Next week, Taylor starts daycare. We went for an informal orientation yesterday and multiple people asked me, “Are you sad about going back to work?” They were shocked when I told them I had been back for a while, that I only took 8 weeks of leave, and that Ryan was the one who had been caring for Taylor during his 18 weeks of paid leave.

Going back so early was hard but when I took this job last summer, I knew that an abbreviated leave was something I was going to have to do to rebuild the region. 

Since returning, my days have been crazy. I’ve been booked solid from 9-5 all over the Bay Area. I’ve figured out the art of pumping while I drive. There have been multiple evening events, too. With my days so packed, I haven’t had time during the day for email or actual work. That means that as soon as the kids are sleeping, I pull out my laptop and get to work. Some days I’m so tired by that point that I decide it is better to go to bed and wake up at 3 or 4am to get work done. 

I’ve fallen off the tightrope. Things have gotten out of control and what was once a balancing act is now a chaotic mess. A healthy work-life balance is something that is important to me and that I want to foster, but how do you achieve it when you have so much to do and not enough hours to do it?

Parents who read this: What advice do you have for managing heavy workloads with your family life? What time management tricks do you utilize during the day to make time for all the stuff you can’t do while you’re in meetings? And how do you not only make time for your kids but for your partner too?