There are only so many hours in a week to get the homemaking, the homeschooling, and all the other things (including a job if you have one!) done. There is a myth about balance in our lives. This single mindset shift just might save your sanity!
Homeschooling and Family Life
There are so many things we do as parents. We have kids, houses, cars, and jobs, PLUS we homeschool our children. How do we get all the things done? Can we find that elusive balance that we keep looking for?
Let’s talk about the concept of balance. We’re always seeking this idea of balance. We think, “I don’t want to be focused too much on one thing. I would like to spread my attention and do well in all of the different areas of my life.”
I’m really sad to say that this idea of balance is more of an illusion than it is a reality. It’s not something easily achieved by anyone. (I certainly haven’t discovered how to do it yet.)
I think by letting go of this idea that we are going to have all of the pistons firing with everything working equally well, we can save ourselves some stress and in the end, actually feel more accomplished. Once I realized that I was not going to get all the things done all the time, I was able to relax and be more effective in the things that I was able to accomplish.
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Homeschooling Is As Much Work As Any Traditional Job
The second point I want to make is about homeschooling in and of itself. Even if you have a very organic lifestyle of learning in your home, homeschooling is as much work as a part-time job. In addition to the schooling part of your job, you are also going to be paying attention to your children and taking care of their needs.
I think this applies to all of us. For example, even unnschoolers work incredibly hard because they’re constantly observing their children, trying to meet them where they are, and have these great big juicy conversations. (Sometimes it’s easier to just say let’s open the math book to chapter four and do then chapter!)
No matter what style of homeschooling you employ, you are putting in time homeschooling each week. This time averages out to be close to a part-time job for most people, depending on how many kids you have and the ages of your kids. Homeschooling is easily anywhere between 5-25 hours each week.
Here’s my point. You wouldn’t expect to add a part-time job into your life and it not cause some disruption to your family schedule. Priorities will need to change. The laundry might not be done as quickly. The dishes might not always be clean. If I had to rush out the door and take care of an outside job, this would be obvious. Well, if homeschooling is the equivalent of a part-time job, the dishes may not be clean. The laundry might not always be done. Things are necessarily going to change a bit.
The Secret To Juggling Life And Homeschooling
I have figured out the secret to juggling everything we have going on in our lives as we homeschool. Are you ready for it?
I want you to pick two things.
This is the secret sauce – on any given day at any given point in your life, you can really focus well on two particular things at a time. Everything else is just going to hit the mediocre level. For example, I might get exercise in on a day I’m not choosing it to be one of my two things. I’m getting it done, but it might not be getting done the best it could be.
While you’re homeschooling, it very well could be that some other things just don’t get done as well. If you’re really focusing on your homeschool as one of your two things, you’re still eating, but you might not be cooking gourmet dinners. Maybe you resort to doing a bunch of freezer cooking in the summer or buy a few more convenience foods while you’re homeschooling, It also very well could be that your house is getting a little messy. The floor is picked up, but the baseboards are starting to look a little dingy (I have to tell you the baseboards almost always look a little dingy in my house).
You’re doing things, you’re just not doing all of them perfectly well.
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Think of all the things we have on our lists. We’ve got to keep the house clean. We’ve got to make sure everyone is fed. We’ve got to homeschool.. Maybe you also have a job, so you need to work. I’m a parishioner at my church so there are some responsibilities that come from doing that. I’m a wife. Diet and exercise something I have to pay attention to every once in a while.
These are all these things that I want to pay attention to. I can choose to do two of them well at any given time. The rest of them are just going to be floating along. If I choose to be on a committee at church, something else has got to give during that period of time that I’m in the committee at church,
This can even be helpful on a day to day basis. I wake up today and I know can focus on two things. I’ve got a big project going on at work and I need to homeschool. These are my two things. This means we’re probably having convenience food for dinner and the house isn’t going to get cleaned today. We’re just barely going to keep up with the laundry and that’s okay.
Next week, it might be totally different and I will focus on the house and my own exercise. To me, this is what real balance looks like on a day to day basis,
Having A Plan Helps You Juggle Life And Homeschooling
One of the most obvious ways to help stay on top of all the things is through planning. Planning in your homeschool needs to include options for life as well. Our Put Your Homeschool Year on Autopilot planning course includes a very special Plan Your Life bonus now through July 1st, 2022. It includes our Plan Your Life e-book, which has a lot of tips and tricks and recommendations for you for getting all the things done. There is a special Plan Your Life planner, which helps you balance the needs that you have as a parent with other things that have to get done throughout your day. There is also a very special webinar where I teach you the technique that I use to get more things accomplished in my week in less time.
Get all the details about our special planning course bonuses HERE.
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