REINVENTING WORKING TIME DURING LOCKDOWN

So, here I am up at 4 a.m. this morning trialling a new way of working! Yesterday felt like my lockdown tipping point. I had lots of work I wanted to get done but trying to work with three children at home is proving challenging – at times overwhelmingly so.

It’s not that the children are being terribly behaved. My 13 year old son in particular has been wonderful but I find my younger two aged 10 and 7 need understandably more attention. There are the inevitable fights, regular interruptions and feeding…

Oh my goodness, the feeding! “I’m hungry!” seems to be the chorus of each day which is clearly impossible given the amount they are eating and most likely code for “I don’t know what to do now”. I am steering them away from the unhealthy choices as much as humanly possible and trying my best to enforce the breakfast – lunch – dinner with two snack times inbetween but alas their desire to graze seems constant! I find myself spending large amounts of time in the kitchen, preparing or cleaning up after them.

The house is also unravelling. Every room is now a playroom for the younger two! Piles of washing are mounting up and even when they are happily entertaining themselves, there’s just an overall noise in the house that makes it difficult to concentrate on work.

This is not a post designed to whinge but to express what I imagine many other mums (working or otherwise) at home are experiencing. A real struggle to focus on anything much right now. I am sure I’m not alone in this.

This got me to thinking. If we really are potentially in this till September, how do we regain some sense of control? How do we split our time so we don’t end up suffering from stress? So here is my answer. I reinvent what my day looks like.

I would much rather spend quality time with my children rather than letting them fend for themselves whilst I try and work in micro pockets throughout the day with a sense of frustration. This time is a challenge but it can also be very special if we want it to be.

So last night, we put the kids to bed and by 10 p.m. our own light was out ready for our 4 a.m. wake up. If I can get 4.5 hours of work done before they are even awake then I only really need to find 2.5 hours in the day to sit at my desk to have done a whole 7 hours of work!

Whilst 6 hours of sleep may not seem sustainable, my partner and I decided we could both take a cat nap in the day if needed while the other entertains the children. Either that or we’ll be in bed for 9 p.m. too. It takes time to readjust to the earlier night too as we are normally later to bed. I slept a bit like I was getting up to take an early flight – i.e. not very well! I’m sure I’ll adjust though.

I acknowledge the importance of sleep and there’s no point in getting up early if I’m going to feel constantly exhausted but if I can get an optimum 7 hours sleep then I think I’ll be okay moving forward. So this is me shaking things up and seeing how it plays out!

These are extraordinary times but many successful people get up religiously at 4 a.m. to start their day. However, we should all do what works for us. It’s not about the time we wake up but what we accomplish in the hours we have that’s important. While for me it definitely felt a challenge this morning, the thought of actually having achieved what I need to in the blissful quiet without distraction is worth the discomfort of the early wake up.

Are you getting up earlier in lockdown to get things done? What works for you?