Working from home with children

I continue to adjust to working from home. I've seen a lot of questions lately on my facebook groups about how to get things done with little children at home. I'll admit, it's hard, and the last fews days around our household have been harder than usual.

Here are a few suggestions I have, as well as a schedule we've been using (and tweaking) that might help those of you with littles at home also.

What has helped me the most is to make a list of things that I can do for the business while they are awake, versus while they are not awake.

here is my list:

Awake:
photograph
edit photographs
check email/groups
research (simple things)
take off labels/clean merchandise
ship/pack (if I have already brought the items in from the shed)
take packages to the mail box
blog posts

Things I cannot do while they are awake:
list (by the way, I can't do this when Hubby is awake either, he always wants to talk to me and messes me up!)
put things in boxes or sort
make ebay videos for listings
carry boxes to my shop
put things away/organize


Here is our schedule we've been using for a few weeks. It's similar to the schedule we used last summer when baby girl was a newborn. I am planning on adjusting the schedule further in a few weeks by designating certain days for amazon, ebay, sourcing, yard saling etc.

6-7:00 kiddos up (hopefully closer to 7, I let them wake up themselves for now, no alarms until August!)
7-8 dressed, medicine, teeth, breakfast- while they are eating breakfast, I try to take a few pictures, as my photo "studio" is right next to the kitchen for now
8-10 for mommy- pack ebay orders, take to mailbox, household chores time- laundry, dishes, dinner (if in the crockpot) etc
for kiddos- play time
10-11:00 snack for kiddos, mommy time with kiddos for project, reading, etc
11:00-12:00 more photos, photo editing or chores for Mommy
12:00-1:00 lunch for everyone, 30 minute educational time on ipad for little man, quiet play time for baby girl
1:00-3:00 (on a good day!) naps/rest time for littles (sometimes mommy- but usually too much to do)
mommy- list, phone calls, vaccumming (baby girl is terrified of the vaccum) bath or shower, research for ebay, organize ebay items, carry boxes out to shop
3:00-6:00 kiddos up, snack and movie or play time, mommy, chores or ebay, start on dinner
6-6:30 Dinner with Daddy, yay!
7:30 kiddos start getting ready for bed
8:00 bed time for littles
8-9:30 Mommy and Daddy quality time
9:30-2:00 mommy business time
I have been doing okay with the lack of sleep if I go to bed around 10 o'clock a couple of times a week. I also try to take a nap when the kids do, as least for an hour or so once or twice a week.

I am needing to find more time to do household chores, but am finding it hard to get anything done when the kids come right behind me and mess things up again. I think once the house has been gone thru once and caught up it will be easier. I'm going for the looks good for company look right now and then will get to the decluttering and organizing once little man goes back to school. I think August will make things a little easier as for now baby girl is easier to get things done with then both of them. We'll see what fall brings, once she can talk more it might be a different story!

How about you? Do you have a schedule that works for you?