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Am I the only one who feels like my workflow is constantly off in the summer? We’ve talked about how to deal when your naturally productive time conflicts with family time, but for me that’s year-round (why am I best from 12–8? unfair). Summer feels like a different issue, though, and I wonder if I’m alone.
For me, either the kids are in camp with longer commutes or weird times for drop-offs/pickups — or they’re home more and throw me off my regular AM or PM schedule, depending. We’re getting ready for vacation now, which means I’m trying to think about packing as well as content in case the WiFi isn’t great or whatnot. (I know I’m lucky to work remotely and in a job where I can sometimes schedule a lot of the content ahead of time, and then all I have to do on my vacation is approve comments and put out fires… but this trip will hopefully be a working one.)
{related: download the Excel sheet Kat uses to schedule summer activities for her kids (2021 edition!)}
(I kind of also feel like the long sunlight hours throw off my circadian rhythms so I wake up earlier but also go to bed later. Poor planning, Kat! But my regular “me time” does tend to be during evenings more than mornings, so the fact that it feels like there’s less night time might actually have something to do with it.)
Anyway — am I alone? How does your workflow change in the summers as a parent? Do you have any techniques to stabilize your work routines?
Stock photo via Stencil.
{related: larks vs owls: how to deal when your partner or kids have a different internal clock}
Anonymous says
A big non-kid-related issue for me in the summer is dealing with vacations. Mine, my team members’, clients’, partners’. I always seem to have a lot of due dates in early fall with the expectation that huge volumes of work and meetings will happen over the summer, and it’s difficult to schedule the meetings and get the work done when so much of it is dependent upon data and input from outside sources who are all on vacation. I don’t know whether this is common in other fields or unique to mine since some of what we do is driven by state budget and legislative timelines.
anon says
I’m in higher ed admin, and this is a constant struggle for me. If the work doesn’t get done in the summer, I am screwed when early fall rolls around. And, I want to take my own time off!
I also feel like my workflow gets really messed up because of weird drop-off and pick-up times, and just not being able to do anything on autopilot because the schedule changes from week to week.
Cb says
Yeah, I’m academic staff and it’s hard to write during the term. I’m experimenting this year with a writing retreat as soon as grading is done, and taking 2 weeks holiday straight away after exam board, which I think is a nice balance. But will be more complicated when the uni calendar (ends just after Easter) conflicts with school calendar (ends last week of June) next year.
Cb says
I travel to work city less in the summer (3x between May and August this year) and feel a) tremendous pressure to “catch up” on research and b) a struggle with just how unstructured my days and weeks are. I just find it quite lonely.
Anon says
i work in higher ed and summer is our season to work on projects rather than as much 1:1 with students. i love that i get to work from home more and the slower pace. i also usually save a big chunk of PTO so i can take 3 weeks off in the summer. i LOVE summer
Anonanonanon says
I’m in the golden period right now where my oldest is old enough to be left home alone for half the day or so and the youngest is in year-round care. The days of finding full-day summer camps and the locations changing every week etc. were miserable.
Anon says
I’m in higher ed staff also. I WFH year round and summer isn’t necessarily lighter, but I make it lighter for me by using most of my vacation then (I have a prof husband who can’t vacation during the academic year except for a couple of break weeks). I also try to work more efficiently so I can sign off most days at 3 and take my kids to the pool or playground. I know this wouldn’t be possible in a lot of jobs, and I’m grateful I can make it work. Even when I have to catch up after bedtime or on weekends it’s worth it to have that shortened workday.
Anon says
My workload doesn’t really change but my willingness to work decreased dramatically in the summer. Woops. I try to lean out as much as I can and then when I have periods when I’m feeling productive work like mad until I lose it again.
EDAnon says
I try very hard to sign off early a lot so we can enjoy the beautiful summers we have here. I love summer for that reason.
I also try to take a long lunch on Fridays to hang with my husband without kids but that doesn’t always happen. His job is pretty demanding – mine is too but my organizational culture is to be laid back on summer Fridays.
anon says
I feel like I have a catch-22 situation where, in theory, the org culture is laid back about summer Fridays. Yet if I actually take that time, I feel like I’m falling behind on my longer-term projects that need constant work to push forward.
EDAnon says
I do fall behind sometimes but my kids are little once and summer is so short. I try to catch up in bits and pieces. Or sacrificing one night a week to working late to help keep on track. My job is generally managable in 40 hours, though. I actually plan to work 35 and the other five end up being picked up nights/weekends/random off-hours weirdness.
Anonymous says
Sienna owners: am I right that in the second row there are just 2 seats in the second row with no option for a third seat there (so if you are a family of 5, you are always using the third row)? I like that the Sienna is hybrid and has AWD as an option but this may be a deal breaker.
Also considering the Odyssey, Carnival (and Telluride); currently have a different much older minivan that is now needing $$$ for maintenance and I may just put that into another car. Thanks!