Juggling & Balancing All.The.Things...
Hey friends!
I so appreciate those of you that took the time to reply to my email last week or leave me a comment for ways that I can help you and make sure that these emails are actually beneficial to you. Receiving your feedback helps me so much with knowing which direction to take, and I’m so grateful. I’ll be sure to share about each of those topics and answer your questions. Again, thank you for your input!
In today’s email, I’m going to address Breanna’s comment. She says…
“I’d love to see your daily schedule and how you go about fitting everything into one day! Do you set alarms on your phone to stay on track? Does your schedule change throughout the week? I feel like I have 20 spinning plates that I’m trying to keep from falling but they could all come crashing down at any moment.”
I really have learned that it’s impossible to do all.the.things. and all.at.once. I read an email last week from a homeschool mom that said she considers it a good day if she gets two of the big things done in a day… like she can do homeschool and housework, but she can’t do work also. Or she can focus on work and laundry, but homeschool is going to be minimal that day. I think that’s a good way to think about it, because our days and our weeks are going to ebb and flow. Some days we will be super on top of it in one area, but another is going to probably be a flop. But it’s okay because tomorrow is a new day, and today’s flop can be tomorrow’s focus, and you can come out on top in that area then!
Breanna, you talk about the spinning plates, and I like that illustration. I like to think about it like balls that I’m juggling. There are some “balls”, if you will, that are super high-priority. I like to think that they’re maybe made of glass so they definitely cannot be dropped… like our relationship with our children. That one definitely should take priority over the homeschool and over the housework, right? Reaching the hearts of our children is SUPER IMPORTANT so it’s something that we can’t drop.
Other “balls” that we juggle are just regular rubber balls. It’s okay to let them drop a little lower or even fall and just pick them back up again, because they’ll always bounce back. Laundry, dishes, housework, even homeschool… it’s always going to be there. When we’re busy, out and about, taking in experiences, making memories… sometimes time doesn’t allow to do all the things perfectly. It’s okay to let them go for a day or two in order to focus on something else, and then you can pick them back up when it’s time. Some call this “giving ourselves grace”. ;-)
So, I have a guide I’m going to share with you today. I really didn’t know what to call it but I’ve given it the really long title of “Balancing Household and Homeschool with Time Blocks and Daily Focus Tasks”. In all honesty… sometimes I hesitate to share things like this because I feel like people are intimidated by it. I sometimes feel like the systems and routines I come up with to “problem-solve” different things we’re struggling with end up being “too much” for most people, and it would just overwhelm them if I were to share it. But since you’re literally asking for this… I’ll let you in on it. Haha!
I also don’t want you to look at this and think I’ve got it all together, all the time, because I definitely DO NOT. Hehe! I was actually reading back through this as I was getting ready to share it with you and realized how out-of-routine we have gotten…
We are at the end of our school year, and we are just pushing through to the end, if you know what I mean.
I’m in my pajamas all day most days, my hair and face are a mess, and that’s why I’m not dare showing my face on social media right now. Haha!
We had some sick days recently, and I really spoiled my toddler something extra with that. I laid with him for nap times because we were both feeling extra tired while fighting off colds. Now, he’s decided he liked those extra snuggles and mama’s bed is so comfy, so I’m working to get him to to nap in his bed again so I can actually get back to doing some work during his nap times.
We’ve gotten to where we let our big kids stay up sometimes past bedtime, because they just watch an extra show or two and will put themselves to bed… but then they sleep in later in the mornings, and it’s harder to get everything going with our “routine”…. (hence the end-of-school-year & just pushing through and making it work).
So yeah, definitely not all together, but it’s okay. When school ends this week, we’ll take a little break from “routine”. Then, we’ll establish a new routine for our Summer, and we’ll probably end up starting school again pretty soon because it helps us to have a good flow in our day, it fills some of that down time and prevents boredom, and it lets us take frequent breaks throughout the year when we really need them.
If you check out this guide I’m sharing (or anything that I or someone shares online really), I want you to use the “Glean and Tweak” tip.
Glean…something that you find helpful from it.
and then Tweak it to fit YOUR needs.
Not everything is going to be exactly 100% helpful and perfect for you and your family, because we are all different. Find something helpful, and make it work for you and your needs.
I also want you to know that I don’t follow this to a T. It’s just a guide, really, that helps me work through “How can I fit it all in a day?” and “How can I fit it all in a week?” So every day has a general flow to it, and I kind of think of my day in “Time Blocks”. This guide actually breaks down the day that way, and I’ve listed out what kind of things will fit in each block. You’ll notice that there are no times listed, because we don’t do anything by times, as a general rule. Instead, it’s just an order. If we wake up late or something happens, I can easily see what I need to skip to keep moving throughout the day and call it successful at the end of it.
Also, there are seven different “daily focuses”, and you’ll see the daily tasks for each of the focuses at the top of the page… Laundry Day, Kitchen Day, Office Day, Town Day, Cleaning Day, Outside Day, and The Lord’s Day. Again, I didn’t add in the days of the week either, because my focus days are more spontaneous than that… I focus on “what’s needed” today, and sometimes that just doesn’t fall on a particular day of the week. Some may like to be a little more formal in planning their weeks out because it helps them in that way… like Town Day is always Tuesday so all appointments and errands are scheduled for that day, and Kitchen Day is always Wednesday so they know they’ll always have the cooking components they need from Town Day the previous day. I just don’t do this personally. I try to fit random appointments in the afternoons, and I do groceries during dance class, so these don’t really affect our homeschool days or anything.
I’ve got a podcast episode that I recorded a while back on this topic of “Time Blocking” that I’ll share with you soon, but enough chatter—
Here’s that guide I’ve been yapping about if you’re interested in that…
I just started a full Kitchen & Food Pantry Organization for a client this past week.
I’m working on turning an Office into a Little Boy’s Bedroom for a client.
I’m working on a full Bathroom Organization for a client.
For myself, I’m always working on something, ya know. Last week, I took the legs off of one of our tables so I could move it. It’s the REAL BIG table that I had been dreaming about for years that would fit our entire family as well as guests. Remember that one? The one I bought for $125 at a flea market and just added a bench and mismatched chairs around it? Anyway, I’ve always wanted to paint it so now that we’ve had it for over two years, it’s time… Especially now that we have two other big ole tables we can eat off of if need be. I actually want to sand it down and seal it to use for an outside dining space. I’ll get matching outdoor chairs to go around it at some point. We’ve lived in this house a year and a half, but we have yet to really do anything outside besides toys. Our budget just can’t do it all at once, ya know? But I’m real excited to actually be able to sit out in our backyard and enjoy it more with our kids and guests that come over. It will be really nice when we get it all finished. It may be another couple of years - who knows?? But it will be nice. Haha!
I’m also working on photo organization. If you remember back in January, my goal was to clear my phone of all the photos I had stored on it. I ordered them all, and I finally opened those boxes this past week. Haha. I also found a set of matching photo albums at Dirt Cheap (score!) that I might put them into as well as use the photo boxes that I’ve had for quite some time. So yeah - this has been on my project list for a while now, but maybe when school is done I can actually have some time to do it.
These Patterned Socks from Amazon
This is one of those things that I probably saw an influencer share at some point, and I added them to my Amazon wish list and probably didn’t think anything else about it. It’s not something I would have really ordered for myself. However, I shared my Amazon wish list when family was asking what to get me for Christmas, and this is one of the things I got.
Yall, I have LOVED these socks. I know that may seem super silly to say, but I’ve got a thing for fun socks, and apparently I’m also super picky and particular about them. I’m always drawn to the super thick, wool ones you see in every store in the Winter time, but they slip, and they make me hot sometimes. These are the perfect thickness, they stay in place, they have lots of colors so I’m gonna say they go with everything, and they are fun.
I just feel like they are the perfect socks for a stay-at-home-mama like me. They make me feel cozy, but also cute and more-put together somehow. I don’t know, guys. I just love them and thought they would be the perfect thing to share with you this week. Who knew I could write a whole little segment about socks??
Habits I’m Tracking Right Now…
Let’s be honest. I’m basically not tracking anything right now. We’re gonna finish school, I’m focusing more on work at the moment, and then I’m going to plan some fun activities for our Summer before we get into a good groove with anything again. I am still doing my quiet times and my healthy habits, but I’m not really tracking anything this week. ;-)Finish school this week.
And by “finish school”, this just means that we’ve completed 180 days so we can call it quits for a bit. My kids are all still “in the middle of a grade” because homeschool is just different than traditional school. We just found a good stopping point in our individual subjects and lessons, so we will take a little break from those. We will continue with some of our group subjects because we just started a fun Geology unit study for Science, and the kids are excited to open the box of rocks and gems that came with it when we get to a certain lesson. We’ll count this as one of our fun, Summer activities I guess.Plan some Summer Fun Activities.
Share some of our new Homeschool Curriculum that has arrived for our next school year. I know I haven’t shared any of this yet. Maybe this will be the week. And maybe not. Who knows?
Work on the plans for new work projects.
Plan a trip for the out-of-town organization shopping. I think I need a nanny or an assistant… someone that can go with me on random trips and help me with the kids but also help me pick out organization stuff or do projects, if need be. If this interests you, reply to this email and let me know. Haha. It’s something I’ve been thinking about but haven’t really needed yet. Well, I need it now. Lol. I’m so serious. Let me know!
Spring Cleaning - Idk about you guys, but I am in another declutter/deep clean mode over here. It usually means that I’m changing things up in the house again too. Yep, already told you I moved that table out so definitely switching things around again. Ha!
Release Podcast Episode on Time-Blocking.
Post the last of the physical planners I have available for sale. I will no longer be offering physical planners after these are gone, but everything is still available in my shop for digital download.
And all of the usual things… homeschooling, homemaking, and spending time with my favorite people!
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