Organizing didn’t come naturally to me. I’ve had to learn it the hard way. But today I feel like I’m organized enough to do everything God has called me to do as a homeschooling mom. If you’d like to take a shorter journey to organization than I took, this article is for you. These are the habits of an organized homeschool mom.
Regular time with God
The first habit of the organized homeschool mom is regular time with God. I know there are secular homeschoolers who feel it’s possible to be organized apart from God. I’m not going to argue that point for them. But if you are a follower of Jesus who struggles with overwhelm, the first place to start is with your personal devotion time.
Busy homeschool moms frequently find it difficult to have regular devotional time. I understand that. I had three children three and under. That was the most challenging time for me. When you have been up most of the night with a screaming newborn, devotional time tends to fall by the wayside. I get it! But I also see time with God like I see eating. When you’re really busy, you might have to eat standing up or on the way to an appointment, but few of us would forgo eating all day long, no matter how busy we are.Fortunately, time with God is easier to fit in then eating.
The thing that interferes with regular time with the Lord is our notion that devotional time has to fit a formula. It doesn’t. My time with God has looked different during various seasons of my life. When I was nursing a newborn, it meant I was praying in the middle of the night. When I was in a moms’ Bible study, it meant I was spending a lot of time digging into the Scriptures. Today my devotional time is very eclectic and all day. I read a little of my Bible with study notes; I read from a church or another devotional; I pray in the morning using an app and throughout the day.
You can consistently have time with the Lord if you lose the perfectionism. Just talk to Him and read His responses the way you would with a friend who is messaging you. That’s all it is. Yet it is the most powerful organizing habit of all. My mood and my schedule for the day have been dramatically changed as a result of being in God’s presence intentionally.
Routine
Organizing habit number two is a routine. I know you’ve heard it over and over again that you need a routine. Strangely enough, I never heard that as a new homeschooling mom. It was news to me. But my willingness to do a few of the same key activities in order, day after day after day, changed me from a woman who was ready to give up homeschooling and having more kids to a woman who felt like she could do this homeschooling thing.
A routine is not boring; it’s not rigid, and it’s not confining. A routine gives your mind the freedom it needs to think about important matters. If you don’t have a routine for cleaning the house, homeschooling the kids, and making meals, your mind will be preoccupied with these things. Any new stressors will put you over the edge. Ask me how I know. I resisted having a routine but the routine liberated me. Routines have had to adjust as my children have grown and my activities have changed. But having routine is the second most important habit for being an organized homeschooling mom
Decluttering
Organizing habit number three is decluttering. Whether you are removing things or activities you don’t use, need, or love, you will never be organized when there’s just too much. We have become victims of our own abundance. Where once it was challenging to find curriculum that worked well in a homeschool setting, now we’re tearing our hair out trying to decide what to buy and what to use once we buy it.
Buying more bookshelves is not an organizing habit. Don’t get me wrong! I love books. We have many of them. But I’ve learned to become comfortable with giving them away. I can bless other homeschoolers, I can repurchase or borrow anything I find I later need. I was not given the job of lending library to the world. Neither were you.
The third habit works together with the first and second habit. We need to ask God to show us a routine that will serve our family. Our routine should include a regular time for decluttering. Rather than think we’re going to take the next month off to declutter and simplify, we need to make decluttering a part of our routine, so that we will never find ourselves overwhelmed with stuff again.
Realistic Expectations
The fourth habit of organized homeschool moms is realistic expectations. I have been guilty of basing my expectations on what other homeschooling families say they are doing. Whether I read their blog posts, look at their photos on Instagram, or see their amazing activities on Pinterest, I can feel like I’m falling behind.
I attended a kindergarten graduation with my second son and was wowed by the kindergartners who performed musically for the ceremony. These children seemed so advanced. My son sat at the graduation, clearly not paying attention to the ceremony at all. It’s so ridiculous now, but I thought he and I were lacking something. That son ironically grew up to be an advanced student and a part of our church’s worship band. I didn’t begin pressing him to do more after that kindergarten graduation, but I could have. I could have let fear about not measuring up add to the burden of homeschooling instead of the joy of it.
Realistic expectations also mean that our to-do list is manageable. We should be able to finish our day’s list on a regular basis. I hear from homeschooling moms all the time who are frustrated and depressed about their students and their own lack of progress. Most of the time that frustration comes from trying to do more than any normal homeschooler can do.
Planning
The fifth habit of organized homeschool moms is planning. Diona Navarro shared with us how planning gives us freedom in so many ways. She mentioned how a plan can give us control. I went on to dive deeper into the idea that the plan doesn’t control us; rather, it guides us and gives us peace of mind and joy as we complete it. I asked Diona to talk about The Organized Homeschool Life, which is a plan for helping us to be the organized homeschool moms God has called us to be. Listen to what she said on the podcast.
The Organized Homeschool Life book and planner will help you to create the habits of an organized homeschool mom. First, every day your planner will direct you to spend time with the Lord. Rather than having long lined pages to complete that aren’t realistic for busy moms like us, you’ll have a few lines on which to write your gratitude to God, the word you heard from God, and your response to Him in prayer. Even if all you do is just complete that part of your daily plan, you’ll feel connected to the Lord.
The next habit The Organized Homeschool Life helps you develop is routines. Each day you’ll create a basic schedule for your day. You’ll be guided in the process of creating a routine with a helpful printable. Once you’ve created a workable routine, creating a loose schedule of specific tasks for the day will be easy and gratifying.
The third habit The Organized Homeschool Life helps us develop is decluttering. You’ll be challenged to declutter after Christmas, to declutter bedrooms, clothing, used curriculum, and the places in your home that tend to collect clutter. In the Organized Homeschool Life Facebook group, you’ll receive prompts to remind you to keep up your decluttering habit.
The Organized Homeschool Life also helps you have realistic expectations. Each challenge is made up of four steps that take just 15 minutes each. You’ll be amazed by how much you can do in such a short period of time. The Organized Homeschool Life Planner includes space for your organizing task of the day, so you’re reminded to stay on track with these missions or other organizing tasks you need to do.
In studying my own productivity for a year, I found that on average I completed just six tasks a day, aside from my routine tasks. That’s why there is space for just six tasks on your daily planning page. It feels amazing to complete your task list for the day and not feel like a failure because you haven’t done all 30 of the items on your overly long list.
Finally, The Organized Homeschool Life is a plan. You can develop your own plan for organizing your homeschool life or you can save yourself time and use or tweak mine. The Organized Homeschool Life gives you a starting point. Each week, the four steps of the challenge for the week are outlined for you in a very short read in the book. The weekly planning page in the planner lists the steps for the week, allowing you to plan when to do them. The planner is organized into months and weeks but isn’t dated, so you can start organizing your homeschool life at any time.
I want homeschooling moms have the peace and joy that I have in planning an organized homeschool life. That is why from now through November 17th, 2018, you can gift yourself both the book and planner at launch pricing. Whether you prefer digital books and planners or you love having a printed book and beautifully spiral-bound planner to use, you’ll find both here.
Not sure you can keep up the organizing habit? Be sure to check out How to Keep the Happy Planning Going. You can also give The Organized Homeschool Life book and planner a try with the Christmas Planning challenge. You’ll receive sample pages that will tell you if the The Organized Homeschool Life is for you before the sale is over. Click the image below to have the sample emailed to you. You’ll also be subscribed to Psychowith6 and the Sanity Saturday newsletter.
Which of these habits has been the biggest struggle for you? Comment and let me know.
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I love this post. I dont know what it is but i seem to be too disorganized to get organized. Very encouraging