HISMD: CFO, Large Private Company

In office. 2 kids - (8 & 5 yo.). Partner (CEO/Business Owner). Midwest. Late 30s.

Each Thursday, the “How I Structure My Day” series features women from different industries, with and without kids, with and without partners, with family living with/near them and not, wfh to 1+ hour commutes, etc. I hope you enjoy reading them as much as I do!

Before we get to the good stuff…

Know that if you’re ready to learn a time management system designed for professional working women, the 10-week Bright Method program is open and ready to get you results! Learn all about it here – and send any questions my way! Happy to talk out whether I think it would work for you, your main concerns, timing, etc. Send me a message, and I hope to see you in there!

The Snapshot

• Profession: CFO, Large Public Company

• Partner: Yes (CEO/Business Owner)

• Children: Yes – 2 kids (8 & 5 yo.)

• Midwest

• Late 30s

• In Office

Typical Morning:

• I get up about 6:30, get myself fully ready, and then wake the kids up by 7.

• I am a night-before shower girl, and I generally know what I’m wearing based on my day, so we have a routine down pretty well.

• I help the kids get dressed and ready more than typical for their age, but I prioritize some extra sleep over morning independence.

• We sometimes eat a quick breakfast at home, but more frequently have something in the car on the way to school.

• I drop them off by 8 and head to my office.

Morning "Make Life Easier" Hacks

• They have to pick out clothes the night before. I have given up all fights on wearing pants/what shoes/etc and just make them pack something reasonable so they can change if they need it.

• They get lunch at school (THANK GOODNESS), so no packing necessary.

• Also, at least 2x/week, our nanny gets them ready and takes them to school. I schedule this based on when I have early meetings or need to get things done.

Transition into Work Mode

• I don’t - I think I stay in between all day. There always seems to be something on either side of this line.

What My Work Day Looks Like

• I spend a lot of time in meetings.

• I finally have a fully staffed team, but we’re still working on getting everyone trained and capable.

• I’m in a challenging role at a young age and I’m grateful for the opportunity, but it definitely comes with some level of chaos.

• The most important thing I’ve learned is I can’t do everything and I’ll never catch up on my to do list, so ruthless prioritizing is critical.

Lunch/Snacks

• 50/50 on at my desk, or in meetings/with coworkers. I’m fortunate that this is part of my company culture, but sometimes I need to focus and spend a lot on Doordash.

Breaks

• No, but I really should.

Leaving Work

• It depends on the day’s priorities.

• Our nanny picks the kids up from school and takes them to most after school activities. Sometimes the kids are in two different spots, so nanny does one and I do the other.

• I try to leave the office between 4:30-5:30 every day, but I am definitely looking at my emails at 10pm more than I’d like to admit.

After Work/Evening Hours

• I try to work out 3-4x. Some days this is a tennis clinic at 6:30, sometimes it’s a pilates class, sometimes a trainer on the weekends, and sometimes a youtube class in my bedroom.

• I then do shower, get things organized for the next day before I go to bed.

• Our nanny gets the kids showered and ready for bed, and I do books, snuggles and bedtime.

• I try to save chores, personal stuff for the weekends, so after the kids go to bed I can just relax (or choose to work or doom scroll).

Evening Non-Negotiables

• Bedtime snuggles with the kids. We do the three questions I read somewhere (What was the best part of your day, what was tricky, what are you excited for) and both of us share with each other. I don’t get a ton of time with them on weekdays but try to make it good quality time.

Sharing the Load with a Partner

• With both my husband and I doing big job things, we have a full-time nanny. We originally started her part-time and then have just given her more to do until we got to full time. She does grocery shopping, laundry, kids stuff, errands, returns for my shopping problem, etc. She’s way better about coordinating play dates with other parents than I am. Is it a little weird? Sometimes. But it gives me quality time with the kids instead of having to get through 3 loads of laundry at night. We’re grateful to have the means to hire someone at this level and it’s really been the key to letting both of us pursue big things at the same time.

Things You Do For Fun/During the Week

• I love pilates and tennis (workouts + social time) and we also try to travel a bit.

• Now that the kids are a little older, weekend trips are totally doable and so we squeeze in things as much as we can. I’m not going to win any school attendance records, oops!

Outsourcing

• Totally. I mentioned our full time nanny, we also get our house cleaned 1x/week (my husband really likes things clean), we outsource all of our yardwork, and have a really great handyman that comes a lot to do random things around the house.

Anything Else the Sharer Wants to Share

• I live by Nora Roberts’ prioritization comments - it goes something like of everything you’re juggling, some things are glass balls and some things are plastic. the goal is to not drop the glass balls but it’s okay if you drop a few plastic. Sometimes the kids have a big school thing in the middle of the day (glass) and I leave work for that. Sometimes I have a big work meeting (glass) and the kids miss a show and tell (plastic). As a working parent, I can’t do it all and so I have to be okay with some plastic balls dropping.

UPDATE: More About Her Nanny

We found our current nanny through a local “babysitting” agency, not a specific nanny agency. At the time, we started with 3x a week after school (let’s say 3-6pm). She was a college student at the time so it fit our needs enough. Fast forward a year or so, our family help 1x a week became less reliable, she wanted more hours/was no longer in school, we moved and renovated a house AND I was taking over a c-level position. When all that happened, we basically increased her from 9 to 25 hours, every day after school. That worked out great for a year, but she still wanted more hours and had another part time job. We figured out that we could get her to 35-40 if we added in groceries, laundry, Saturday mornings, etc. The kids were about 3 and 6 when we got to this full time schedule that we’ve been on for the last few years. Hours are typically 6:30-8:30am 2x a week (when I have an early meeting or something), 3-8/9 every weeknight, 8-12ish Saturday, and then there is usually a few hours 2x a week where she will come to the house while the kids are at school for laundry, groceries, tidying up the constant mess (her focus is tidying, definitely not cleaning), etc to get to 40. There are some weeks where it’s probably 35 and some where it’s 45, but we try to keep it to 40. We try not to use her for Saturday night coverage - when we have a rare event, we have family or someone else cover. I will ask her in a pickle to trade our Saturday morning hours for that evening, but it’s also really important to me that she has time away from us too. I need her to have a life that isn’t just my kids :) The evening in addition to just pick up hours was a game changer for me personally. Whether it was fires at work, friends wanting to meet up for dinner, a work dinner, tennis, etc. I didn’t have to worry about coordinating care. We all know how hard it is to meet our bestie for dinner, and this is one less thing I have to figure out. When I don’t have something and I’m around, I can get things done or I can hang with the kids or we can even split kids so I get 1/1 time. At first it seemed like I gave up a lot of the time with my kids, but I’ve realized that I’ve just changed it to quality time. I’m not running to get home by 6 so she can leave even though I’m in the middle of excel hell, and that seems to be a lot better for my mental state.

Summer gets to be a little harder... when you have consistent coverage from 8-8 every weekday... I can’t ask anyone to do that alone!! We’ve used a combination of other sitters, family, camps, etc. to fill it, but I try to be more intentional about not having evening commitments every day so the kids and I can go to the pool after work.

Typical evening - the girls have some sort of sports practice 2-3x a week. Our nanny will take them to/from and I will supplement if both kids need to be in two places at once. When we’re not sporting, we typically make dinner together. She will get something started and I’ll help with complicated parts! My kids are not super adventurous eaters. We will eat together if we’re all home! We don’t have much homework yet and she’s great about doing something active or outside when it’s nice. We will occasionally play with neighbor friends, do crafts, etc. after school and after dinner. Our weekly TV time is only after they’re all ready for bed (usually only like 8-8:30) and then I put them to bed. We are not big into travel sports yet - I am intentionally holding off as long as I can, and we’re currently in the season where I have a little more say. This freight train is coming for me quickly though.

Our nanny has been with us for over four years now and is invaluable to our life. If I had to replace her, I would definitely use a nanny agency this time around. Fit is so important and I don’t know how we got so lucky this time, but I’m sure it would be harder again.

That’s a wrap for this one!

Thank you so much to this woman for generously sharing. These publish every Thursday!

A reminder of the ground rules to ensure women continue wanting to share about their days and feel safe doing so.

• Encouraging comments always welcome!

• If you have questions or even hang-ups about what someone shared, you are welcome to ask a question for the sharer in the same kind, genuinely curious way you would if you were looking at that woman in her eyes. She might respond through me.

• If comments are judge-y or mean-spirited, I reserve the right to delete comments. I can handle being criticized about my own work here (and even still, to a degree – I’m also a person), but I go into full mama bear mode when people come after my people – including women who are being vulnerable and sharing in the first place.

• Thanks to the vast majority of people who are so kind!

New here? Welcome!

I’m Kelly Nolan, an attorney-turned-time management strategist and mom of two. I teach the Bright Method, a realistic time management system designed for professional working women. In addition to this fun new series, I share bite-sized time management strategies on Instagram. Thanks for being here!

After experiencing overwhelm as a young patent litigator in Boston, I figured out a time management system to help me show up in the ways that I wanted to at work and at home – without requiring my brain to somehow magically remember it all. I now teach other professional working women how to manage their personal, family, and career roles with less stress and more calm clarity using realistic time management strategies. My system, the Bright Method, has been featured in Bloomberg Businessweek, and my work has been published in Forbes, Fast Company, Business Insider, and more. Learn more on my website, come learn bite-sized strategies with me on Instagram, or jump into my free 3-day program.

Need help finding more articles?

Click here to go to the HISMD index!

Know a friend who might love this, too?

Send it to your friend – or the whole group chat!

Thanks for being here!