Sometimes you realize that things have gotten a little off track in your home and it’s time for a change! I do a “daily routine makeover” a few times a year. Our home functions in a very different way depending on the season (for example, in the spring we want to be outside gardening! Winter is a time for more indoor learning). Read on to see what I do…
MAKEOVER YOUR SCHEDULE
When I sense a shift is needed within our home, I find it helpful to write out a fresh schedule for the days. This isn’t always something that I share in detail with my children, but it is a way for me to assess the way things have been and the changes I’d like to make. I find this necessary to do a couple of times a year, with the changing of seasons and also the changing of life (children’s ages and stages, husband’s work, etc.)
STEP ONE: LOOK AT THE CURRENT ROUTINE
First I take some time alone and begin to write down an outline of what our typical days currently look like.
I use this as the basis for the schedule because I have found that it is unrealistic for me to come up with a daily routine or schedule that is completely different from what we naturally do. It is a much smoother transition to gently adjust our current days into a more productive version.
STEP TWO: ORDER THE EVENTS
On a second piece of paper, I now rewrite my notes into a more structured plan. I keep an eye out for “anchor points”, those things that tend to happen regardless of what else may come up that day. This would be things like waking up in the morning, meal times, and any external commitments we may have.
These anchor points are natural places to create a shift in the flow of activity or pause for a quick house tidy.
When you have a plan that feels workable, you can create a copy to hang on the wall for everyone if you think that would be helpful for you and your kids. (There have been times when I have gone through this process simply to sort things out in my mind… without the intention of finishing up with a time-based schedule)
Remind yourself (and your family!) that although things may change day to day (and therefore the schedule will too!), this provides a guideline for your days to help you accomplish the things you want in the time that you have.
Hello. What is Top 5? Thanks
That’s what we call the basic self-care and family chores they need to complete in the mornings:
Brushing teeth, getting dressed, indoor and outdoor chores, Bible time, taking vitamins
Just curious, and I know it’s different for your kids probably depending on age, but what time do you normally go to bed and wake up? After you eat dinner at 6, do you have a wind down routine?
Our fall/winter evenings look very different then they do currently in the long days of summer. During the months where the sun goes down earlier we often do family read alouds at the table for a time after we eat before cleaning up. In the summer we don’t usually eat until 7:30 ish since we are all outside longer. We get the younger ones in bed around 8 or 8:30. The teens usually go to bed around 10 ish.
Some of my littles are up around maybe 7:00 in the morning. I typically don’t let kids sleep past 9 at the latest.