Part 2: Time Management  

Does it ever feel like you may need more than 2 hands to accomplish everything?  Structuring your day is an easy way to set yourself up for success from the start.  However, it is important to remember things are constantly changing, especially when working with children, so flexibility is key. 

Graphical user interface

Description automatically generated with medium confidence

Where to start when looking at time management? The answer is simple, with a schedule! When looking at a daily schedule, you always want to be sure to include the following: 

  • Children’s needs: mealtimes, school pick up/drop off, naps, etc
  • Household tasks: laundry, meal prep, tidying
  • Curriculum time: Activities, free play, etc

Once your daily schedule is set in place, you want to look at the course of the week.  It may be helpful to speak with the parents about creating some type of common calendar system so that you can keep track of any outlier scheduling items and you can plan accordingly.  

Being a nanny involves more than just hands-on childcare, when you are working with a family, most of the time, there will be a household task component to your job responsibilities.  Some helpful tips to complete these items while still prioritizing the children are:

  • Optimize down times
    • Use times such as snack or nap time when the children are safe and occupied to work on some other tasks, such as laundry or washing dishes
  • Plan ahead
    • Knowing what tasks you want to do at what time is helpful to be prepared when the time comes
      • For example, collecting all of the laundry throughout the morning so when nap time comes, you can quickly get a load going
  • Set reminders
    • Set a reminder on your phone to change the laundry over at a certain time. We know it is easy to forget when you get wrapped up in another task!

As we mentioned earlier, even the most well-set plans can change in the blink of an eye. While planning can help eliminate any last-minute changes, or rushing in most situations, always remember that things happen and sometimes you need to adjust!