Work at Home Mom Morning Routine

Work at Home Moms needs a good morning routine to set their days up for success. Whether you have a baby, school-age kids or high schoolers, having a morning routine as a work at home mom matters.

Being a work from home mom is hard. You have to balance your priorities as a mom and your priorities as a business owner. You are surrounded by the piles of dishes and laundry and the to-do list and emails that overwhelm you.

What I’ve learned the past 4 years as a Work At Home Mom is that without my morning routine, the rest of my day is set up for failure. Once I took that time to develop a morning routine that fit, I found that I was more productive, happier and more joyful as a mom, and treated my business like a business and less like a hobby.

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Work at Home Mom Schedule

You need to have a good work at home mom schedule to make your business succeed. When you go into the day making decisions about what you will accomplish as the day goes on and not before, you waste time, get less done, and can get to the end of the day being busy but not productive.

So what types of things do you need to create routines and schedules for when you’re a work at home mom?

Morning Routines
Work Time Routines
Evening Routines
Batching Routines
Household Chore Routines
Kid Playtime Routines
Homeschooling or Learning Routines
Cleaning Routines
Self Care Routines
And more!

There are so many things on our plates as work from home moms that it’s important to you to create a schedule around all of the routines that ruin your day.

Before we dive into a work at home mom morning routine checklist, I want to encourage you to take some steps to figure out your day.

Create a list of the things in your day that is TIME BOUND. What events in your day cannot be changed and must be completed at a certain time? These could include school drop off and pick up, sporting practices or events, work calls or meetings, or personal appointments you have. Once you have these on your paper (or better yet, fill them in your planner) then you can really look at your day and see how much time you have to dedicate to your business.

If you’re like me, or most work at home moms, you’ll most likely realize that your time is pretty limited during the day unless you have created dedicated work hours. I highly recommend this for all moms who work at home. I’ve been struggling with this as my kid’s nap schedules change and am looking forward to September when both of my kids will be in preschool from 9-12 pm 3 days a week. This will allow me to know that those are at least 9-10 hours that will (most likely) not change.

Once you see your time laid out, don’t panic! It might be tight and you may start to wonder how you’ll find time to be a work at home mom but, with a great morning routine, know that you can start your day strong and get more accomplished.

How to Get Up Earlier

It’s hard to get up earlier than your kids most days. My kids wake up between 6-6:30 am every single day (and sometimes earlier). I found that the mornings are my only quiet and alone time before I have to hit the ground running so I need to wake up before them. Whether your kids get up early like mine or sleep in, I highly suggest waking up earlier so you have that time to work.

If you struggle to wake up earlier, start by setting your alarm for just 10 minutes earlier than you work up today. Do this for a few days or a week and let your body adjust. Then, next week, get up 10 minutes earlier than that. Repeat this for a few weeks or months until you’ve created an early waking habit. Your body will slowly adjust and you’ll realize that 10 extra minutes isn’t that big of a deal.

Morning Prayer, Personal Growth and Reflection for Work at Home Moms

I always like to start my day in my bible reading and praying. I find that if I don’t spend the first 20 minutes of my day with the Lord, my priorities get mixed up easily and I’m always in a rush.

I suggest spending the first 15-20 minutes of your morning for you and your growth. Prayer, connect with God and your purpose, do some personal growth and reflection or a gratitude journal. Starting the morning with positivity helps work at home moms get their mind focused and centered around what matters.

After I do reading, I start to jump into my work at always grab a positivity podcast perfect for work at home moms. I like to have a positive podcast playing so that my brain is in a good place and I can get inspired as I work. It helps my flow more than having the TV on, so I suggest you try it! Do your best to keep the TV off and stay away from the news as long as you can! What we put in our brains impacts us more than we realize so choose the right things!

Podcasts are great because they are absolutely free and you can tune into whatever you need. If you’re feeling lost in your business or motherhood, you can search and find something. If you’re working on an email series and need tips, just search and find some free education! I find that positive mindset or Christian homemaking and motherhood podcasts are my favorites to listen to in the morning and I try to keep the business ones for during my work block later in the day.

I’ve linked to some of my favorites HERE for you to check out.

Planning Your Time as a Work at Home Mom

It’s important to plan your time as a work at home mom. You don’t want to wake up and then wonder “oh, what should I be working on now”? You want to spend time during your evening routine planning it all out beforehand.

I try to pick 1-2 tasks to complete during my morning work hour. I always suggest keeping your work tasks in 20-30 minute chunks and if it will take you longer than that, you need to break it down more. This helps when you are a work from home mom because you never know when an interruption may come up and you can pick right back off where you left off.

I use Trello to plan out my work tasks and goals in advance. I follow the 12-week year method of goal setting and I have already predetermined what work tasks need to get done that week. At the beginning of the week or the night before, I assign a task or two to my morning so I know exactly what I am doing. I like to pick a morning task that revolved around writing because that is my most creative time of the day and I need to be able to write without interruption. Determine what tasks you need the most focus for and put them at the start of your day.

Cleaning Routines for Working and Work at Home Moms

After my 1-2 tasks are complete, I turn my attention to a morning chore. I don’t like to do any of my cleaning routines until my kids are awake. One of the ways I run my business is that when they sleep – it’s work time and when they are up – it’s mom time!

Once the kids get up, we work together to start our morning chores. For us, this includes starting a load of laundry, emptying the dishwasher from last night and making breakfast. I make all of the lunches the night before so that I don’t have to worry about doing that in the morning or feeling rushed.

We spend the next 2 hours before school completing our cleaning routines together as a family. The kids then get time to watch a TV show and I get in exercise!

It’s so important as a work at home mom to fit in time for you and exercise matters! I’ve learned that working out in the morning helps me feel less stressed and gives me more energy. I do a 30-40 minute exercise program using Beachbody on Demand to stream from my house (grab a free 2-week trial here). While I do this, they play in the playroom and I get to be a model of healthy living! I typically take my daughter to school in my workout clothes and shower when we get home.

You can read more about that routine in detail HERE.

More Morning Routine Tips

Creating a Morning Routine in 3 Easy Steps

Simple Steps to Make Your Mornings a Little Easier

How to Find Time to be More Productive as a Busy Mom

How to Schedule Your Day at a Work at Home Mom

My Must Have Resources for Work at Home Moms

Organize Your Life with Trello Course

Make Over Your Mornings

The Ultimate Productivity Bundle

Mom Morning Routine Checklist

I’ve created a checklist for work at home moms to help you focus your day and start it strong. You can download it below and start using it in your mornings. It includes important things to help you create a miracle morning as a work at home mom.

More Resources for Toddler Moms

Healthy Toddler Breakfast Ideas

15+ Indoor Activities for Toddlers

20+ Ways to Teach Handwriting to Toddlers

Printable Toddler Behavior Chart

Morning Routine for Breastfeeding Moms

Morning Routine for Sleep-Deprived Moms

Morning Routine for Moms of Toddlers