Life is so busy in a homeschooling family. Often it’s happy busy, but sometimes it’s stressful too.
One way to handle the busy-ness is to make a list of things you need to do.
- It helps you to focus.
- It increases the chances of things being done.
- It helps prevent things being forgotten.
But a to-do list needs to be effective to be useful, and there are things you can do to make your list more effective and help you complete the tasks on your list:
Don’t Put Too Many Things on Your List.
Most homeschoolers are over-optimistic about what they can achieve in any given amount of time. Children, relationships and family life all suffer when you are stressed out by trying to complete the tasks on a list which is too long.
Make Sure You Prioritize Your List.
For example, having dinner sorted each day is a pretty high priority. Whereas getting along to see a homeschool exhibition is very nice and it may be desirable, but it’s not urgent or important (unless, of course, you are organizing the event, a judge or a participant). And some days we just can’t get around to the less urgent things on the list.
Try to Follow Your List.
Just adding things to your list isn’t enough – you do have to set aside time and then choose to complete the tasks.
Don’t Be Tied to Your List.
It’s good to follow your list, but on the other hand, there are occasions when we plan wonderful activities but then someone gets sick or things take longer than expected, so we have to cross things off the list.
Stick With It.
When you have chosen a system for organizing planning and list-making, stick with it. Don’t spend time looking for a better system when the one you have is working for you. You’ll waste more time searching and switching than you will save with the new system. So just work with what you have got.
List Tasks Rather Than Projects.
When you make your list, (and this is really important when giving lists to the children) make sure that you list the tasks that need to be done, rather than the project you want to complete. So you might list, vacuum the floor in the family room, tidy away newspapers, put away CDs, put our books on the shelf, put library books in the basket. Rather than ‘tidy the family room’.
Make Lots of Lists.
Make lists for different things, rather than one long master list. Make lists for each of the children to involve them in keeping things tidy. Make a house tidy list, a homeschooling list, a shopping list, an outside tasks list, and so on.
Get Ready for Tomorrow.
Finally, make a list for tomorrow at the end of today. This is a guaranteed way of improving efficiency, proved time and again in practice and in studies. Try it and see!
For more help with homeschooling, visit: www.SuccessfulHomeschoolingMadeEasy.com
Thanks Stephanie. Your sage wisdom is always appreciated. I especially need to focus on ‘Stick with it’, as I waste a lot of time searching around for a ‘better’ way when sticking to what I have will save me time and stress 🙂
Blessings,