Morning! @ProfRachelGaN tweeting from home again here! I’m seeing a lot on twitter about the importance of maintaining a routine during lockdown. We do have a routine but it’s pretty basic! I’ll tell you a bit about our routine, and I’d love to hear about yours.

I wake up around 6, and get some breakfast and read a book for half an hour. Then I attack my emails for an hour before I get my son up. I’m finding that quiet hour getting email out of the way important to allow me to make progress on other tasks during the day.

Once my son’s awake, we read together for a bit (currently we’re reading a book about dinosaurs) and then get dressed. I get my son some breakfast and I do some household jobs and then we go out for a walk or a run in our neighbourhood.

We’re back around 9, and notionally it’s time to get on with some work. First, I get my son settled on an activity. Sometimes that gets me a good hour to work – and sometimes it gets me about 5 minutes! During the morning, I’ll be alternating helping out my son and working.

We’ll stop for lunch at about 1, and after we’ve eaten we’ll either play a boardgame or play in the garden. In the afternoon, my son will spend an hour watching cartoons, which is probably my best guaranteed work time. He’ll also probably spend an hour on skype to his friends.

I fit in work as and when I can in the afternoon, and stop by about 5 to start making dinner and help my son do some music practice. After dinner, we’ll play and read together some more, until my son’s bedtime.

Originally, I expected to also work in the evening to make up for time lost during the day, but often I’m spending evenings talking to family on phone or skype, checking that everyone’s OK and making arrangements when help is needed. After that I’m too tired for work.

It all sounds very peaceful and manageable written out like that, and there are some peaceful, manageable days. But there are also days of utter chaos, when I get nothing done and end up having to scrub red painty handprints which look like bloodstains off the walls…

(Yes, the thing about the painty handprints is actually true. Also in the time it has taken me to write this thread, my son has interrupted me 3 times).

So… that’s my routine! Is your similar or different? What do you find helpful about having a routine or about allowing yourself more flexibility when #WorkingFromHome? #TellTheTiger