effective in business. 

3. Devote Time to Yourself  

In conjunction with sharing meaningful time with my family is making time for me. It is not selfish to carve out time for your own needs every day; it is necessary, especially if you also consider yourself an introverted personality as I do. If I fail to take time to re-energize my mind and spirit through experiences in nature, meditation, and reading, I am less efficient and productive at work.

Without devoting purposeful time for self-care, I also find it more difficult to have those quality conversations with family or create positive connections with co-workers. In the words of Lucille Ball:

“Love yourself first, and everything else falls in line. You really have to love yourself to get anything done in this world.”

4. Remember to Eat Healthy Foods

Like most working adults and parents, I have endured stressful times that influenced me to choose unhealthy snacks and meal options. However, the convenience of junk food and its comforting ability to help me forget about a nagging problem is no match for the lack of clarity I experience when I do not make healthy food choices or the guilt I feel at not being able to give the best of me to my family because I am low-energy after my workday ends.

Sure, I enjoy the immediate gratification of donuts for breakfast, but the sugar crash that follows is less than ideal. Opting for well-rounded food choices—including the right amounts of fats, proteins, and carbohydrates—balances my energy levels and helps me tackle my daily schedule while feeling invigorated and accomplished.  

5. Prioritize Getting Enough Sleep 

Ironically, sleep is one of the most vital yet neglected parts of our lives. When my children were younger and I needed to work longer hours to get the business off the ground, I confess I regularly cut into my sleep time to check more items off my to-do lists. In hindsight, I should have worked smarter, not harder, and prioritized getting enough sleep. Sleep allows our bodies to rest and repair, which not only improves our overall health and quality of life but also benefits work-essential functions like memory and alertness.

The Mompreneur Takeaway

You don’t have to be a mompreneur to schedule your day like one. Becoming more fulfilled in work and life is possible with good organization and time management skills realized through mindful scheduling. Although daily schedules should be tailored to fit each person’s unique needs, good scheduling habits are built on a few universal principles like remaining flexible, sharing meaningful time with important people in your life, making time for yourself, and prioritizing health and wellness.

Do you have any tips for better work-life integration as a mompreneur? Connect with Virtual Vocations on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, and YouTube to share your insights. We’d love to hear from you! 

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