Finding Time: Part 8 - A full-fledged schedule
After I developed and implemented a workable morning routine and had seen how much of an impact this had made in my day, I moved on to establishing more organization in my life by creating and implementing a full-fledged daily schedule.Now before all of you non-schedulers run away screaming at the thought of trying to be someone you're not, hang with me for a minute while I explain what I mean by a "full-fledged schedule": I am not making the case for everyone to adopt a detailed, down-to-the-minute organized spreadsheet that you follow faithfully every moment of every day. No indeed.
On the contrary, I believe a full-fledged schedule will mean different things to different people at different seasons of our life. For some, it might mean a pretty rigid spreadsheet with every 30 minutes alloted for each family member for every day of the week. For others, it might mean a simple order of events for each day that you follow loosely.
Our family is somewhat in between the rigid schedule and the loose routine. I prefer to have some solid structure in place with allowance for flexibility as well. Having a good idea of where we're supposed to be when and what we're supposed to be doing helps alleviate stress and chaos in our home. But when things come up, we can easily skip a few items on the list or re-arrange as need be. And while I do have time slots written down, these are loose estimates to be followed--not set-in-stone parameters.
Life happens and children need things and people get sick and interruptions come up and babies need diaper changes and, well, you just can't always plan for things to work out in neat little boxes. So our schedule has some "breathing room" to allow for these likely interruptions.
As I've said before, our written schedule is a tool, not a taskmaster. It's meant to be a help, not a burden.
There are some days when we just chuck the whole thing and declare a "Pajama Day" where we do nothing besides the basics (food, laundry, etc.) and spend the rest of the day just doing fun things together. And I've found that when we have good structure and order in place, we have room to take time off for fun days without the whole house falling apart.
There are a thousand ways to have a full-fledged schedule and I'm not here to tell you what might work for your family. In fact, I'm not even here to tell you that "all Godly women will have a schedule" (I've yet to find the Eleventh Commandment for that!). I am here to tell you that having a written schedule has been a huge blessing to our family and I'd highly recommend you consider some type of game plan for your day, if you don't already have one in place.
Just as a written budget allows our money to work so much harder and go so much farther each month, so a written game plan for each day enables us to use the time much more wisely. In addition, it has allowed me to fit in time for those things I really want to do in a day--things like spending quality time reading, playing, and teaching the girls--things I might struggle to fit in if I were just living life by the "seat of my pants".
Tomorrow we'll talk about how you create and implement a workable full-fledged schedule that's right for your family. Stay tuned!
By the way, I'd love to hear from any of you who have a good schedule/routine going. Leave a comment and tell us about what works for your family: Do you have a simple routine, a spreadsheet with time slots, or something in between? I'm also looking for a few guest posts on scheduling/routines and what has worked for your family! Email me (biblicalwomanhoodATsbcglobal.net) if you're interested in writing something or have already written a blog post on the subject. I'd love to gather a variety of ideas from many different families to share.
posted by Crystal Paine at 6:10 PM
22 Comments:
When I was homeschooling my four children, who are all grown now, through trial and error, I came up with a system that worked best for our family. I divided the day in fourths. I should say the part of the day we were up, not at night when we were sleeping! That would be part five, I guess.
Part one: Things to be done before school started.
Part two: Things, assignments, that needed to be done before noon.
break for one hour
Part three: Things that needed to be done by 5pm.
break for dinner
Part four: Things that needed to be done before bed.
This worked very, very good for us. I did not have to stress about not starting school exactly at 8 or 9,
I just knew that certain subjects needed to be completed, etc.
Hope this makes sense, and is helpful!
Carla
Hi Crystal, I emailed you!
How funny that you should post this. We just wrote out and implemented a schedule yesterday. I can already see the difference and am loving the changes.
I have a binder with my weekly schedule and can check off things daily, Monday through Saturday. It's stuff that is in my head and would mostly do anyway, but it's nice to have the reminders for days when I need motivation or would forget something small. It also includes a weekly chore list,bi-weekly list, monthly list, and my goals for what I want to learn and accomplish this year. There is a place each week to record my meal plan and there is space to jot down in pen any extra things that need to be done that day that are out of the ordinary (Doctor's appointments, call the repairman, etc.)
I don't write EVERYTHING I do on my schedule (diaper changes, take a shower, eat a snack, etc. )But having the basic routine on paper has really helped me and I accomplish more when I'm following a plan. I made the schedule to fit my current lifestyle and commitments and made it fun with pretty fonts and colors! It works well for our family.
At the top of the list, as a reminder to stop and think about my husband and my role as his helper, I have, "What can I do to help Josiah today?" (blank line underneath to fill in each day). I try to remember to ask him each day and fill it in and make that my top priority of the day as well as spending time in devotions with my kids. Those are the two most important things on my daily schedule.
I homeschool 3 elementary aged girls. We have an excel spreadsheet with our schedule in half hour increments. It is a guide though. I don't fret if it's 10:30 am and we are on the 9 am subject. The girls also know if we run ahead of schedule - then they get more free time to play. It is a motivator. It's also a tool to help them learn to manage their day (and teach my youngest how to tell time : )
We too sometimes have "Jammy Day" where we stay in our jammies all day and just read and play.
I am looking forward to tomorrow's post. I am one who has been struggling to find the right balance after baby #3 was born. You and I were pregnant together and had are babies a week apart. So, I have been trying to figure out how to make our routines fit each other.
Carla, I just wanted to say that is a very neat idea.
I'll tell you one thing that has revolutionized my morning, and that was to get up before my children and get the coffee going. My youngest had just started sleeping through the night, so it was time to snap out of "I just had a baby" mode. The simple goal was to be up before he got up... nothing else. Once he started waking up at the same time every day, I set my alarm for 30 minutes earlier. I simply sat in a chair and sipped my coffee... but I was UP.
Last week was the first time I'd caught your time management column... not sure how I've missed it?
But it subconciously motivated me! This Monday instead of cleaning house, I decided to start organzing my thoughts. =)
I agree with about the financial theme, you have to decide upfront what's important and where you're going. Otherwise, you're very tempted to get off course.
It seems I'm always working around the house, but never getting anywhere. I never have enough time.
So, to begin the week of mental organization (which in turn leads to managing my home better) - my children and I sat down TOGETHER and I asked their input on our plan.
Things are SO much for fun for them when we work together.
We first made a list of 5 things that HAD to be done that day. They got to help pick areas they saw that needed doing.
Then the fun part, they got to pick things they WANTED to do that day - and we did these all together. (Read books and play!)
We got some colored construction paper which was a treat in itself for them, and made a list of what had to be done - one for each of them.
We tackled the first room very quickly - all working together. When they finished helping in there, they received a star sticker and TONS of motivational praise for helping me.
The jobs went much quicker - they were excited to help me - and in between jobs we would do their "want to do" things.
The day went wonderfully well - I can't wait to perfect the system more.
I have the beginning posting, and will have my follow-up 'how I found more time in our day' plan next week (Monday)at my blog.
Thanks so much for sharing, I'm always encouraged by you and your readers/ comments!!
Candace
www.heaveninourhomes.com
www.heaveninourhomes.blogspot.com
We are a simple routine family. We have breakfast, school, lunch, chores and then the kids are free until dinner. After dinner it's family time and then bed. During the kids free time, I continue with any of my chores, meal planning/cooking, or hobby time. I tried a much more structured scheduled but it actually stressed me out. Simple works for us.
Hi Crystal,
Funny you should post about this, I just finished writing about schedules on my blog. I posted my weekly cleaning schedule, and have a follow-up post planned for my daily schedule.
Looking forward to seeing how others manage their schedules!
Alissa
http://onpurposeliving.blogspot.com
I love to schedule things. I write schedules for the rehearsals for the church plays I direct, I write schedules for paying bills and planning a vacation. So why haven't I ever scheduled my own days at home with the kids? I need to. Flying by the seat of my pants everyday doesn't always work the best. Thanks for the inspiration.
A schedule has saved my sanity! I never realized how long it takes to get things done with children until I started caring for 3 young children.
The oldest child goes to kindergarten while I homeschool the youngest children (they are not my own children so they have to go to school). It gives them a great start reading before kindergarten, so when they get there it's more or less a playtime.
Our routine after breakfast is cleaned up and pajamas put away is this:
The kids usually want me to read to them, so they each pick out 1-2 books each. Then we move on to "school". We do different flashcards with cd songs so we can easily learn presidents and states and capitals. We sing the Bible songs with flashcards from Veritas Press (even though they are for older kids they have worked well for us).
Instead of doing a set time slot for each subject (like I started with) we usually have different focuses every day. One day will be math, the next few days reading, and then A Beka workbook day, and handwriting. We use a sticker chart we got from our library and it is the biggest motivator! The kids can't wait to read beginner books to put a sticker on the chart!
In between all of this I am potty training the toddler so we are in the bathroom every 30-60 minutes as needed.
Around 11 we break for early lunch and then nap time is from 12-2/3p.m. While they are napping I usually start dinner, check email and read a few blogs, and then try to get in a few pages of distance college courses done.
Before I get the oldest off of the bus at 3 I make sure EVERYTHING in the house has been finished. (cleaned up, dinner finished, snack on the table, and pencils and crayons out to do homework) I learned the hard way to do this. I became stressed out wondering where the time went when it was 5 p.m.! I know it's two hours, but I've learned that those last two hours fly by, so I try not to overschedule my time then.
When the children are not with me on weekends I have a more detailed list. Not in time slots,but in an order to be done. I write everyone on it, in the order I want (including taking a shower, etc)
All in all I have found that the days I do not have a set routine/schedule we just waste the day away. Not something I want to do very often!
Hi Crystal,
I too think scheduling allows us to better manage our time. I used to avoid scheduling because I thought it was too rigid for me. I kind of liked being a "free spirit". However, after much prayer and consideration I realized that I just didn't want to be that accountable for my time. Once I tried scheduling part of my day, I couldn't deny the results:0)
When I schedule our time, I have more time to do the things we want to and don't feel the guilt that I used to because other things (read:laundry) were not done. I divide the day into 45 min. time slots, as that seems to allow for everyone to complete whatever is in the box. This includes school, computer time, chores, bible time, meals, service to others, play time and also older children playing with younger ones. This keeps our day running smoothly and most tasks caught up. It also is a tool and not set-in-stone as you said to allow for illness, helping others and any life things that can arise.
Teri Maxwell's book on scheduling, Manager's of Their Homes, is really good. Although, it can be overwhelming if you are not used to rigid scheduling. I just used her example and fit it into our life.
I also would recommend starting small, with just scheduling a few hours in the morning. See if it is helpful or not. I found that I was so much more productive and it also helped in motivating me and the kids. Also, it can tell you if you are expecting to much to get done. After all, there are only so many hours in the day. We also do not keep on a rigid evening or weekend schedule, since my husband prefers just a casual guideline.
Janet
I think many people hear the word schedule and think rigid! I know that is my tendancy when I hear it in relation to scheduling your baby or something. But in our house we instead have a simple order of events and schedule for the week. Especially with homeschooling, it is an absolute, otherwise we would not get enough done. Our schedule is sort of in the wind right now as we are moving, but we get up, have breakfast, school, lunch, play outside/extra school, chores, free time, dinner, reading time, bedtime.
Two times a month on Monday we go to a activity, Wednesday: grocery shopping Friday: Bible Study. Evening activities: Tues. Wed. Fri: Husband evening activity. Wed. Boys evening activity. This loose schedule keeps us on track without keeping us from being spontaneous, if we need it.
I have my weekly chores divided up between Monday through Friday (like to keep the weekends free!) and they are listed on 5 recipe cards and put in a recipe box with dividers for each day of the week. I always leave one day fairly free with chores that could possibly be skipped, like watering the plants, mending, etc. so if I get a call from a friend who needs to have coffee and cry on my shoulder, or I have a sick child, for example, I can shuffle my cards, and make that my easy day, so all the important things of the week still get accomplished. This way I never lie awake worrying about whether or not I am getting everything done. Each day I check the cards for that day to see what needs to be done and then when everything on the card is accomplished, I put those cards to the back.
Crystal, in a previous post you mentioned ordering some new pages from Graceworks. I had never heard of them before, and have never used a schedule before and all of this is new. I have went back and read this whole series on time management and have been motivated to get organized.
Graceworks has A LOT of selection ( I was just browsing their site) and I was wondering which of their products you would suggest to start out with and which you found paticularly useful.
Thanks again for your ministry. This site (both your posts and the comments of all the wonderful people here) are motivational and remind me of Christ's call to Come Up Higher.
Jenn
Right now, I'm working with a fairly detailed "routine", but it doesn't have any times on it. I have an order of things that need to happen before lunch, from lunch until mid-afternoon, then from mid-afternoon until dinner. I stop my routine at dinner, as my hubby likes our nights to be free and open.
I have a morning routine that I wake up early to do before the kids are up (start at around 6 or 6:30, depending when the baby is up).
I also have a weekly routine that plugs different activities/cleaning tasks into each day or the week. So my daily routine has a place for those activities, but they change from day to day.
Overall, this is working really well for me! We get our home educating and most of our cleaning done in the morning, I work on projects, blog stuff, laundry, ironing, etc. in the afternoons and we try to get outside then as well, before making dinner.
I feel that if I didn't have a good routine/schedule, that I would struggle to be productive and keep up with everything, and this helps me make much better use of my time.
As someone who has tried to implement rigid scheduling with varying degrees of success, I really appreciated this post. Our days are loosely scheduled right now, but I would like to get back into a bit of a firmer schedule.
One of the biggest benefits of a schedule, for myself, has been realizing just how much time there really is in a day. When I force myself to stick to the schedule, everything gets done with plenty of time to spare. That is such a freeing feeling.
Also, I have found that having a schedule really helps with behavior issues with the children. They always know what is coming next, they never have time to get bored, and they rarely complain about doing something because they know soon they will be doing something different. My children have all thrived with scheduling.
Our loose schedule right now consists of set times for: meals, schoolwork, videos/computer time, chores, toy pick-up times, and bedtimes. So maybe it isn't all that loose, but I would still like to plan out more specific time periods for certain things. This post has definitely encouraged me to get to it sooner rather than later. Thanks Crystal!
We moved about five months ago. Before that we had never thought a schedule would work for us, but since getting settled in a new place, we have instituted a loose schedule (it is a routine with time slots, but I am not stuck to the time slots for most things).
Immediately I could not believe how smoothly my days started going. And I even found I had time to sit down and do some of my favorite projects!
Before we had this written out, (each day with different tasks to keep the housework getting done) I felt like I had everything to do everyday. I always felt like I was behind. And days that I actually took good play time with the kids (rather than just shuffling them from activity to activity all day) I felt like I had abandoned real job... These little ones are way more important than cleaning the sink and sweeping the floor, why were they competing for attention?!
I started to become concerned, how can I plan on homeschooling, if I don't have enough hours in my day to keep my house running and be with my kids, meeting more than just their basic needs? I was very concerned.
After becoming more organized with a routine to follow our days have become much, much more productive. I don't feel behind on the laundry because it has a place, and I don't feel like I'm neglecting my kids (or being lazy by playing with them snuggling them and getting all their special needs met) because this had a place. Wow. Coming from a home where my mom always worked full-time away from the home, and never having an example of how to run a home smoothly with out always having to play catch-up, was I ever impressed with what a schedule could do for me!
As Katheryn mentioned above - without a schedule - I find that I do have the mentality that I must do everything every day and I am always behind and feel rushed when playing with my daughter because there is so much to do around the house still. I feel like I am constantly going and not getting things done.
Saturday morning I am taking my notebook and going to go out for a hot chocolate by myself and think about the things that are important and what areas of my life need to be more organized. I am then going to start my beginner schedule of 5 morning things and 5 evening things.
(I am doing it Saturday because I work full time Monday to Friday...but only until summer when baby #2 arrives and I will be a SAHM yay!!!!!)
Thanks so much for this series and a special thanks to the readers because your comments have really helped me!!
My Daughter age 2 has Cerebral Palsy and she has a lot of doctor and therapy appts etc. I use a monthly daytimer type calender to keep track of everything. I kep the calender on the kitchen counter so I can refer to it- but I can also take it with me if needed.
Also the best tip or whatever I have is do stuff the night before. DD goes to bed at 8pm so from 8pm to 10pm I make lunches, pack her day bag, get my clothes and her clothes ready for the next day, etc.
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