A Day in the Life of a Mom in Tech
Here at Infinite Red, we are very vocal about the many perks of remote work. One of the biggest for many of us is extra time with our loved ones since we can work at home.
After I had my daughter, this manifested as an extra three months after my three-month official maternity leave where I was able to continue working part-time, while also being my baby’s primary caregiver (and food source!). I’m incredibly grateful for this extra precious time with my daughter, and it absolutely would not have been possible without remote work.
I get a lot of questions about how I juggled both jobs, so here’s a glimpse into a typical day* in the life of a software engineer with a newborn!
*Disclaimer: Anybody who has kids knows there’s no such thing as a typical day with a baby! Every day took whatever shape it needed to meet her needs, so this is more of an average :)
6:00 AM: Baby is up for the day! I feed her while my husband makes breakfast, and then we head downstairs and play for a bit.
8:00 AM: Husband leaves for work, and it’s time for baby’s first nap of the day! After putting her down, I head into the office and get to work. I’m fixing bugs for the Chain React 2019 app.
9:45 AM: Baby wakes up! I feed her, then it’s playtime! I head downstairs with her, and she hangs out on her playmat or jumper. During this time, I respond to a few slack messages on my phone.
11:00 AM: We head out for a walk to the park!
12:00 PM: Time for nap number two. I grab some leftovers from the fridge for lunch and bring them upstairs (working lunches when time is precious!) and get back into bug fixing.
12:35 PM: Baby is awake! Time to feed her again!
1:00 PM: Company bi-weekly all-hands meeting on Zoom. Baby hangs out on my lap.
1:15 PM: Baby decides she’s bored on my lap and gets fussy, so I move her to the playmat that I have on the floor in my office. She doesn’t like it when I turn my back, so I hop back into the meeting from my phone.
2:00 PM: Meeting is over! We decide to run a quick errand to the grocery store.
3:00 PM: Time for the last nap of the day! Back into the office to fix more bugs.
3:45 PM: Baby wakes up! I’m right in the middle of a thought, so I get her and bring her in to my office, and she sits on my lap while I code until I get to a stopping place (about 5 minutes). Then time for her to eat again!
5:00 PM: Husband gets home from work and takes over baby duty. I hop back online for 15–20 minutes.
5:30 PM: Dinner!
7:00 PM: Baby goes to bed. I hop online for a bit to finish things up.
7:30 PM: Sign off for the night and spend time with my husband.
Some things that made this arrangement possible:
- My bosses (Jamon Holmgren, Todd Werth and Gant Laborde) were incredibly supportive and set me up on projects that meshed well with my unpredictable schedule.
- My coworkers were incredibly gracious and understanding of the asynchronous nature of my communication and the fact that I couldn’t always hop into Zoom at a moment’s notice or respond on Slack immediately.
- My husband gave up some of his evening and weekend time with me to be on solo baby duty while I caught up on work.
I’m now back full time, and we have a wonderful nanny who comes and hangs out with my daughter while I work, but I’m very grateful that I can pop downstairs and see her whenever I want. Remote work is a dream for anybody wanting more time with family without compromising their productivity. If your company is considering remote work, but not quite sure how to make it happen, check out Six Ways to Build a Strong Remote Company Culture and be sure to read our free eBook: The Remote Work Handbook
Robin Heinze is a senior software engineer building React Native apps at Infinite Red, a mobile/web app design and development agency. Follow her on Twitter or Github.
