As a clinical psychologist, I know that most organizing plans and programs will work if someone is motivated. The trouble is that motivation wanes after the initial excitement of starting a new plan. I had a woman call me to ask what book she had purchased from me months before at a Great Homeschool Convention. It was The Organized Homeschool Life. We both laughed.
I want to help women maintain their motivation for organizing because I know the peace and joy that are available when we establish the habit of organizing. To that end, I am writing devotions for an organized life. They will include a tiny organizing task to complete each day. When published, there will be a devotion for each day of the year. But for my own accountability and your benefit until then, I will publish a devotion here and to my subscribers each Friday. Click here to subscribe to the Psychowith6 newsletter to receive your weekly devotion.
All scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of god may be competent, equipped for every good work. 2 Timothy 3:16-17
I had read a number of books I hoped would help me get my act together. But I had never read the entire Bible. I didn’t even think that was advisable! To me, the Bible was a reference book. You looked up the verses you needed and back on the shelf it went.
That is until I heard Becky Tirabassi speak. She gave a full-day seminar on changing your life as part of a Women of Faith conference. Becky shared how God had lovingly and dramatically delivered her from alcoholism. After she came to know Jesus, she committed herself to what she called “an appointment with the King” each day.
Her daily appointments with God included reading enough of the book He had written that she would finish the entire Bible in a year. I didn’t know what that entailed, but I knew I wanted to change my life. I stood up when she asked who was committed to having an appointment with the King each day.
There were challenging days of reading ahead, like the day I gave birth to a nine-and-half-pound baby and could barely keep my eyes open. But I persevered, spending an average of just 12 minutes a day reading the Bible.
A year later I had read the entire Bible and could honestly testify that my life was changed. I still needed help in the organizing department, but I knew that God loved me. And I knew there was hope for a messy woman like me.
TINY TASK: Commit to having an appointment with the King each day. Choose a Bible or Bible reading plan that will allow you to read the entire Bible in one to three years.
If you are starting your homeschool year for the first time or the tenth, you need to be organized to be successful. Here are six organizing tools that will help.
#1 The Organized Homeschool Life Book and Planner
I thought homeschooling a preschooler would be easy. It should have been, but my lack of routines and planning led to failure.
Having a simple plan of 15-minute missions to organize every area of your homeschooling life will make all the difference. If you are already time disciplined, all you need is The Organized Homeschool Life book. But if you don’t know how to squeeze 15 minutes of organizing into your busy day, you need The Organized Homeschool Life planner.
The Organized Homeschool Life Planner isn’t a lesson planner. You’ll need a separate book for that. I love this Acco four-person appointment book. It’s perfect for creating a lesson plan for up to four kids. My advice is to work no further out than a week at a time.
#3 Mead Modern Chic Academic Planner
Your students need a planner to work from. This academic planner from Mead is attractive and easy to use.
#4 Big Plans 12×12 Wall Calendar
A wall calendar is a great way to keep the family organized. I love this big one from Mead that has a place for morning, afternoon, and evening.
These Mead 5-Star notebooks have space for kids to store loose papers and are designed to hold reference material students refer to all year. The front cover labels, table of contents, and thick paper make these notebooks perfect for staying organized.
Conclusion
Getting and staying organized this homeschool year is easier with the right tools. Check out these six options that I’m excited about.
Soon, we’ll be in a new year. It’s that time when many of us think of goals like getting organized. You know you’re unlikely to organize everything in a year, so what are the most important areas for homeschoolers to focus on? My answer may surprise you.
Organize Your Homeschool Life All Year
Before we jump in, I want to offer you the digital version of my book, the Organized Homeschool Life for just $7! This year, you can organize more than just the most important areas of your homeschooling life. You’ll be given 15-minute missions that will help you in curriculum planning, preparing for seasons and holidays, and special areas like organizing a business or hobby.
So what are the most important areas? I’m going to share six of the most important areas to organize. But here’s a hint. They aren’t your school room, your kitchen, or even your curriculum. What? The heresy!
But I know from experience that if you don’t get these six key areas of your life down, you won’t be able to organize anything else. With them organized, you can tackle any other area easily.
#1 Daily Devotions
The #1 area to organize in your homeschooling life is daily devotions. If you aren’t spending devoted time with God on a regular basis, the risk of operating out of your own strength is high. As a result, you’re more likely to suffer from burnout, depression, and anger.
Yet, it’s so tempting to skip this time. Perhaps you have a baby or early riser at home. Maybe you’re not getting enough sleep. Or you may have no idea how to find quiet time.
I committed to having daily devotions consisting of Bible reading and prayer more than 20 years ago. That was when I read the Bible through for the first time in a year. The Bible I used was called the Change Your Life Daily Bible by Becky Tirabassi and it did change my life.
I didn’t really know God before I made that commitment. I didn’t think He cared about the details of my life. I felt like I was doing life and motherhood on my own.
I’ve read the Bible several times through in different forms since then, and I continue to learn more about God and myself. I know that He really is working all things together for my good. I know that when committed to Him, I can’t fail. How amazing is that?
If you organize nothing else this year, organize time for God. You don’t have to spend an hour at 5 a.m. Your time could be right before bed. It could be listening to the Bible and praying while walking. It could be using some of your kids’ nap and quiet time to converse with God. No matter when it is or how long it is, keep pursuing it and ask God to give you a desire for it. Why wouldn’t He answer that prayer?
#2 Daily Routine
The second area to organize in your homeschooling life is a daily routine. A routine, or doing key activities in order, is what allowed me to continue to homeschool and have six children. You can hear more about it by listening to the podcast I did with FLYLady on the topic.
Routines sound boring and confining but the truth is they give you freedom and they can even be fun. A quick cleanup each morning after breakfast was a pivotal part of our routine. I had an upbeat music playlist to listen to as we worked. I also set a timer as we worked on each floor. Sometimes when time was short, I would challenge the kids to see how much we could get done in just one minute. I have had competitions for speed during our clean-up time as well.
Whatever you do to make this part of your routine fun will pay off in your sanity. You’ll have a sense of peace and control as you do the simple tasks that keep your home looking tidy. Starting dinner as part of this routine will make your end of the day so relaxing and rewarding.
Routine is also how I brought order to my homeschooling. The kids knew which subjects we would do in which order, but we weren’t being ruled by the clock. If we wanted to read another chapter, we did. I spent less time on other subjects in this case. I found that alternating fun and difficult subjects or tackling the less desirable subjects in the mornings worked well for us.
#3 To-Do List
The third area to organize in your homeschooling life is your to-do list. If you don’t have a way of tracking and completing non-routine tasks, you’re not going to feel organized. Instead, you’ll feel overwhelmed and forgetful.
At one time, I didn’t use a calendar or to-do list in a consistent way. I missed appointments and deadlines all the time. It was embarrassing and I didn’t know what was wrong with me. The fact is I just hadn’t committed to a system for managing these tasks that worked for my personality.
My life changed when I got an iPhone. I made a rule for myself that every event went on my phone’s calendar. That way I would be reminded an hour before and again a half hour before appointments. I also had a constantly accessible place to put my to-do’s and the grocery items I needed. With voice commands, adding these things to one reliable list is even easier.
After a year of experimenting, I learned that I consistently do an average of six tasks aside from my routines. In the past, I would make a list of 25 or more tasks to complete in a day. I felt like a failure when I didn’t even make a dent in them. Now I choose just three priority tasks and three other tasks to put on my Organized Homeschool Life daily planner page, and I frequently complete my priority tasks and at least a couple of the others.
#4 Decluttering
The fourth area to organize in your homeschooling life is decluttering. If you aren’t regularly purging your belongings, you will lose money, time, and self-esteem. You already know that having too much stuff makes it very hard to organize. You spend time looking for what you have in the jumbled mess, give up, and buy more. If you have too much stuff that has taken over your house, you won’t feel comfortable practicing the hospitality that we’re called to. Your kids won’t be comfortable inviting friends over. And you might end up featured in an episode of Hoarders.
Letting go of belongings is an emotional process for many of us. I’ve been in tears packing up the preschool curriculum because I don’t need it anymore. But I’ve learned that hanging onto the curriculum doesn’t change anything. My youngest is still 14! What can change things is letting go of belongings we’re not using so we can truly enjoy the things we are. I can relive the joy of the preschool years any time I want by looking at photos and videos. I don’t want to miss this amazing season of homeschooling because I’m looking backward.
Decluttering must become routine. Everyone in the family needs to learn that it’s just what we do–like brushing our teeth and bathing. Create a regular time to declutter in your home.
#5 Chores
The fifth area to organize in your homeschooling life is chores. You can’t do all the cleaning and home maintenance as part of your morning routine. You need to decide how to get the laundry, the lawn mowing, and the dusting done, for example. There are so many ways to manage chores, and I’ve tried most of them. They’re like diets. They all work if you’re consistent with them!
My tip is to change things up when you get bored. But choose something easy as opposed to complex charts and apps. My kids have done their own laundry from an early age. My youngest does the yard work. Lately, my favorite way to get the rest of the chores done is to move through the house, room to room, as a team. I tell this one to dust, that one to move items to the next room, and the other to vacuum. I might clean the windows as we go. This method keeps the kids engaged and it’s lightning fast. It works if you have little ones too. They can pick things up or help you wipe windows.
#6 Relationships
The final area to organize in your homeschooling life is relationships. You don’t see this in other organizing books, but I knew it had to be in mine. If I don’t dedicate time to connect with my kids and husband and solve problems, it doesn’t matter how cute my school room is or how detailed my curriculum plan is. The whole thing can fall apart.
You need a realistic plan for spending quality time with your spouse or for having time with friends and family if you’re single. You also need a way of making sure you’re meeting your child’s emotional and spiritual needs and not just the academic ones.
I found that I would read books about marriage or parenting or I’d go to conferences and be all excited, but I had no plan for taking action on what I knew would make a difference. That’s why I created separate challenges to address marriage and parenting in The Organized Homeschool Life. And it’s why I added a plan for relationship focus to the daily page in The Organized Homeschool Life planner.
How to Organize the Six Most Important Areas This Year
Those are the six priority areas to organize this year.
Some of you will listen and take action with no problem.
Others will need The Organized Homeschool Life book to remind them what to do.
Still others will need the planner to see when they have time to organize these areas during the week and when on specific days. We know that planning a time makes it more likely you’ll complete the task.
Others have good intentions in buying the book and planner, but they need something more. They need a coach and accountability.
That’s why I’ve created Organized Homeschool LIVE. It’s an online boot camp for Christian homeschool families scheduled for January 3rd, but you can complete the challenge any time.
I’ll give you short, fun assignments to organize the areas I’ve just described and more WITH your kids. You’ll begin the year with a big win! You’ll have experienced what it’s like to have time with God, tidy up with a simple routine, cross off your most important to-do’s, let go of things you don’t need to make room to enjoy those you do, get your house clean in a hurry, and connect with your kids and spouse in a way you’ll want to repeat over and over again.
You’ll check in with our supportive Facebook group and friends you’ve asked to participate with you after you complete each challenge. You’ll find yourself motivated and excited about others’ ideas and successes in getting organized.
The event isn’t a course you buy and probably fail to complete, but an action workshop you’ll be motivated to finish. Your kids will have a blast completing the challenges with you. The low price includes immediate access to the digital PDF version of The Organized Homeschool Life book and planner, so you’ll be able to continue organizing the rest of your homeschool life. You’ll also receive a discount code if you prefer to make a separate purchase of print versions.
Finally, I’ve decided to include a bonus session on the keys to achieving your fitness and nutrition goals this year. I’m a psychologist who has battled these issues and has had victory in the Lord. I can’t wait to tell you about it in this session that won’t be available outside Organized Homeschool LIVE.
If you’d like to start with The Organized Homeschool Life book first but decide you’d like to join us for Organized Homeschool LIVE, I’ll apply your $7 purchase to the ticket price! Tickets are just $47. Click the button below to learn more about this special offer.
Last I wrote, I gave three reasons we don’t follow through with our plans and goals. You’ll want to read that article first if you haven’t already. I had a mom tell me she hoped I could help her get past those three obstacles. I hope I can too. I want to share how I believe you can follow through with your plans and goals this year.
Before we dive in, I want to say this. I believe that God is the source of our strength and success. I know He deserves all the credit for the changes in my life. My degree in psychology, my natural abilities, and the dozens of books I’ve read have all failed to change me in terms of getting organized, helping me lose weight, homeschooling my kids, improving my patience, or writing books. In fact, most of the time those qualifications have gotten in the way of my success. It’s only been when I have confessed to God that I can’t and don’t know how and need Him to take over that anything lasting and worthwhile has occurred.
What I want to share with you today is wisdom that I believe the Lord gave me as I sought Him over and over again for help getting past my procrastination, disorganization, and addictions to get more done. But always take anything I suggest to you to the Lord yourself and ask Him to give you discernment for whether it is right for you in this season of your life. With that important disclaimer out of the way, let’s talk about how we can overcome three important obstacles to following through this year.
How to get more done despite our minds equating planning with completion
Last time, I explained that when we plan a goal that has some anxiety attached to it like saving money or losing weight, we feel better after planning. We feel we’ve done something and that makes all the difference to us mentally. Even goals that don’t have anxiety attached like writing a book or running a 5K fade into the background after we’ve spend time planning them and dreaming about them.
Planning is an important part of following through with homeschooling and other goals, so how can we follow through even though our mind is kicking back and relaxing? The first way is to use a 12 Week Year. One reason our anxiety is decreased after planning is because the end goal is far off. We tend to think of our homeschools as a full year, for example. And many people have goals for the year. We become like the hare, thinking we have plenty of time to win the race. Our anxiety is gone as soon as we’ve begun the race. It doesn’t kick in again until we’re nearing the finish line or the end of the year. Then, of course, it’s too late to accomplish anything meaningful.
The solution is to plan our homeschools and our goals for a quarter, not a year. Twelve weeks go by much more quickly. We can feel an appropriate amount of pressure to keep working toward the goal. We can plan exactly what has to be completed each week to reach the goal, where a year-long plan has to accommodate too many unknowns. Larger goals can be broken down into 12-week progress points. I’ve written about how planning my homeschooling by the quarter made a world of difference in keeping my kids and me motivated.
The second way we can overcome the planning-equals-completion problem is with remembering our why. Last time I gave an example of a woman wanting to lose weight because she was worried about her family history of diabetes. We humans tend to avoid thinking about these anxiety-provoking truths, so we have to work against that. We have to regularly consider why we’re planning, whether that’s our homeschool studies or a personal goal. We have to really think about it and consider it. Let me give you a personal example.
Last January, I realized with a start that at my current writing pace, I would not have the third volume of Grammar Galaxy ready for the Great Homeschool Convention in April. I imagined myself talking with attendees and trying to explain why I didn’t have another volume done, despite a year going by. I hated the thought of it! I worked furiously to be finished in time and every time I grew tired, I called up that image. I also reflected on my why, which was written on my weekly page of The Organized Homeschool Life Planner.
Remember your why by imagining in detail both how you will feel if you do accomplish your plans and if you don’t. Then reflect on your why at least every week.
The third way we can overcome the planning-equals-completion problem is by developing systems instead of goals. You may have a goal of finishing the first semester of your history curriculum before Christmas break. You are consistently reading and studying for 30 minutes every school day at home. But then the kids or you get sick. It doesn’t happen.
You can easily be disappointed that you don’t meet your goal. I could have had something keep me from publishing the third volume of Grammar Galaxy in time too, right? Not meeting our goals could lead us to want to throw up our hands in defeat. But both the history studier and I have something even more powerful than a goal. We have systems. If we continue the habits that lead to the goal, we will succeed–even if it’s not on the exact timetable we planned. There’s a good chance that if you continue studying history consistently that you will finish the book by the end of the year. Even if you don’t, you will have learned so much. If I kept writing Grammar Galaxy consistently despite the setback, I would have had the volume done for the next conference.
Using a 12 Week Year, remembering your why, and developing systems instead of goals can overcome our mind’s resistance to planning.
How to get more done despite our subconscious being on to us
The second obstacle to following through I discussed last time is our subconscious being on to us. It knows when we aren’t being realistic, that our goal isn’t important, or that we don’t have a good reason for pursuing our plans. It runs the show and we don’t follow through.
The first way we can overcome this obstacle is by consistently using a paper planner. Rather than having a one-and-you’re done approach, we can create a planning habit. I have found that planning by month, week, and day, I can easily see when I’m overloaded. Seeing plans on paper allows me to see that my expectations of myself and my kids aren’t realistic.
I prefer using a planner for myself that includes a schedule or routine for each day. In my Organized Homeschool Life Planner, I take my list of tasks and add them into a loose schedule for the day. It becomes obvious when I won’t be able to fit everything in.
Then I can use the third strategy for overcoming my subconscious and following through. That’s reduce commitments. When you’re asking a child or a work animal to do too much, they have a clear way of letting you know. They won’t budge. Our subconscious behaves the same way. When your weekly or daily plan freaks your mind out, you need to cut commitments. There are ways you consistently spend your time that should be eliminated, but there are also little things that just don’t have to be done. One way I identify these is by asking myself if I would stay up tonight as long as it took to get it done. If not, it can be removed from my plan for the day. My subconscious will start cooperating with me to get more done.
By using a paper planner, a schedule, and by cutting commitments, you can work with your subconscious to follow through on your plans and goals.
How to get more done by learning how we work best
The third obstacle that keeps us from following through is not knowing how we work best. We follow other people’s approaches and when they don’t work, we berate ourselves for being lazy. We may even tell ourselves we’re not cut out for homeschooling or the other goals we have.
This is what happened to me. I thought I wasn’t organized enough to homeschool or diligent enough to write books. I had plenty of evidence to back me up! But I tried using routines and wow! What a difference! Before I tried routines, I learned that time with God each day and exercise also helped me get more done. After trying routines, I tried other methods I’d read about like Getting Things Done. Some worked, some didn’t.
In 2013, I had the crazy idea to try a different productivity approach every week for a year and to share my results here on this blog. I was surprised by the response to it. I had people from all walks of life responding to my experiments. If you’re a long-time follower, you may recall the blog series. My intention was to write a book about the process at the end of the year. I started it but put it off and then gave up on the goal. Now I’m so glad I did.
Five years later, I’ve learned so much more about my own obstacles to getting more done and how to overcome them. In that time I’ve blogged, produced a podcast, written The Organized Homeschool Life book and planner, and three volumes of Grammar Galaxy. I also started a business and began conference speaking, while still homeschooling, making family and friends a priority, and enjoying several hobbies. What’s more is I’m happier and more at peace than I’ve ever been.
One big reason I’ve accomplished these things is I learned how I work best. I created a productivity formula unique to me in this season of life. I also know how to find what works for me as life changes. Instead of telling you how to get more done, I want to share with you how you can determine that for yourself.
Today I’m launching my book, A Year of Living Productively. In it I share over 80 productivity strategies. I give you the rationale for using them, the instructions for using them, my experience using them, and similar strategies to try. In the book, I help you decide which strategies to try first. Included with the book is a tracking form so you can reflect on your results. Like me, you may find that something that didn’t work before works brilliantly now and vice versa.
Purchasers will have access to a bonus that includes further reading for each strategy, another review of that approach when available, a list of the best tools, and a digital tracker option.
A Year of Living Productively is a great tool to use to become more productive as a homeschooling parent and as an aid in guiding your high schoolers and college students in getting more done. It’s perfect for assisting bloggers, authors, and entrepreneurs in achieving more than they dreamed they could. Save time reading the dozens of books I’ve read by giving only the methods that fit your life a try.
If you’d like the Kindle or print version, A Year of Living Productively is also available on Amazon. If you know a productivity junkie, someone who struggles with procrastion like I did, or anyone who wants to follow through and achieve their goal, A Year of Living Productively makes a great gift. Note that A Year of Living Productively is not a faith-based book but The Organized Homeschool Life is.
My prayer is that you can overcome the obstacles that keep you from following through with your plans and goals so that next year will be your most productive year ever.
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.
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.
I hope I’ve convinced you that planning makes homeschool moms happy. If you haven’t yet read the reasons planning rocks for homeschool moms, do that first. Today we are talking about how to keep happy planning going. If you’re like me and you have begun using numerous planners only to leave them languishing on the shelf, you’re going to love this post.
My guest on the Homeschool Sanity Show, Diona Navarro, had these tips for continuing to use your planners.
Buy a planner that works the way you do.
“Don’t just buy a planner because it’s cheap, pretty, or other people are buying it,” Diona says. She explains that the right planner for you should allow you to record your thoughts. Her preference is for a planner that allows checklists and is something she can make pretty with her supplies.
Keep it simple.
Diona sets up her planners so others could take them and use them to direct her family’s day. That means it has to be easy to understand and not overloaded with tasks.
Keep it accessible.
Diona advises leaving your planner out where it’s visible. Leave it on the table in the kitchen, for example. The more you see it, the more you’ll rely on it.
Plan to plan.
Diona takes time every Saturday and Sunday to use her various planners. Without set times for planning, it wouldn’t happen. Diona advises that you plan more than one week at a time in case you can’t do your regular planning time.
I love the tips that Diona gave us. I have a few of my own to add.
Use your planner as a guide, not a boss.
You’re the boss. And no matter what you said you wanted to do in your planner, you get to change your mind. Like a tour guide who has ideas at the ready for you, your planner is happy to take you on any side trips you want to take. A tour guide is not evaluating you and neither is your planner. Planners don’t grade our performance.
If we view our planner as our boss, we will resist opening our planners and having a performance review. Here is how I solved this very pervasive problem for myself. After I have made my plan for the day, I close my planner and walk away from it. I take a picture of my planner, so I can refer to it later in the day when I feel a little lost. But closing my planner gives me permission to take the route I feel led to take through my day. Like a map, my daily plan is there to refer to if I need it. This perspective and approach have made me more likely to follow my plan for the day.
Make planning the best part of your day and week.
My planning always begins with time with God. I am in prayer and in the Word and I have peace. I recognize small matters for what they are. I am reminded of the power I have in Christ for the big matters that are facing me.
I love beginning my planning time with gratitude. That attitude is proven to improve mood even in those who do not recognize a sovereign God. My monthly plan gives me a picture of all my family’s activities and how much I have to be grateful for. I love that I have the opportunity to assess areas where I have missed the mark as well. I can leave any guilt or fear that I have right there on the page.
Once I have spent time with the Lord, I feel ready to consider my priorities for the day. I make this part of planning so rewarding that I don’t want to miss it. I sit in a comfortable chair with excellent light. I have blankets at the ready and often a cute little dog to cozy up to at the same time.
I allow myself to use stickers and colorful pens and motivational quotes as I feel led. I end with a realistic view of how my day will go that gives me peace.
Conclusion
Using these tips, I believe that you can continue as a happy planning homeschool mom. To get even more from your planner, make sure you subscribe to learn the habits of the organized homeschool mom and how to make adopting them easy.
Which of these tips will best help you keep up the planning habit? Comment and let me know.
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.
