Homeschool is done, but the house is trashed. It’s going to be dinner time soon and you have no idea what to make. Someone needs a bath but you’re not sure if you have time before or after the extracurricular activity that’s going to have you out of the house for the next few hours. That’s when you realise you’re an overwhelmed homeschool mom.
The homeschool mom life – especially the working homeschool mom life – is intense. I’ve lived it. I was homeschooled K-12 and I’m now homeschooling my oldest while trying to keep track of her two younger siblings. In this post I’m sharing my top tips for hitting reset when you feel like an overwhelmed homeschool mom.
Step 1: Priority Check
If I’m struggling with feeling overwhelmed, I take a quick restock of my priorities. Because if priorities are not aligned it’s easy to feel like everything is falling apart. How you prioritise your roles might be different from mine, but this is what I would consider a healthy ranking. Do a quick check. Starting at the top, try and diagnose where things are going wrong:
- My Self
- My Role as a Mother & Wife
- My Role as a Homeschool Teacher
- My Business
- Everything Else
Self Care
When it comes to taking care of yourself: Are you getting enough sleep, drinking enough water, getting physical activity and eating healthy food? If not, take care of this asap. You’re no good to anyone if you’re exhausted, dehydrated, fat or sluggish.
The Mother & Wife Hat
Are you taking care of your key responsibilities as a mother and wife? Connecting with your kids and husband? This is the role that’s all about making a home a home. Are we all eating well? Do we all have clean clothes and a clean and tidy home environment? These are the important things that go unnoticed until they’re not done – like a clean bathroom. Are they getting attention?
The Teacher Hat
Does school seem like a free-for-all? Are you starting the day at a messy table with no schedule laid out? If you do have a schedule prepared, are you staying on task? If break times are not being timed and “class” times are not consistent, this will throw off even the best schedule.
The Working Girl Hat
How is work going? Do you spend hours wasting time on your computer because you’re so overwhelmed that you don’t know which project to work on first? If you suddenly had a free hour, are you able to use it productively or does it go to waste because you’re not prepared or organised?
These are just some ideas based on roles that I have. But if you are an overwhelmed homeschool mom, I would always start with yourself and work outwards. It’s amazing what a good night’s sleep, a healthy breakfast and a giant glass of water can do for your mood and your motivation to tackle the day.
But if you reflect and notice that some of these areas are getting neglected regularly, go grab yourself a nice coffee and sit down and set up some systems…
Step 2: Set up Systems for Your Pain Points
If you’re consistently dealing with the same issues – feeling overwhelmed with the mess at home, or inconsistency in the school routine, or not being prepared for dinner time, you need systems. You need to schedule time to sit down, identify the problems that keep stressing you out and figure out a system to address the problem. (ChatGPT can actually help you with this!)
The systems you’ll need to set up will depend on which priorities are out of alignment. But these are just a few systems that I rely on heavily to keep my days running smoothly. You can check out this post about productivity apps to see which apps help me most with these systems.
Habit Tracking
When it comes to self care, I track my personal habits religiously to keep myself making progress towards my goals. Some ideas of habits that are helpful to track: hours slept, liters of water consumed, steps, etc. Remember, no productivity hack can make up for a lack of self care. Burnout is real.
Meal Planning
Unless your world revolves around food and you truly love cooking and just “whipping something up” in the kitchen, you should have a meal plan. Sit down once a week (or month) and sort this out. This also eliminates extra grocery trips that are a needless waste of time. If you can afford to delegate this – like with a meal prep service or even having your groceries delivered to save time during the week, then seriously consider this. Think about what your time is worth and how you’re spending your time.
School Schedule
By the end of the school day on Friday, you should be able to have your next week mapped out. Then school is done for the weekend and you can start Monday morning with a plan. All of the heavy lifting for your homeschool schedule can and should be done over the summer, especially the end of summer when the new semester’s schedule is being set. You should have a clear idea of what needs to get done on any given weekday and just fill in the details as the weeks go. I avoid scheduling things too rigidly because life happens. Kids get sick. Special events pop up without being scheduled months in advance.
Housework Planning
Chore Schedule – Have a plan for when the important housework chores get done, especially laundry. Delegate when possible. But make a list of what needs to get done in your home on a weekly basis. You shouldn’t be guessing and this shouldn’t be an “open tab” in your brain. Write out what needs to be done and schedule it. This will surely need to be tweaked over time, but you have to start somewhere.
Tidy Times – I have three kids. Our apartment gets messy. But I have set times when we clean up so that (1) dad doesn’t walk into chaos and (2) we can all wake up to a tidy home. I have an alarm set on my phone for these. Alarm goes off, I set a timer, turn on some Avicii and we clean up as much as possible until the timer goes off. By having these set tidy times, seeing my son get out ALL of his Hot Wheels and turn the living room into a race course does not stress me out. Because I know that it will all get cleaned up at a specific time. And by cleaning up twice a day every day, the mess never gets out of control.
Set Up More Routines
Baths/Showers – These are literally on my calendar. I know which kid (or myself) is getting a shower or bath that night. Nobody gets missed. Obviously this is not rigid. But when life gets busy, I don’t have to wonder, Hey, when did so-and-so get a bath last?
Bedtime – If you don’t have an alarm set on your phone to signal the start of the bedtime routine, what are you even doing? Consistency and the ringing of the bell – not mum being the first to say something – makes bedtime a seamless operation at our house. Don’t get me wrong, we still have meltdowns if it’s been a long day. But they are rare and short if they do happen at all.
Start Running To-Do Lists
For my work, I have a running list of things that need to be done. As I think of things, they get added to the list and immediately prioritised. So whenever I have a free moment to sit down with my laptop, I go to my list and start with the first action item. It’s how I’m able to make consistent daily progress, even when there are entire days with only short pockets of time. This works with all kinds of things. Just have a place where you jot down all these to-dos as they come to you and sort them – groceries on the grocery list, school tasks on the school list, etc.
Step 3: Reflect Often and Adjust as Needed
You know what they say, Rome wasn’t built in a day. If your reset is more of an overhaul, just know that it’s going to take time. Use incremental stacking to slowly add new habits and routines. Once those are easy, add more. Just don’t forget to reflect often and consider if your systems are working for you. If you have tried a system and it doesn’t work, adjust it and try again. There is no one-size-fits-all system. Especially when kids are constantly growing and going through different phases.
Do you struggle with feeling like an overwhelmed homeschool mom? Have you tried adding any of these habits or systems into your life? What is the best routine you’ve implemented that keeps your home running smoothly?
Keep Reading About…
How to ride out a bad day of homeschooling without the guilt: Surviving a Bad Day of Homeschooling
If you need inspiration for your homeschool calendar: How to Make a Weekly Homeschool Schedule (with Free Printable)
More productivity hacks especially for homeschooling moms: 6 Productivity Hacks and Best Productivity Apps
Also, check out the free pdf below of my top productivity tips all in one place:
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