There are many theories of what is causing a sense of social acceleration and the ‘time squeeze’ in modern society, such as the notion that individuals are ‘doing more’ through increased consumption, or the increasing difficulty that many people face coordinating with networks due to de-synchronised and de-routinised employment and life-style practices. In this regard qualitative empirical work has often been focused on dual-income middle-class couples. To explore an under-developed area, this article considers the socio-temporal organisation of 10 working sole fathers’ and 17 working sole mothers’ daily lives. This study finds that for working sole parents a sense of time squeeze or acceleration is principally due to structural aspects of workplaces and parenting practices. In particular, parenting routines, school and childcare times and work times are fixed events which create a time squeeze in the mornings and evenings. These normative and structural temporalities appear more influential on working sole parents’ daily lives than consumption norms or de-synchronisation aspects of managing networks.