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Tag: flow

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Adventures in…homeschooling!

This time of coronavirus pandemic has meant that life has changed, overnight. Many of us are still unpacking what it all means, and working from the ground up to build new rhythms for our days. Suddenly, many of us are homeschooling our children (in the midst of our work and other obligations) and while it’s an abrupt shift, and has been challenging for many of us, I firmly believe that we will look back at this season, and see alot of good in it.

My own childhood history is that of homeschooling, for all of elementary and even for highschool. It was a blessing that I know shaped who I am tremendously, and while I know full well the inherent challenges of it, I have also been a first-hand beneficiary & recipient of so much of the best parts about homeschooling–the freedom, independence, forced habits of personal discipline and motivation, and the reminder that at the end of the day, we are all responsible for our own education. Learning seeds of this (in the right nurtured environment) early on, can shape the trajectory of a beautiful educational experience of a lifetime.

It’s one of those things that can look messy in real-time, in the process, but stepping back just a bit, it’s a beautiful thing. We all need to give ourselves grace and remember that our kids see us, doing our best, adjusting at a steep curve and learning alongside them all (those of us who haven’t been homeschooling)…and in the end, we’ll all look back and say–it wasn’t easy but we did it!

Love establishing our habit of prayer & journaling and learning about a virtue–combined with some read aloud as needed 😉

Here’s a few glimpses into our perfectly imperfect homeschooling life (of one full week), and a few thoughts & tips/tools that I hope may make it just a tiny bit easier and less stressful for you.

*Keeping our mindset on the bigger picture enables us to stay positive throughout–focusing on what we can accomplish each day with all the time we now have at home. I have to remain flexible while firm about a certain list of things getting done, but the order in which they happen may shift, and working on building habits of responsibility and self-direction/motivation in the kids as a top priority. We’re doing a combo of online & book learning, as many of you are, so it ends up being like “station rotation” at our house (like the girls were used to from school): 30 min with me at the dining table, working on specific worksheets/assignments, then a small break for a chore or quick play in the yard, or 30 minutes of free reading, they can sneak off to a comfy spot in the house (quiet and away from little brothers)…before coming back for a 30 minute session in their google classroom in the office, or playing math games on this fun site called www.abcya.com (believe me, it makes me very happy to see how much joy they get out of “fraction monsters”–the bigger fraction eating the smaller one–and it’s entertaining 3 of them (oldest sis gets a mini audience for part of it).

Their simple joy about choosing and planting seeds is contagious. Daily #actsofhope during this time.

*Keeping things light and positive is definitely the name of the game to keep my own stress levels down, and to keep us powering through our day. I’ve chosen to offer rotating “specials” classes, just like they had at school. They get a kick out of this–with science class being planting seeds last week (an ultimate #actofhope in these dark times–that better, brighter days are coming)…and art class, cooking class and PE were we’ll be learning more about certain sports. Having it feel novel and fun (with short segments of focus) is what’s working for us.

Field studies at a local park: nature walk & beach/stream play.

*Here’s a great checklist that has basically taken all the stress out of having to keep them reminded of what they need to do. I detail out all the things we need to have them do in a given day, and establish a simple reward for each week (it’s been a new craft), and they eagerly refer to them often and remind me of what needs to get done. This takes the fighting out of any particular moment when I ask them to do it–I just refer to the chart. And vice versa, I don’t have to control too tightly the order in which things happen: I let them dictate that, so long as it all gets done over the course of the day. It’s really been a life saver and I even established a small checklist for myself to ensure I hit my own daily self-care and personal goals along with the work and family commitments we all feel. With so many big things out of our control, it’s so nice to feel that this one thing–our rhythm, our daily work and commitments, can be checked off a list and represents a day intentionally lived.

*Talk about it all. I have been checking in with them frequently to see how they are feeling about things–if they feel they are getting enough support, if assignments feel easy, hard, at the end of each day how they feel it went–their “highs and lows” (we love this great book to make it a family dinner affair) and of course, talking in general terms about how we’re all handling this crisis. This is an important moment, these little beautiful people are processing a huge life change alongside us, and I want to honor and respect that. For one of mine, it’s also meant some face-timing with her classmates to fill the social hole she feels missing. We all have to take the approach that we’re figuring this out one day at a time, and I think involving the kids in that, so they know they are agents of their new life, is hugely helpful.

I have to admit: when we designed this space a few months back, I thought to myself it would be perfect for homeschool moments…

*Tidying breaks. This is a major lesson learned–if we let the normal messes of schooling build up, it gets to my peace. I love a mid-morning and lunch time quick tidy that everyone can be involved in; and more than ever this is when our spaces need to be well organized with easy access to materials, and a beautiful, calm and productive environment for them to learn. Grateful that we’re able to tailor our new spaces and just test out how things flow best regarding which classes or activities for schooling take place where. Just like in their classrooms, kids love it when we mix it up, and they also respond well to order.

*Regarding schedule–what works for us is some flexibility and grace (spoken as a mom of 4, with lots of moving parts and little needs from everyone)…I don’t sweat if we don’t get everything done before lunch; there are plenty of other moments in the day and afternoon, but I DO emphasize down-time/quiet time during Blaise’s nap–and I will often get my own work done then, or focus in with the older girls, and I make sure that we all MOVE every day—that hasn’t been too hard as they just run out the door any moment they get when it’s sunny. When it’s rainy, we’ll pull out the yoga mats and do some good ol’ mindful movement. Walking/riding bikes in the neighborhood helps all of our moods, and I’ve tried to keep a steady flow of slightly new crafts/coloring pages, and art materials flowing in, so they are always eager to use. Again, we’re only 1 week in, but I know Michaels and other places are having fantastic online sales, and we can get alot of great stuff delivered that can help make this all as bright & fun as possible.

(More on working from home tips in this post….)

Yard creativity & recess.

I know that at the end of each day, I want them to know that we learned together, we did our very best, and we were kind and positive to each other. That we listened well, and grew together. It’s challenging me in all the right ways, and stretching my momma heart (with so much pride, especially, for how resilient they can be) and I am very grateful for the hidden blessings and lessons of a challenging time.

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5 tips for working from home

Working from home can present its own set of challenges, We idealize it as–unlimited delicious homemade coffee, and pajamas until 12–or later. Sometimes, It’s not like that at all. It might look like–distracting yourself with housework when you are avoiding work for a deadline, or having small children making messes or pulling on your leg while you’re trying to sit at a computer and answer emails. The time-sucks and lack of motivation can just start to overwhelm us. We often aren’t sure how to get re-focused, re-inspired, and to set up a set of routines that can put us into FLOW with our work. So we experience the benefits of flexible work, and fewer of the downsides.

And first of all, I want to pause for a moment to acknowledge what a blessing it is, in this moment in time, to have work opportunities available to us that we can do from home, in the middle of this enormous crisis. We do not take that for granted for an instant.

I’ve had a lot of experience over 7 years of working flexibly, of how to manage my time working from home, expectations of what I’ll accomplish, and daily re-inspiring and motivating myself to chip away at work goals, to-do lists, bringing joy and a sense of fulfillment to each moment of the day (or many, at least).

Let’s start with these 5 tips, and see how you can boost your mindset around working from home, or just develop some new strategies.

  1. Adjust expectations–to fit your reality.
  2. Set up your work space to optimize joy, focus and productivity.
  3. Time management & blocking: give yourself things to look forward to your breaks each hour.
  4. Set a schedule you can stick to (even while enjoying flexibility).
  5. Focus on the big picture.

1) Adjust expectations–to fit your reality.

I’ve learned the hard way that a long to-do list and a working from home lifestyle can sometimes frustrate you (and others). Of course, you can have productive pockets of time, but you also need to manage expectations (your own, and other peoples’) about what you’ll accomplish. For me, that starts with having a top 3 list in my planner–the 3 most important things that need to be done, and tackling those first, so that anything else that’s on the list, or “extra” is gravy. Help others understand your realities–try to under-promise and over-deliver. I’m often very clear with those I’m in communication with: this particular task will happen at this time of day (during a toddler nap) and not before, so that the expectations are clear, and you’re not always scrambling to re-adjust.

2) Set up your work space to optimize joy, focus and productivity.

This is your chance to create your ideal environment, and to add to your productivity and enjoyment of your work. Choose a beautiful, quiet, well-lit & decorated spot and set it up to be a place that brings you joy as you approach. Along with this, set up rituals in your day that help trigger your brain to look forward to focusing in–that could be a simple as a delicious cup of pour-over, or a steaming mug of tea, a great soundtrack, and more. Even better if you’ve been able to do a quick 20 min walk or yoga session to get blood flowing to your brain! These are proven methods that highly successful folks use daily to power up their focus, and you can do them at home with even more control of your environment than at the office.

Home office inspo: Via Serena & Lily

3) Time management & blocking: give yourself things to look forward to in your breaks each hour.

Similarly to your office environment, you have even more control over your focused work times–when they occur and why. You can take quizzes that help you determine what time of day you’re most productive, and you can tailor your calendar and work day around that. For example if mid morning is your peak productivity, avoid letting mtgs be scheduled then, or calls, and try to do your deeper work/content creation, etc then.

Brendon Burchard–in his book High Performance Habits, and elsewhere–talks about how the ideal window for peak productivity is to work in 50 min chunks (on a single task or set of related tasks) and then take a 10 min break, to totally reset your brain. This fits well with my experience (if you’re a mom, you might be thrilled with 30 min chunks while kids are occupied), and the point is that during the hourly breaks, you move around, stretch, get a different perspective, maybe do a small chore, household project or email check/communication moment, and then dive back into another focused block. Try this out in different intervals and see what works. You’ll be amazed what happens when you close a few browsers, stop checking email and social media on your phone, and just focus in on something for 45-50 min. Magical things can occur. I love having a small thing I’m committed to doing during my “breaks” whether it’s reading to a kid, having a snack or stretching series, or even tidying so that my environment stays the way I like it. You’ll get into a good rhythm that works for you.

4) Set a schedule you can stick to (even while enjoying flexibility).

I enjoy the freedom of a whole day of working from home (while mothering) but we all benefit from a bit of structure as well (the #1 reasons why bosses are wary of people working from home). So I suggest that based on the things you understand about your productive pockets, the overall schedule off the day, related to school schedule, or anything else, you craft some daily rhythms that help you stay on course. If you know you’ll always start your day with a block of email and communication, followed by your biggest project of the day (the meat of what you need to accomplish); I like to plan calls and zooms with clients/partners/collaborators for 12 or later, so I know that the first part of the day has been my own to really make things happen with. Later in the afternoon, I’ll come back to my computer for tying up loose ends, or communicating with folks about deliverables for the following day or scheduling out items for later in the week; it all depends on the work you do, but you’ll benefit from having a clear sense of what each part of the day holds. Plan your day with a loose structure that works, or your day will just simply slip away from you. Additionally, I always schedule things like down time, or exercise or self-care moments into my planner along side my work. That way I know I’m taking them equally seriously, so I can be at my best for the moments I’m in work mode

5) Focus on the big-picture.

On any given day, some of the challenges of juggling work while doing laundry, managing kids, seeing dishes in the sink or any number of other small work from home annoyances can get you feeling deflated. But keep a big picture perspective in mind. Having more control of your schedule and work does give you more joy & fulfillment in the long run, and also allows you to be more productive (less water cooler time or random interruptions from “drive by” coworkers)…plus, look at all that time you’re not spending exhausting yourself in a car or on public transportation. Even just getting back 30 min each way from commuting is 5 hours per week–that you can use to explore a new hobby, go on runs, or read, or be with your family more. Focusing on the big picture brings gratitude and the right perspective for the challenging moments.

Final note (may have learned this the hard way ;)): you’re happier if you set good boundaries about not working during the hours you want to be with family, doing other things, etc. Working from home does not equal working all the time, as many in our workaholic culture want to assume. You’re better off if you keep yourself disciplined with your “on” hours, and your “off ” hours, and your work and life will benefit greatly.

Silk blouse on top, for video meetings & podcasts, yoga pants on the bottom…

Cheers to working from home–with all the blessings and challenges…

it’s a great life indeed.

x ~maddy

Some fantastic reads related to these topics:

Feel like you need an accountability buddy or coach/cheerleader when establishing your work from home habits, whether working for yourself or someone else? Reach out and we can discuss my coaching packages, tailored to fit every need & budget & goal.