I’m not going to pretend I didn’t jump for joy when I got the email saying the kids don’t start school again until Tuesday. I thought, “ONE MORE DAY OF PEACE!”
It’s so hard to be a mom, teacher, and then if you’re working from home⏱ 💣 💥
You’re trying to remember their logins to get them into their live zooms at 8am, while also making breakfast, while the 4 year old is screaming for Pop Tarts, while the toddler is pooping in the pantry (yes, this is my life) and you’re wondering if there’s anyway you can make this better.
Mama, there is. It’s called Time Blocking. I discovered it in a leadership training back when I worked in Education. It’s based on setting goals, breaking down the goals into small tasks, and scheduling these tasks into your daily life.
I was skeptical at first, but I figured if all the superintendents were doing it and being successful, why not try it?
First thing I scheduled was my lunch (very important part of the day!), then I scheduled my pumping times #breastfeedingmama, then I got to the nitty gritty. I scheduled all my meetings, meetings to talk about having meetings, work tasks such as an hour to comb through data, an hour to work on strategy presentations for teachers, 30 minutes to read our assigned leadership book, 15 minutes to respond to emails in the morning, after lunch, and before end of day—you get the point! I scheduled my LIFE AWAY!
Guess what happened? I was 10x more productive. I was leaving work on time. I felt in control of my life.
Now,I’ll admit, it took me a minute to transfer this into my current status as a work from home during a pandemic mom, but now that I did, I must share because it’s mind blowing!
Here we go:
✏️ Start by finding a template you love! I have my favorites in my blog (🔗 in bio)
✏️ Write down all your fixed “appointments.” For example, your kids wake times, zoom class times, lunch times, school drop off times, meetings, etc.
✏️ Then add all your desired activities between these times. Maybe you want to add a morning workout—don’t add it at the time your kids wake, schedule it 30 minutes before! Or maybe you have that pile of laundry that needs to be put away (um, who doesn’t have the trendy basket in the corner of their room 🤦🏻♀️). Schedule it! Look for an opening and knock it out.
✏️ Now, let’s take a moment because this one needs some preplanning. Let’s talk about any projects you have in mind—big or small! Start by writing it down as a goal! Then break it down into small manageable tasks. Once you have the tasks clearly outlined, look for openings in your schedule to pencil them in. This will give you a REALISTIC timeline of how long this project will take. I don’t know about you, but that already eases my anxiety.
Here's an example of my upcoming week:
Here is an AMAZING Google Calendar time blocking tutorial:
Here is one of my earlier digital templates before I purchased my digital planner.
You can download and print more templates here.
The Momentum Planner-This planner includes a pdf version you can actually print off!
If you prefer an app, check out ClickUp!
Need help or have questions? Comment below and I’ll get back to you in 24 hours or less!
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