I share a list of sanity savers each week. For time-sensitive sanity savers, be sure to subscribe.
My iPhone has changed my life, mostly for the better. These are six sanity-saving apps I’m loving for focus, fitness, and finance.
#1 Time 2
My friend shared this app with me this week and I am so excited about it. It’s a time boxing app that reminds you to keep focusing on the task at hand and shows you that you’re running over time. Check out Time 2 on iTunes. Do Now is an Android alternative to try. I can’t wait to have my fellow ADD-plagued student try it too.
I have both an iPhone and an Apple Watch. I don’t like using my iPhone to log my weights and sets while doing my workouts, mainly because I either have to remove it from my armband (the screen isn’t fully responsive through the plastic) or worry about it getting stepped on or dropped as I move around the gym. I started looking for an app that would allow me to log everything right on the watch. Gymatic not only allows you to do that but will automatically record your reps. You teach the app what constitutes a rep. When doing legs, you have the option of moving your watch to your leg (or shoe). I decided that wasn’t very convenient, so I moved my arms every time I did a leg rep and had it recorded as a rep that way. The app is surprisingly responsive but not perfect. Check out Gymatic on iTunes.
#4 Gymaholic
I was impressed with Gymatic, but I didn’t want to have to correct errors in reps the app was making. I searched for an alternative and found Gymaholic. It does not automatically log your reps. I create my workout on my phone, then press to edit the reps or weights on my watch. It works brilliantly. I can either leave my phone at home or in my jacket pocket while I work out. Find Gymaholic on iTunes.
#5 Bank of America
I love being able to deposit checks, transfer money to my kids’ accounts, and check account balances and activity right from my phone. It’s a huge time saver for me because I can use it anywhere. Find the Bank of America app on iTunes or for Android.
#6 Flipp
I learned about Flipp from Amy Lynn Andrews’s superb newsletter. Flipp organizes your stores’ circular adds with coupons. Get the best deals on the products you need this week or stock up and save. Find Flipp on iTunes or for Android.
Do you have an app that is helping you focus or achieve your fitness or finance goals? Let me know in the comments.
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It’s January as I write and I’m in need of inspiration. Inspiration can get me out of bed on a cold morning and keep me going through a dreary afternoon. These are the things that are inspiring me now.
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#1 The Organized Homeschool Life Planner and Group
I would have created this planner if only I were planning to use it. It has been so inspiring for me to complete my weekly review and my daily planning pages.
I can’t wait to get my bound planners and to get them sent out to homeschoolers who wanted the print version. I have the custom-designed holiday stickers in my hands, ready to ship. They are now available for purchase for digital customers. I found the perfect Today bookmark for the planner that I shared on Instagram. I am also loving The Organized Homeschool Life group on Facebook. It provides a place for me to share daily inspiration for our organizing journey as I find it. We would love to have you join us.
#2 The Body for Life Success Journal
I completed a Body for Life Challenge years ago and loved the energy I had and feeling like I was in top physical condition. My workout intensity has slipped in recent years as has my nutrition. I decided I wanted to do another challenge and my daughter decided to join me. It’s so inspiring to have someone take a challenge with you.
What I love about this journal is that there is an inspirational story each day and an encouragement to review your goals each day. Reviewing your goals and your why regularly WORKS. That’s why I included this in the weekly portion of The Organized Homeschool Life Planner. For best results, I recommend reviewing your why daily!
#3 A 55-Year-Old Body Builder
This woman went from looking like a matronly teacher to a competitive body builder in about two years. Her before-and-after pictures in the middle of this post are incredible! She demonstrates what is possible if we persevere. If you want more fitness inspiration from women over 50, check out my post here.
#4 This Time Next Year
I found the new show, This Time Next Year, to be inspiring. The show introduces someone who states a goal to be achieved in a year. You immediately see them a year later and hear about their journey. The first episode had another woman who became a competitive body builder in a year, but the goals aren’t all fitness based. One couple wanted to have a baby and their story was very touching.
#5 Anti-Procrastination Inspiration
I’ve been procrastinating lately. I have all sorts of excuses for why, but I won’t waste your time. Instead, I’ll recommend you watch this video by Jordan Peterson that will inspire you to stop procrastinating. It helped me!
#6 What It Feels Like to Be an Old Lady
When you’re 50, you start thinking about being old. Or maybe that’s just me. Either way, this video clip of June Hunt describing what it feels like to be old as a Christian is a blessing and a comfort to me. I hope it is for you too.
What is inspiring you lately? Please share in the comments.
I was sure my kids would be speaking a foreign language at early ages, but it didn’t happen. I learned German in school but wanted my kids to learn Spanish. I was thrilled when I met Anne Guarnera of Language Learning at Home, who not only has a Ph.D. in Spanish, but homeschools and helps homeschoolers teach their kids foreign language.
Anne graciously agreed to an interview for The Homeschool Sanity show and answered these questions.
Why teach your kids a foreign language?
It allows us to serve others. A huge 75% of people in the world do not speak or understand English. We can serve people internationally or the large number of non-English speakers in our own communities.
Maximizes verbal skills. Learning a second language doesn’t impede the development of your child’s first language. The more languages you speak, the faster your brain functions. Kids who study foreign language improves processing speed for all subjects.
Teaches the importance of habits. Regular practice is the foundation of language learning, just as practice of a musical instrument is to music learning. Habit formation serves our students well in the study of all subjects.
What age do you recommend starting the study of foreign language?
As soon as possible. This isn’t to discourage students who haven’t started until middle or high school. I learned foreign languages when I was older. Older students have the advantage of understanding grammar and can learn more quickly.
Starting early is a real advantage for homeschoolers. You can make the decision to incorporate foreign language into preschooling. Formal study isn’t required, however. Picture books, CDs, and apps are a great place to start.
What are some tools parents can use to support their language learners even if they don’t speak the language their children are studying?
There are three types of resources I recommend. There are language learning apps. For younger students, the Little Pim app. For older students, I recommend Duolingo and Mango Languages that is often available through your public library.
A second type of resource I recommend is audiobooks in foreign language. The audiobooks teach accents. They can be paused and words looked up or used along with a print book.
A third type of resource is other people. I encourage parents to be creative about finding real-life opportunities to connect with foreign language speakers. That might be something like volunteering places where there are foreign languages spoken. Your child might join a Skype group to speak with native speakers with your supervision.
How can parents help motivate their kids who might not see the point of language learning?
Know your child. Help your child make the connection between what they’re doing and a larger goal. Because it requires so much deliberate practice, it can be hard to see the end goal. Introduce real-life scenarios in which they can use the language. Again, interacting in a community activity where the language is useful can be motivating. Or connect language learning to a future career plan or mission trip.
Even parents who are raising their children bilingually struggle with motivation. My own son recently told me he wanted to be a normal kid who just “talked English.”
This week I’m sharing my favorite sanity-saving books from the past year. I’m a sucker for nonfiction and if it changes my life? All the better. Remember that if you want all the time-sensitive sanity savers too, you’ll need to subscribe.
#1 Sidetracked in the Wilderness by Michael Wells
I read this book by the late Michael Wells and discovered that I was trying to live like Jesus instead of letting Jesus live through me. I can tell you that it’s exhausting to try to live like Jesus. If you read one book this year, this should be it, in my opinion. I wrote Homeschooling Where Strivings cease in response.
#2 My Weakness for His Strength by Michael Wells
I wanted more of Michael Wells’s grace-affirming writing and I found it in this devotional. I love these devotions so much that I alternate between reading several at once and saving them because I can’t bear to finish the book. I am so thrilled that there is another volume. These devotions remind me of one of the best sermons I heard at church this year, on New Year’s Eve. Essentially, the message was I didn’t have to change. I was already loved. The change had already been made — not by me but by Jesus’ finished work on the cross. Hallelujah! That’s worth celebrating for this woman who is always trying to be better in her own strength, for all the wrong reasons.
#3 Deep Work by Cal Newport
I owned Deep Work on Kindle for a very long time and didn’t make time to read it. The irony. I got the audiobook and devoured it between working out and getting ready in the mornings. The book doesn’t tell you what your deep work is. In other words, if you’re a blogger, finding content that could go viral on social media may be deep work for you. Instead, deep work is important work that requires focus. The book both inspires us to pursue deep work and makes suggestions for finishing it for lots of different styles. I love the idea of going away to write, but most likely my deep work will happen in the mornings before the kids are up.
#4 Overwhelmed by Kathy Lipp and Cheri Gregory
Overwhelmed is another book I listened to in audio. I loved it. It’s not only helpful but hilarious. The narrator’s comic timing is wonderful. I wasn’t that overwhelmed when I listened to the book. What I appreciated most were the get-real stories from the two women in the book. They battled signing up for too much, difficult people, humiliation and more. A godly perspective with plenty of humor helps the listener feel like she can survive just about anything. Highly recommended.
I’m recommending this book even though I haven’t finished it yet. It is not only a fascinating look inside a chef’s world but an uber-inspiring manual for becoming more productive in your life and work. I plan to write about how to apply the principles to homeschooling. In the meantime, I am lining up my toiletries in the morning, mise-en-place style!
#7 Organize Tomorrow Today by Jason Selk, Tom Bartow, and Matthew Rudy
Organize Tomorrow Today is like having a coach in a book. The chapters are chock full of inspiring real-life examples of achievement and a practical exercise. I incorporated some of its excellent principles into my Organized Homeschool Life planner.
Getting organized is one of the most popular goals for the new year. I’ve met many wannabe organized homeschoolers at conferences. Yet I suspect that no matter how great my intentions, many of the homeschoolers who have heard me speak or own my book, The Organized Homeschool Life, still aren’t organized. I’d like to discuss six reasons I think that’s the case.
The first reason you’re still not organized is you’ve decided to get organized. What? You might think it’s true what they say about psychologists — that we’re all a bit crazy. But I mean it. Sometimes deciding to get organized destroys your motivation. Psychological research has demonstrated that the anxiety we feel about goals like getting organized dissipates as soon as we decide to do something about it. So, buying an organizing book, joining an organizing Facebook group, or even setting a goal of getting organized can make you feel like the battle is half won. You can relax because you’ve already started getting organized.
I’m not suggesting that you don’t decide to get organized. I’m saying that you can’t stop there. You’ll understand what I mean as I share more reasons you’re still not organized.
#2 You haven’t made organization a habit
We think organizing is an event — that weekend in August when we may or may not get our school room set up, the day when our husband has all the kids out of the house and we’re going to set up our shiny new record keeping system, the spring day dedicated to cleaning out the garage. There are so many problems with an event approach to organization. First, we’re always running behind. If you’ve waited until August to set up your school space and that’s when you’re starting school, you feel behind. You feel like a failure. You’re understandably stressed.
If we count on the golden time when all the kids are out of the house, you just know something is going to happen to prevent that from happening. Your husband will have another commitment, one of the kids will be sick, or something urgent will come up. Even if your day goes as planned, you’ll discover that there is more to do in your space than you thought or you’ll be frustrated that you can’t do more. When my husband has had the kids out of the house for a period of time, it always, always seems too short.
Organization is not an event, but a habit. If you read my article on mini habits, you know that habits are best established with daily practice. It’s what you do every day that determines how organized you are. If you’re still pinning your hopes on an organizing event, you’re going to remain disorganized.
#3 You’re taking on too much
Those of you who are event organizers are also taking on too much. You want to organize your whole school space, including lesson plans in a weekend, a day, or an hour. But even those of you who are trying to organize on a daily basis are also likely taking on too much. Our eyes are almost always bigger than our schedules. We can’t accomplish what we imagine we can in our fantasy world. So here’s what happens. We don’t do what we planned and we feel like failures. We give up. The organizing book goes back on the shelf or more likely in a messy pile. Another thing that didn’t work. We imagine that we are a hopeless case. Strategies that work for other people won’t work for us. I have been there. The truth is we are taking on too much and no normal homeschool mom can accomplish what we dreamed we could.
#4 You lose track of your why
About the time you give up because it’s all too much, you’ve also forgotten why it was so important to get organized in the first place. Maybe you’re fine just the way you are! You’re certainly better than that disastrous homeschool mom you know. You’re not that bad, so maybe you should just relax. If you kept feeling good about your homeschool life after giving up the quest for organization, I would tell you that was a good decision. There are a number of you who are organized enough to do all that God has called you to do. Hyper-focus on organization isn’t good for you.
But the rest of you? You know you’ll be right back in that place of rushing, being crabby at the kids, embarrassed by your home or your lateness, and wishing things were different. You need to reconnect with your why. Why DO you want to get organized? Think about your worst recent organizational day — the day where you got up late, forgot something important, had nothing planned for dinner, got next to no school finished, didn’t do chores, and wasted too much time online, and stayed up late trying to finish something you should have done a long time ago. Really picture it in your mind. How do you feel? Do you want to continue to feel this way in the future? How does your lack of organization affect your spouse? Your kids? Your finances? Your friends? Your witness? Be honest. Now imagine that you are as organized as you need to be to accomplish all God has planned for you. How does that feel? How does that affect your spouse? Your kids? Your finances? Your friends? Your witness? Now you should have your why. You need to hold onto it in order to finally get organized.
#5 You aren’t considering your time
I have shared why the most important area of your homeschool life to organize is your time. Unfortunately, we tend to focus our organizing efforts on our physical space. We want our books, art supplies, and science materials to look good. We want beautiful bookshelves, smart-looking bins, and creative spaces. I do think that an attractive, organized space is important. But organizing and planning time to maintain an organized space is even more important.
The primary way we fail to properly organize time is not anticipating the obstacles that may get in our way each day. The obstacles include our own temptations and struggles, like the hard time we have not answering the phone or responding to text messages. We ignore the likelihood that our child will be crabby, resistant, or slow to learn. We forget about the possibility of surprises — the guest who drops by, the furnace that konks out, the neighbor’s emergency. We can’t exactly plan for these, but neither should we expect the ideal. What we can do is ask ourselves what may get in the way of our week. And we can plan plenty of margin to accommodate the unexpected.
#6 You don’t have help
About the time we decide that we’re going to get organized, we also decide that WE are going to get organized. On top of everything else we are doing, we imagine that through our own strength, or force of will, we’re going to tackle the organizing problem. Take it from someone whose god has been her own strength for many, many years. That endeavor is destined to fail for a believer. God is not going to let you succeed in your own strength. Not only will you move further from Him and become convinced you can make it on your own, but your pride will grow. You’ll be telling everyone how you did it — how YOU did it with your organizing genius or your superior willpower or this program you found with your keen research skills. Why would God let us do this? He won’t. If you hear nothing else in this episode, I hope you’ll hear this: you can’t get organized if organizing is a struggle without God. You shouldn’t even try. I wrote about homeschooling without striving and I highly recommend that article to you.
The other way we try to get organized without help is creating our own approach. I believe in tailoring every approach or system to your personal needs, but reinventing the wheel isn’t a wise use of our time. Organizing books used to be written by born-organized people. They weren’t very useful for born-messy people like you and me. It isn’t that we’ve never heard of everything in its place. It’s that we need that broken down for us. Fortunately, there are people like FLYLady who have made organizing simple. We can adopt others’ grace-based approaches that recognize our natural tendencies — like if we have the opportunity to avoid putting something away, we’ll take it if we haven’t created habits for that.
Finally, we don’t get help getting organized by going through the process alone. It’s embarrassing to be disorganized. You feel foolish and weak. It feels so good to imagine getting your act together on your own and then pretending as though you’ve always been the same as your born-organized friends. I’ve had born-organized people who haven’t known me long tell me that I’m just like them. I laugh out loud. I’m not. Born-organized people have struggles that aren’t necessarily as visible as messies’ are. As I’ve shared the truth about me with other messies, I find myself loving them to pieces. There’s something so moving about being able to be real with people and their honesty in return. It isn’t that I don’t think it’s possible to get organized alone. God can get our lives in order, now matter how isolated we are. It’s that it’s not nearly as fun.
The tool that can help you finally organize your homeschool
There are people who have bought my book, The Organized Homeschool Life, who still aren’t organized. I can’t make people read the book or do the missions, even though some women wish I could. But I realized I could do something that would address these reasons some still aren’t organized. I’ve created a tool that will take my own organization to the next level. I used everything I’ve learned in years of experimenting with my productivity. I created a complete toolkit for Christian homeschool moms who want to organize their homeschool lives. It’s the Organized Homeschool Life Planner.
It allows homeschool moms to not just decide to get organized, but to take action daily. It allows them to create and track habits as well as each step of the challenges included in The Organized Homeschool Life. The planner encourages moms to choose one focus for the day by naming their day. Huge task lists are reduced to three priorities for the day and just a few others. You can finally finish your list and feel in control. The Organized Homeschool Life planner also has moms schedule their time — something that has been demonstrated to produce results. The weekly planning page prompts moms to write their why and anticipate obstacles to their goals. Finally, the planner prompts homeschooling moms to focus on where their help comes from. The daily page begins with a gratitude list, a place for a Scripture that spoke to you in your quiet time, and your response to God. I like to give any worries I have to God in this space. You could write a short prayer as well. Each month, there is also a devotion that will help focus your organizing efforts on what really matters. To encourage you to connect with other homeschool moms becoming organized, I’ve created The Organized Homeschool Life Facebook group.
The planner I’ve created addresses the major reasons homeschool moms struggle to get organized. It comes in two formats for your preference — a full-year, undated, digital planner or a two-book, undated, printed, spiral-bound planner set. The digital version has daily, weekly, and monthly pages that can be edited on your computer and kept there or printed out. It’s the most economical by far because you can use it year after year. If you’d like to print some or all of the 8.5×11 pages, you can.
The print version comes in a January to June version and a July to December version. Print orders will be shipped free in the US and when ordered direct, include stickers designed exclusively for The Organized Homeschool Life planner. At the time of this podcast, for a very limited time, take advantage of discounted launch pricing that also includes discounts on the book, The Organized Homeschool Life. To learn more and finally get your homeschool life organized, grab your copy today!
You’ll be able to download sample pages in the product notes or join me on Facebook Live for an inside look and coaching on how to organize your time and your homeschool life.
How are you supposed to do it all and stay sane in the process?
You do everything that moms with kids in school do, plus you have the responsibilities of a teacher, lunch lady, janitor, field trip monitor, and guidance counselor too.
To do it all, you have to be organized. But where do you start?
I was a born-messy mom. I was so disorganized with my ADD brain when I started homeschooling my oldest for preschool, that I was convinced I had to quit. I was buried in laundry, toys, diapers, and books. I had no idea what was for dinner and that was after getting no school done.
I was desperate when I found a woman named FLYLady online. She taught me that I needed routines and an approach to getting organized just 15 minutes at a time. Until I figured out what I was doing, I copied FLYLady’s routines.
I eventually found my groove and gained the confidence to have three more children, for a total of six. I longed for 15-minute missions that would not just organize my home, but my homeschool. I wanted to be ready for holidays in advance. I wanted to be organized in my marriage, parenting, and even my hobbies. I created The Organized Homeschool Life book to give homeschool moms like me easy missions for organizing these areas and more. Those who have taken on the weekly challenges tell me it’s made a big difference in their homeschool sanity.
But I needed something more in my quest for an organized homeschool life. I wanted a system for organizing my time and my homeschool.
“I needed a tool to simplify my life — not add to the overwhelm.”
Can you relate? I had used many task and goal-based planners and I wanted a planner that incorporated everything I loved about them in one place.
Monthly calendars, weekly, and daily pages in the digital version can be easily edited on your computer or digital devices. Other forms can be edited using Adobe Reader on your mobile device, Preview on a Mac, or a PDF app on your PC.
Create reusable meal plans with shopping lists that you can save to your phone or print as needed. Save time and your sanity!
Undated pages allow you to start using the print planner any time!
Nearly 300 high quality, planner-weight interior pages in each planner
Beautiful laminated color covers
Thick monthly dividers in color
Lay-flat spiral binding
Open and go — no searching for files or printing time required
Two planners (Jan-June and July-December) so they’re not too thick to tuck in your tote
The Organized Homeschool Life Planner is designed to be used with The Organized Homeschool Life book. The book explains weekly challenges in detail, while the weekly page lists each step of the challenge.
Join our Facebook community (open to anyone who wants to organize their homeschooling life) for support and inspiration. We’ll have daily check-ins and extra tips for success in your organizing journey.
You might expect a complete system that can organize your entire homeschool life to cost a lot. But my desire is for every homeschool mom to be able to afford homeschool sanity.
Download a free, complete, two-week sample (Daily Devotions and Curriculum Challenges) for subscribers by clicking the image below. (You’ll also receive the Sanity Saturday newsletter.) Use it for two weeks and love it! Then order your system so you can have the most organized year ever.
I’m a Christian psychologist turned homeschooling mother of six. My life can be a little crazy, so I look for sanity-saving ideas to use and share. I hope you’ll read my About page to learn more.
#3 Gymatic
