How is your schedule?
- Karen Wilson: Family Corner
- October 24, 2023
- 383
How is your schedule working for you?
Have you settled into something now that the kids have gone back to school or does every day feel like a scramble? What has changed from last year? Is it working better or causing more stress and confusion?
If you have people going in various directions, it can feel like that routine by Abbott and Costello about baseball. Who’s going to class? What’s for dinner? When does the game start? Have the chores been done? Who’s watering the cows?
Do you have a basic family routine? How are you communicating it? Does everyone know what they are responsible for and how to do that particular thing?
Since our son is still working on his college degree, our schedule and responsibility list still gets stirred up each time a semester begins and ends. For younger families it’s the beginning and ending of the school year, changes in grades, different activities. Keeping up with it all can feel dizzying.
Start with your own schedule. What absolutely has to be done every day? In my case I need time to write, time to work out, time for farm chores and time to make meals. My days have some flexibility about when exactly those things get done, but I find sticking to a pretty tight time table works best. The twist is those times also change according to when the sun comes up since farming is one of my things.
So I get up and get decent quickly. People can show up at my door about any time. But I usually start out in workout clothes. I grab my coffee and head for my computer to write. I use a standing desk, or I would quickly fall back to sleep.
Once I’ve put in some writing, I start my workout. Although it may sound like it, this is not optional. My family and I will tell you my sanity and all our happiness depend on it. OK, that might be overstating it a bit, but you get the idea.
Farm chores next. This is the one that gets shifted around. During the long days of summer, the farming often gets done first to take advantage of the cooler temperatures and to let the livestock get more use of the weather.
Meal preparation happens once a day, usually for dinner. I try to make enough that there will be leftovers for lunches the next day. It doesn’t always work out that way, but it’s best if it does. Otherwise, breakfasts and lunches are quick things.
All the other stuff like errands, paperwork, house cleaning, laundry and so on have to fit in around these pillars of my day.
So which things absolutely have to happen in your day? Maybe work? Maybe homeschooling? Maybe just keeping toddlers alive?
Consider what absolutely has to happen in your day. Then consider the schedules of your family. Who has to be where and when? Who can do what?
Start fitting the pieces together one at a time. Implement things one step at a time. If you’re an all-in person, do it all at once. Just don’t give up if things don’t go smoothly at first. Keep at it. Make modifications as needed.
If it feels like you are just running through your days reacting to things, consider how you might sort out a reasonable schedule for yourself and your family. Don’t try to assign something to every moment. Leave some spaces for adjustments and the unexpected.
There, my writing is done for today. I’m already wearing my workout clothes, so I’m off to pedal my stationary bike for a bit.