Juggling everything and don’t feel like you have time for anything? Your work from home and homeschool mom superpower is planning in the cracks. What are the margins in your day?
The little micro-cracks of time throughout your day are going to make it possible for you to accomplish big and little things.
Laundry, bath time, dinner, math lessons, client emails, and on and on it goes. You can create more time in your day. If we had a 36 hour day, I could take on the world and conquer it. But we don’t. We all have the same allotment, but we get to decide how we will use it.
I get it. Your to do list is overwhelming, and how can you possibly add anything more to it. We all imagine and hope for neat blocks of times to work on big things, but real-life looks more like a quilt stitched together of five minute patches.
Uninterrupted time is a about as rare as forest animals coming to clean my house. Waiting for those big chunks of time usually means nothing gets done. But here’s the good news…you don’t need them.
Mom, may I introduce you to the cracks in your day. You have slim margins of time. What are the margins in your day?
Real productivity can happen in the margins of your day. It is the cracks of time—waiting for pasta to boil, sitting in the car, the time between tasks—you can make progress in the cracks of your day.
Instead of lamenting the time you don’t have, you can learn to use it. That is the essence of planning in the cracks, it is not about squeezing more chaos into your life, but using the small spaces to create consistent forward movement. What are the margins in your day?
Defining the Margins of Your Day
Think of your day. If you were to write down every single task you did, how much free time would your have in your day. You might have more than you think, or less than you think.
Think of margins of time as those tiny spaces in your schedule that you normally overlook. They aren’t scheduled blocks or grand moments of focus. They are the slivers you didn’t plan for—waiting for kids to finish their handwriting, standing in the kitchen while the oven timer counts down, or even that awkward three minutes before the video call starts.
Margins are flexible bits of time in your day that often come unannounced, but when we start to recognize them and use them, they can change your day.
Think about how much time you can reclaim if you start using 5 minutes of margin every day. That is 35 minutes a week. Most of our tasks take less than 35 minutes.
Over time these stack into projects finished, skills learned, and stress reduced.
What are the margins in your day? Look for these opportunities that are hiding in plain sight.
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Micro-Moments of Focus
Short bursts of focused time can be incredibly effective. Let’s be real, we don’t have time for hours of deep work, but it is completely doable to find short bursts of focused time.
Have you ever rushed around cleaning the house because you got that unexpected text that someone was coming over? I am sure you got a lot done.
Using these cracks of time forces your brain to prioritize quickly and focus deeply.
My biggest roadblock is always wanting to get whatever done right now. I’ve had to retrain my brain to think of what can I get done in a short amount of time. What are my margins? I had to shift from all or nothing to 1% better every day.
Focus on valuing forward motion instead of waiting for time to get it done. You will always be waiting. Progress 1% forward everyday. That is your new goal.
What are the Margins: Identifying Your Cracks of Time
Your margins will look different from mine, but start to look for them. Here are some cracks to look out for:
- Early mornings before the kids wake up.
- Waiting while a child works independently.
- While dinner is cooking.
- Picking up a child from work
- Waiting for your coffee to heat up in the microwave (I do squats while I’m waiting. Yes, my kids think I am a little crazy, but what’s new.)
What are the margins in your day? Start to look for them. Jot down some places where you are waiting. Do you have a list of things that you can consistently move forward on? Get a check list notebook and get to work.
Homeschooling and Margin Time
What are the margins in your homeschool? It is going to take time. That is just the nature of the thing. We homeschool so we can tailor education for our children, so what works for you will be unique to you.
There is a big difference between homeschooling kindergarten and homeschooling high school, but look for the margin in your homeschool.
Depending on the age of your kids, there are things that they can do independently, even in kindergarten. Typing Club and Lexia are two online homeschool programs that I use for the younger grades. The best part about these, they are completely independent. I’ve purposely created margin in our homeschool day.
Having kids check their own daily work is a great way to create margin in your homeschool day. I know this one depends on the kid, so if you can give them the responsibility of checking their work.
If you are purchasing all in one curriculum, and I am a fan, you don’t have to do everything. There are things that I will take out if I don’t think it is necessary. For example, handwriting is usually included in the curriculum, but not everyone needs to do it. Or we stop it after a certain age.
You can create margin by saying no. I know, I want to say yes to everything too. It sounds like a lot of fun, but we just can’t do all the things. If you are feeling like there is not enough home in your homeschool, then it is time to say no.
What are the margin in your homeschool day?
Work from Home and Margin time
Now for the margins in your work from home time. I am going to say something that is going to contradict the code of all momtrepreneurs. It is like revealing the secret handshake. You don’t need to build a 6 or 7 figure business.
From my observations of entrepreneurs, many cannot achieve this without outsourcing. Or if they do, they don’t have kids, or they aren’t homeschooling. Basically, they are able to have hours of focused time just for their business.
The main reason I work from home is so I can be with my kids. I want to be the biggest influence in their life, so that means my momtrepreneur success isn’t defined by 6 or 7 figures. It is defined by how much time I have with them.
For me I really don’t want to hire a team. Yes, I will hire my kids, but I am not in place where I want to spend my time working with a team of people. Maybe that will change at some point, but it is happening yet.
Find the margin in your work from home day by not chasing the 6 or 7 figure business. If you are there, I think it is great. But success doesn’t need to be defined as a bigger house, bigger car, or bigger bank account.
What are the margins in your work from home day?
What are the Margins: Real-Life Planning in the Cracks
Here are some real-life planning in the cracks.
- Research on your phone while making dinner
- Write a blog post at music lessons
- Plan your week in the shower
- Let your brain think creatively while brushing your teeth
- Create one part of an activity pages for your homeschool store
Conclusion: What are the Margins in Your Day
At this point, you should be seeing what are the margins in your day. But don’t overfill them. Constantly stuffing tasks into every second leads to exhaustion and to do list overwhelm.
Not every margin is meant for productivity. Some are meant for breathing. We need to find plan for breaks in the cracks too. It is ok to sit and sip your coffee in one of your margins. Here’s the thing we need to have down time in order to be more productive in those margins. You can’t keep going if you are burnt out.
Get a notebook and write down what are the margins in your day.
FAQS: What are the Margins in Your Day
Q: What if my cracks of time are always interrupted?
A: Plan tasks so small they can survive interruptions—think text replies, jotting notes, or decluttering one drawer.
Q: How do I know if I’m doing too much in the margins?
A: If you’re constantly drained and resentful, you may need to leave some cracks empty. Rest counts too.
Q: Can margin planning replace long focused work sessions?
A: Not entirely. Some projects require deep focus, but margin planning keeps life moving and prevents backlog.
Q: How do I help my kids respect my margin time?
A: Teach them gradually with age-appropriate independence. Even three minutes of uninterrupted margin time is a win at first.
Q: What if my margins only appear at night?
A: Save them for simple, low-energy tasks like planning tomorrow’s to-do list or tidying up. Don’t force heavy work when you’re already spent.
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