The Busy Mom’s Guide For Back To School

Being a busy mom or dad, or uncle, can mean your daily schedule is over the top. This is especially true during the busy back to school season. Since I understand all about how much goes into getting kids out of the house and to school each day without having a meltdown, I thought I would share some of the best tips for keeping your daily schedule under control.

Busy Moms Guide To A Daily Schedule For Back To School

Whether you are a single mom, married, or raising your nieces and nephews being busy at back to school time means added stress in your life. Sitting down to create a daily schedule you can function within is vital to keeping your family unit going during the busier school months. Our simple tips are the best for helping you take charge of your calendar and schedule to have a wonderful school year without feeling like you’ve been pulled a thousand directions every day.

Figure out what your actual goals are for each day. This is really simple, yet everything revolves around this one thing. What is your goal? Are you working from home? Are you trying to spend more time with your kids? Maybe you want to make time for a daily workout to get back into shape. All of these are great goals to have, but they can be tough to fit into your daily schedule.

 
Take the time to sit down and write out what your goals are. Start with the bigger long term goals, then work your way down to monthly, weekly, and daily goals. Once you know what you plan to accomplish, it will be easier to really create a daily schedule you can function within. Instead of having a generic goal of making it through the day, get specific about things you want to make happen within your family. As you meet goals, you can update your goal list and change your routine to meet new needs in your family.

Sync calendars with your family. There are literally dozens of different calendar apps available that work both on Android and iOs systems. With the touch of a screen you can sync a calendar for your entire family. When everyone has access to your calendar, it makes it easy to see what you are responsible for each day, or even when you might need to reschedule something like a doctors appointment or trip to the salon. I prefer using Google Drive or Evernote to store notes and calendars. You may prefer an Outlook calendar, or other specific calendar apps.

Plan ahead for every day. One of the most important things most busy parents will tell you is to have a routine and plan for every day. Things like setting up backpacks the night before, or even picking out kids clothes each weekend for the entire week can totally change your daily routine. Once you have a good routine in place in your home, you can easily have a plan in place that makes each new day easy to manage.

Tips for making your daily plan easy to follow:

• Pick mix and match wardrobes for kids that are easy for anyone to combine for an approved outfit.
• Prepare lunch items once a week and create baskets for easy assembly each night
• Utilize freezer meals for breakfast sandwiches, as well as more traditional evening meals.
• Having everything staged for the next morning when you go to bed at night. Bags out on tables, shoes by the door, and breakfast needs ready to throw together.

Learn to say no to requests. This is another common sense reminder that will totally change your daily schedule when you follow through. As someone that works from home, it can be impossible to say no to friends and family that think I have tons of free time. I have learned to say no to not only client requests, but also those people in my daily life that always think they can use my “free time” to run their errands. While you want to be helpful and maintain good relationships with the people in your life, you do need to learn to stand up and simply say no to make you daily schedule more manageable.

Some tips that have helped me in my daily life to learn how to say no:

• Set up business hours for your clients to contact you within. While you may be working outside those hours, they know up front you won’t be responding or available to them. Make your family time just that – family time.
• Choose the things that matter the most to you.       If you are asked to volunteer or participate in something in your community, make sure it is not just beneficial to you and your family – but something you truly believe in promoting. This means you would say no to carpools, local events, or a fundraiser that create more stress for you. Choose wisely. Make sure what you spend your time on is truly valuable.
• Screen your phone calls. Yes, this may upset some but it is one of the best ways to help keep yourself accountable to not falling victim to requests. There is no shame in letting something go to voice mail.

Make your kids more self-sufficient. One of the best tips I can share for helping your daily schedule become more manageable during the busier back to school season is to help build your kids up so they are self-sufficient. This isn’t always possible with every child. Special needs, age, and even skill sets mean that not every child can do their own laundry, chores, or prepare lunches. However, many can and should learn to become more self-sufficient. This means you help set up basic guidelines and responsibilities that ease your burden. As mentioned before, there are some things you can plan ahead for that make your daily schedule go much smoother.

• Prepare approved lunch items, but your kids are responsible for packing their lunch.
• Buy mix and match clothing that makes it easy for them to pick their own clothing each day.
• Create homework stations that keep them focused so work isn’t forgotten.
• Set up chore charts for basic things like making their bed, feeding their pets, or doing laundry.

Get help from outside to create time for self care. Yes, at the end of the day – sometimes you just need help to make it work. I understand all about not being able to afford a nanny or a housekeeper, but I am a firm believer that anyone can find a way to get a little help in small ways. If your kids are younger or you have a special needs child that can’t do as much around the house to help, consider hiring a neighborhood teenager to come and do basic things like vacuuming, folding laundry, or playing with you kids so you can do those things. Sometimes, just swapping with a friend or neighbor can make a huge difference. You have to get help sometimes to provide yourself with a break and self-care. Without that downtime, you are running a risk of getting too overwhelmed and backpedaling on progress in your daily schedule.

These tips are just a few basic things that really can be guide to your daily schedule becoming more manageable during the back to school season. Your focus needs to be more on quality time with family, and less on how much you have to run around each day to accomplish a few things on a list. Work within these tips, and create a new focus for your daily routine that will revitalize your back to school routine.