I am a mum who wears an Apple watch. I have two small children and I work from home. Here is how I combine the three!
The night before
I have to be up at 5:00am so that I can get 2 hours of work in before the kids wake up. I set the alarm on my Apple watch, make sure it’s charging and lay it on its side so that it automatically changes to nightstand mode; a digital display that illuminates every time you touch the screen.
Morning
My alarm goes off at 5am. I press the side button of the watch to silence it. The only way I can get out of bed on a dark winter morning is with music. What though? Well Iggy Pop Lust for Life followed by Taylor Swift, Shake it Off. Obvs. Oh and my wake up deal clincher, White Knuckle Ride, Jamiroquai. So I pop my watch on my wrist from its nightstand position. Click on the music app and play my ‘Wake up’ playlist.
When the music has done its job, I have a quick glance at my watch for my daily Bamboo Quote. Nothing like a nice inspirational quote to get you focused in the morning.
Quick check of the weather on the Weather Live app on my watch to see if it’s going to rain today. This, so I know what footwear and coats to choose for the kids. While the kettle’s boiling I have a quick look at the Google Tasks app on my watch to see what tasks I have to get done today for each client that I work for. I manage to get a nice couple hours of work in, before child 1 and 2 arise. Action stations. Let the waitress, referee, butler and master juggler services commence.
Shop
When child 1 and child 2 are settled into their school days I head to the supermarket. Since I had already made a meal plan on my iPhone with recipes from my Green Kitchen, Deliciously Ella and Cook with M&S apps, I already have my shopping list stored in my Meal Plan Meal and Grocery Planner app which is, ta daaaaa! all synced to my Apple watch. Now, here comes the bit that I find so useful. On the Meal Plan app, all the ingredients for all my meals are stored in sections according to where they sit in the supermarket and each time you put something in the trolley, you press the item and it gets crossed off the list. I LOVE this. This is good. If I haven’t planned my next few days meals and want to cook one of my saved favourites from the Cook with M&S iPhone app I can use the app on my watch to pick a recipe (as long as I have previously saved it to my phone), see the ingredients, turn them into a shopping list and tick them off as I go around the supermarket. Once you press each ingredient, a dash appears through it. It doesn’t disappear like in the Meal Plan app but it still works. I can also then see the recipe step by step on my watch and use the same timer functionality as Green Kitchen.
Work
Straight home to get another couple hours work at my desk whilst kids are at school. Working peacefully at my desk, which sits at the window overlooking the Hampshire countryside is just lovely.
Now for some exercise. I click on the running app on my watch, simply press ‘Outdoor Run’ and off I go. Whilst running I can swipe the screen to see calories burned, distance ran, or pace per mile. Again, this is ace as I don’t have to carry my phone whilst running.
When I have child 2 at home, I use the 7 app on my watch and child 2 tends to join in on my workout mat. The full body workout consists of 12 exercises for 30 seconds each with a voice over and an image telling me what’s coming next. So easy, I can do this anywhere. It also helps to fill my exercise rings (on the Apple watch) too, which can become an obsession.
School Pick Ups
I pick both kids up from school and then head to the park, whatever the weather, with an armful of treats. If I don’t practically stuff food in child 1’s mouth as soon as he leaves his classroom door he is in a livid mood for at least an hour.
I have a quick dentist appointment at a new dentist. I need to take the kids and keep them entertained. I’ve got this. Firstly though, I don’t know where this new place is. I use the GPS on my watch. I have already set my home address in Google Maps on my phone so if I’m ever stuck, I press the app on my watch and it gives me 2 simple options Home or Work. If you press firmly you get the travel options; walking, driving or transit directions. A quick tap and your recent places will show. Before setting off to my appointment, I entered the postcode into my iPhone and then opened up the app on my watch to follow the directions.
Once at my appointment, I have to keep the kids entertained for 15 minutes in the dentist room whilst I am lying on the chair. Since I am in no position to speak or even see the kids I need to keep them occupied. So child 2 gets the phone with the Peppa app. Child 1 gets the Apple watch with the Kids Learn Math app. I get to not feel bad because it’s educational.
Preparing Dinner
Home. Quiet playing time for the kids while I prepare dinner. Since, I have yet to have any time to myself by this point I would ordinarily pour a glass of wine ready to face the next part of the day. Cooking dinner, cleaning the kitchen, bathing the kids, reading stories and then bed. Now, however, since I am trying to keep myself on top form, I listen to my new favourite thing. I press the Headspace app on my watch and sneak upstairs. I press SOS and take 10 minutes to just sit and be mindful, listening to the soothing tones of Andy Puddicombe, meditation and mindfulness expert.
Head cleared, down the stairs I go, hit the music app on my watch find my latest ‘Cooking dinner’ playlist and I begin cooking.
Dinner is Beluga Lentil and Sweet Potato Stew from the Green Kitchen on my iPhone. Since I had already added this to my Meal Plan app on Sunday night and shopped earlier, I have all the ingredients ready, as I do for the next 3 days of meals. (I can only plan 3 or 4 days ahead, I’m not superwoman). As I’m using the step by step guide on my phone, I tick off each stage so that it becomes faded, with my next instruction clearer. When I get to something that needs timing, I press the Green Kitchen app on my watch. It knows what I’m cooking and what stage I am at and the timer is set instantly. When times is up, it gives me a little shake and a message to tell me ‘the green lentils should be tender by now.’ Why thank you Green Kitchen, indeed they are.
Dinner is served followed by some quiet time sitting with the kids and playing or doing puzzles. Bathtime, bedtime stories and another day down.
Now it’s my time. For an hour at least! I quickly catch up with the news on the BBC News app on my watch. It gives me top headlines and I click to read the articles that interest me. I check my Instagram. I can either look at my feed or click ‘Activity’ to see if anyone has mentioned me in a comment that I may need to respond to.
As I am finally lying in bed reading a book, an actual book, I realize I have left the heating on. But wait! There’s an app! But come on, there’s no way I have figured this out yet. So up I get and change the thing myself.
Featured photo credit: https://www.dollarphotoclub.com/ via dollarphotoclub.com
