I've been working remotely for over 5 years and this is not normal remote work. All of the productivity tips in the world will not give me more than 24 hours per day.
Here are a few things to know about my circumstances:
- I have a 2-year-old. Her nickname is Kai Kai. She is amazing. I love her more than anything 🥰. She likes to do everything together. She is very social and extroverted. She can entertain herself for at most 30 minutes which makes it impossible to work from home with her there. She is also going through a phase where she wakes up screaming every night because she doesn't want to sleep in her room anymore. She will stop as soon as you enter her room but will scream until you do. 😂
- I am introverted. Even though I work remote, I still need time for myself.
- My husband's job is primarily supporting us and I consider his job to be an essential one. He is in Pharmacy IT 💊 and works on a system that supports nurses, pharmacists and doctors at one of the largest hospitals in Northern VA. He is usually busy and now is extra busy with everything that is going on.
With that, I am juggling a lot of different things. Here is what my weekdays looked like last week:
11:30 pm - 2:30 am - 😴 Sleep
2:30 am - 3:00 am - 😩 Wake up to my daughter's screaming because she doesn't want to sleep in her crib. Move her to our room.
3:00 am - 5:30 am - Sleep if I can. Most times I can't fall back asleep.
5:30 am - 8:00 am - Sleep
8:00 am - 10:00 am - 🍳 Get breakfast ready and get Kai Kai ready
10 am - 10:30 am - Try to do some work but give up because Kai Kai is starting to fight with me for attention.
10:30 am - 11:30 am - Hang out with Kai Kai
11:30 am - noon - 🍲 Get her lunch ready and have lunch; 📩 check emails and respond
noon - 1:00 pm - Hangout out with Kai Kai
1:30 pm - 👼 Put her down for a nap
1:30 pm - 3:30pm - 👩💻 Work
3:30 pm - 🍇 Get Kai Kai's snack ready and help her eat
3:30 pm - 5:30 pm - Hang out with Kai Kai
5:30 pm - Husband gets done with work and comes down and takes over
5:30 pm - 6:30 pm - Chill and eat dinner
6:30 pm - 8:00 pm - Work
8:00 pm - 📚 Do part of Kai Kai's bedtime routine
8:30 pm - 📺 Try to work but too tired so I just watch some Netflix show till I fall asleep.
This past Friday I got so exhausted from lack of sleep and constant interaction that I fell asleep around 2 pm without meaning to. I didn't wake up till 6 pm. My husband had to manage without me because I was out 😬.
As you can see I don't have much time to work over the week. I am trying to do the majority of my work over the weekend while my husband takes care of Kai Kai.
I am not writing this for sympathy. I have a lot of privilege. My husband's job is stable. We both have jobs that let us work remotely. As a startup founder, I am my own boss. I have a Virtual Assistant who I can hand off some of my tasks to. All of my family is doing well and is healthy. We are managing.
I am writing this to let you all know that everyone's experience during this pandemic is not the same. I do not have all this extra time that folks keep talking about.
Please be mindful of your expectations from others. We are all working under different circumstances. This is not normal.
This post is brought to you by the 🍰 Tiramisu I had too late in the evening and couldn't sleep.