Can someone please get me organised??

[dustyflipflop]

I am currently WFH with a 3 yo and 6 yo on their summer holidays. DH is out anywhere from 7-8am to 4-6pm depending on the day.

My employer is very flexible i.e. I can work whenever I want for the most part as long as the project gets done. But I'm finding it so fucking hard right now.

The house is a tip and it really messes with my head - it always does when it's like this. The DCs (as great as they are) throw me off focus and I'm finding myself dwindling the days away without getting much done at all. I am really behind and need to catch up on lots of stuff.

I might have a very small amount of childcare here and there over the next few weeks but it has not yet been confirmed so in the meantime I need to get shit under control.

How do I get a solid 2-3 hours (at least) of work done on my laptop from morning until 4pm, sort dinner, do some bits with the DCs other than sitting them in front of the ipads, do my bit to try and prevent the house from becoming a bigger tip and walk the dog?

I'm sure there will be some pros on here that could throw some suggestions my way and I would be really grateful for anything at this point!

When I had to do this during lockdown I only managed about an hour during the day.
I would get up and go through emails, delegate what I could and then would put the laptop away.
After lunch I might get an hour in whilst they watched tv.
Then I would log in for 2hours in the evening.
On Saturdays I would work all day (DH had the DC) as I find it hard to concentrate in short bursts, by the time I have got into something it was time to pack up.

My one bit of advice is to separate out the roles. Either you are with your DC or you are working. Nothing stressed me out more than trying to do emails or something whilst entertaining the children.

Also, yes to getting out in the morning so you can let them watch tv/ iPad in the afternoon with no guilt.

For housework I loosely follow the organised mum method, do about 45 mins a day in 15 min bursts. Keeps on top of things.
Plus DH will have a tidy round whilst I work in the evening.