One of the hardest things for busy homeschool mothers is finding time for everything. When we juggle work on top of it all, life gets chaotic.
One of my favorite sayings, though is
To fail to plan is to plan to fail.
Not that life always follows plan. But isn’t it reassuring to know we have a time for everything and can do everything in its time [Eccles. 3]?
A few months ago, I read Guru Hyatt’s excellent example on how to plan. He offers several great points and even a download spreadsheet to get started.
So, one night, I asked my husband (who is also a brown belt in Excel) to help me think through my own life plan, micro-style. How could I shoe-horn in …
- family
- homeschool
- extracurriculars
- errands
- college, and
- work
… and still have extra space in my life to breathe, think, create, or just … crash! I am so glad I went through the exercise together with my husband.
- Even though he knew, in theory, what all I did, it helped him visualize the real problem I face every day of how can I get this all done!
- His objective viewpoint was a blessing to me, too! Sometimes he said, “Don’t be discouraged, you really can do this!” And other times, he was the one who said, “You really can’t do that.”
- I started off the exercise hyper-ventalating about the rigors of this coming school year. By the time we were done, I had a clear vision for how it all would be accomplished and felt much better.
- When we were finished, my husband declared I should do less house work. That is the best reward of all!
So, here’s a copy of an early draft of the project (you didn’t think I would tell you what I’m doing moment by moment, do you? lol). Feel free to rip it off and make one of your own. I have tweaked this several times and finally printed a copy and taped it inside my personal planner. I refer to it constantly.
See also: Working While Homeschooling – Schedules and Priorities
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