When my kids are home from school, the number one thing I want to do is be around more so that we can have fun! Of course, work still needs to get done, so I have to intentionally arrange my days to balance both. If you’re in the same boat, here are a few tips to get you to where you want to be for more work-life balance.

Start working earlier in the day

I can’t preach this enough, but getting up early and starting my day several hours before my kids are even awake is a MUST for me year round. This lets me start my day on my own terms, where I can focus on my own thoughts, without someone interrupting me every few minutes. Not throwing my kiddos under the bus here – I love them with my whole heart – but when you have time to focus on just one thing you can get SO MUCH MORE done.

Time block and know how you work best

I know that I work best in 1-2 hour sets of focused work time followed by a break to do something else, so that’s how I structure my day. I plan blocks for worktime and blocks for fun time, which creates a healthy balance throughout the week and allows us to go do more fun things, like visiting the library, going to the pool, etc.

Be flexible about WHERE you work

There are certain projects/tasks that I need to do with multiple screens in my office. There are others I can really do from anywhere with just my laptop. I can plan to do some of the latter while taking my kids to activities, or working from our patio while they play outside. By not limiting yourself to only working from your office, you free up a lot of the day.

Structure time for calls

Calls and zooms can be a huge time suck if they’re not productive. I block a certain number of time slots throughout the week for calls, and once they’re full we push to the next week. I also try really hard not to turn emails into calls. If something can quickly be handled by email, we handle it there. Remember that the people you work with probably want to spend more time doing fun summer things, too – so this can help you to be respectful of client and colleague time as well.

Finding balance is a little harder when your kids are home for the summer, but with a little intentionality you can make it what you want it to be!