It’s time to get ready to prepare for back to school! Instead of feeling overwhelmed this school year, let’s dive into routines and systems you can start with your kids to help decrease the stress!
While you’re there, I’d love an appreciate if you’d leave a rating and review! These allow other purpose driven moms to find the show and help grow our community! Just click here to review, select ‘Ratings and Reviews” and “Write a Review” and let me know your favorite part of the podcast! I’d love to feature you as our ‘Review of the Week’.
In today’s episode I am going to share my best tips and resources for how to plan a stress free vacation with your kids! I’ll share what routines went well, how we saved money and vacationed on a budget and how you can enjoy the trip as well!
The bundle is divided into 5 categories, each with eBooks, eCourses, and planners filled with smart traveling insights. You’ll get tips on family travel, traveling on a budget, camping and road trips, planning and packing and mindset!
While you’re there, I’d love an appreciate if you’d leave a rating and review! These allow other purpose driven moms to find the show and help grow our community! Just click here to review, select ‘Ratings and Reviews” and “Write a Review” and let me know your favorite part of the podcast! I’d love to feature you as our ‘Review of the Week’.
While you’re there, I’d love an appreciate if you’d leave a rating and review! These allow other purpose driven moms to find the show and help grow our community! Just click here to review, select ‘Ratings and Reviews” and “Write a Review” and let me know your favorite part of the podcast! I’d love to feature you as our ‘Review of the Week’.
When you time block, you are looking at your schedule in a way that gives you flexibility AND structure
Time blocking is the concept of looking at your day in extended period of time instead of hour by hour.
Hourly schedules used to work great for me. When I was teaching and in the classroom, I had a million things to remember. I had to be at many meetings throughout my day, show up at certain times and follow a ton of deadlines.
When I left teaching 5 years ago to become an entrepreneur and work at home mom, I thought that using an hourly schedule like I did in the classroom would keep me focused and on point.
Instead, it led me to burn out FAST.
I had left teaching so that I could have more freedom, be more in control of my time and allow my job to align with my top priority – my family.
I found that by using an hourly planner I was stressing myself (and my family) out, felt more overwhelmed and behind and didn’t have a system that I could use to run my home that left space for us to just be human.
This post may contain affiliate links which cost you nothing extra to use but may provide me with a commission. To read my full disclosure head on over here.
How does time blocking help save time?
Time blocking is a mom’s best friend when it comes to time management.
We have so many things on our plates as busy moms and it sometimes feels impossible to get anything done.
How many times have you let overwhelm just paralyze you?
I’ve been there too.
I jam pack my schedule on Monday with a ton of to-dos, pretend that I’m superwoman and can get it all done, and feel overwhelmed and defeated by Wednesday.
When you use time blocking, you give yourself the freedom to live life while still being productive.
Yes, you’ll probably put too much on your plate and there are times when you’re still overwhelmed but if you incorporate time blocking into your day you’ll feel more in control and actually productive – instead of just spinning your wheels day in and day out.
Time blocking helps busy moms manage their time because it gives you and your family structure AND freedom.
Examples of time blocks as a mom
When you time block, you split your days into chunks around events that are happening.
For example, you might have a morning chunk from when your kids wake up until they go to school, or an afternoon chunk from lunchtime until nap.
Time blocking can help so much because you can customize them to what you need and change it each week or even each day.
I make a typical time block for our Monday through Friday that pretty much stays the same. I change it on the weekends when we have more activities or I have to go to work.
This week for example, I have had to switch the entire time block around because of summer camp and sports practices.
Even when you have to move your time blocks around, you can easily shift things from block to block.
Here is an example of our current summer time blocks. It’s important to note that I have a 2 year old who naps 1x a day, a 3.5 year old who goes to summer camp from 9am-12pm and she is currently dropping her nap (I know… I’m sad about it too) and a 12 year old who goes to camp 9am-3pm that is 30-40 minutes away.
I’ve listed below how I space my blocks out and you can read this post if you want to see what I put in each block and how I structure are day!
Time Block #1 Early Morning
5:00 am – 9:00 am
Time Block #2 Morning
9:00 am – 12:00 pm
Time Block #3 Afternoon
12:00 pm – 3:30 pm
Time Block #4 Evening
3:30 pm – 7:30 pm
Time Block #5 Mommy Time
7:30 pm – 10:30 pm
As you can see I don’t recommend making any of your time blocks longer than 4-5 hours.
I’ve also anchored our times around an event – school drop off, naps, or bed. This allows for natural changes in our schedule as needed. If for example, the kids naps get switched or someone has to get picked up early, I can just move things around.
When you fill your time blocks, instead of exact times (unless you have an appointment or something you have to do at a certain time) you fill them with general things. It allows you to manage your time but not be tied down.
For example, if my morning time block is always errands and outside play time for the kids, I can figure out what time we need to leave or where we have to go.
If my kids know that during our evening block, I”m going to workout in the playroom and they get a show, it’s predictable for them. The know what is going to happen during that block and I can customize each day with what workout I plan to do.
Why you should have a template for time blocking.
I suggest having a template when you’re time blocking so that when you do your weekly schedule you don’t have to always start over.
Templates allow you to have predictability and help you think of your day and task in chunks instead of saying ‘what do i have to get done each day’
I use my time blocking template each week to pre plan out errands, activities and tasks.
I suggest trying to keep things as predictable as possible for yourself. Try to batch all of your errands on one day or one time of the day (maybe after you’ve just done school drop off so that you’re only in the car at that one time in the morning)
By using a template to preplan things, it also gives you some urgency to stay on your time blocks and allows you to see the week at a glance.
A time blocking template also helps because it will allow you to know the best time to make plans. If you know that your afternoon time block tends to be more time bringing kids to activities than if someone asks you to meet at the park for a playdate, you can suggest meeting during a better time block.
Sample time blocking template and free download
I use a very simple time blocking template each month. I have a general one that I fill out and adjust it monthly as needed.
Again, you can adjust your time blocks daily if you need to, but know the more predictable you can keep it the better! Time blocking is more about predictability and routine that being time bound and super structured!
This template is great to keep on the side of your fridge so that your kids and family can see what the week looks like or to put in your planner so that you have it at a glance.
If you want to start time blocking for your family , you need to grab this free template.
It’ll help you identify your general blocks (or even print one out for each day! Whatever works best for you!) so that you can start being more intentional about how to spend your day and get done what you need!
Make sure you PIN this to come back to later! I’d love to know how you’re using this template! Post it in the comments!
Time blocking is one of the best time management tips for moms out there! As a busy mom is can be hard to figure out what you need to get done, when you will have time to complete your tasks and how to juggle everything on your plate! Time blocking allows you to give yourself a framework for your day without feeling too structured or tied to a schedule.
What is time blocking?
Time blocking is the concept of taking your day and breaking it into smaller chunks. Instead of using an hourly schedule (which can be helpful but not all the time) you’d break your day down based off of events that happen each day.
If you used an hourly scheduling method, you might have a jam packed day and everything planned very structured and stacked. While this can be helpful when you have a lot of moving pieces, a super structured week at work or with kid’s activities, being too rigid with your schedule can make you feel overwhelmed and behind.
This post may contain affiliate links which cost you nothing extra to use but may provide me with a commission. To read my full disclosure head on over here.
Why time blocking works for busy moms
With time blocking, you’ll use chunks of time instead of the hourly planning. This allows to you have the best of both worlds – structure AND flexibility.
When I was a high school teacher, I found myself pulled in a million directions. I had to teach my classes, hold a resource room period, accommodate and modify tests for other teachers and run all of my extra activities. During this season of my life, I needed to be on an hourly schedule for my time management or I would possibly be late to something or miss a meeting I had to be at.
Now that I’ve transitioned into a work at home mom running my own business, I have had to adjust how I schedule things. In the beginning, I tried to stick to this more tight schedule but after my children were born, I learned how hard it really is to be that planned. I was burning myself out with too many things on my to do list, feeling overwhelmed because we’d inevitably get behind at some point each day, and frustrated with my homemaking, motherhood and work tasks.
Time blocking really has been one of the best things that has happened to my schedule and time management! Instead of being so structured that the littlest thing would set off our schedule (and my mood), I now break my day up in chunks around events. I am able to use time blocking to be flexible and accommodate each day based on what we need to get done while still providing routine for my kids and myself so that things don’t always feel frazzled.
How to create time blocks in your day
When you set out to create time blocks for your day, you’ll want to follow a few guidelines so that you can set yourself up for success.
You want to try to keep your blocks around 3-4 hours long. They can be shorter than this but, any longer and you get into a space where it’s easy to procrastinate because you ‘have the time’ to do it later.
Grab your calendar and look at your day and the major events and transitions that you will come across. You’ll want to anchor your time blocks around those events. For example, if you have to pick your kids up from school at a certain time – that’s a great place to start/end a new block. If your kids go to bed at a certain time you’ve found another good anchor for your blocks.
If you don’t have any events to anchor your day around, anchor around your blocks around meals. I know in the summer our days can be more flexible and, maybe you truly don’t have anything planned at all. If this is the case, you can make your blocks between breakfast and lunch, lunch and snack, snack and dinner and dinner and bed. This allows you to still cut your day up in meaningful chunks and has a nice transition time attached to it.
Below I’ve given you an example of my (current) time blocks. You’ll notice that some are longer than others but each one starts at a certain anchor. I’ve listed the anchors that end my block next to each one so you can see examples of what I use to chunk a typical day.
5:00 am-9:00 am – drop Arianna at school
9:00 am-12:00 pm – pick Arianna up at school
12:00 pm -2:00 pm – kids go down for nap
2:00 pm -4:00 pm – kids wake up from nap
4:00 pm -8:00 pm – kid’s bedtime
8:00 pm -11:00 pm – my bedtime
You can make each day the same or have different time blocks depending on the activities you have going on. The above listed is my typical Monday-Friday blocks which changes on the weekends. These blocks are now starting to transition again this summer as my 3.5 year old is starting to drop a nap and my 1.5 year old is moving his nap up. Be fluid and flexible but allow the anchors to guide you when you make your day.
There are a few ways you can distinguish your time blocks in your day so that it makes sense in your planner. I often will make a template of my time blocks on an extra large post-it and keep that in my planner for reference. I also use a Plum Paper planner which I LOVE! You can customize the planner to actually say Morning, Afternoon and Evening instead of hourly time which fits perfectly with how I structure my day.
You can also color code each time block with a different marker or colored pen or use Washi tape to separate it! If you use a bullet journal, you’ll have total flexibility to set it up in anyway you want! Be as creative (or non creative) as you choose!
Here are some great and fun things to make your planner pop!
What do you put in time blocks?
When I first fill my timeblocks for the week, I start with all of the things I can’t change. These can be appointments I have to keep, meetings I am in, kid’s activities or drop offs or events I am attending. This allows me to see the day at a glance and I can adjust what goes in the other blocks accordingly.
Make sure that you also have one event in your day that is where you are working on a goal of yours. This could be 15 minutes planned out to declutter your closet, 30 minutes at the gym, or 20 minutes to read. Plan that in advance so you know that, no matter how busy things get, you’ve scheduled a little time out for you.
You’ll want to add in another time block with a habit that you are working on. I suggest just picking one habit each week and then adding to it. For my morning time block, I simply write ‘morning routine’ down but in a separate place in my planner I write down all of the tasks that I want to get done in that routine.
It’s smart to batch out the rest of your time blocks. Have a lot of errands to run? Put them in the same block! Phone calls that you need to make? Do them in the same chunk of time!
By batching out your tasks, you’ll spend less time doing them and take more action and actually get things done!
One of the biggest tips I can give you if you are going to give time blocking a try though is to NOT put too many things in each block. Each block should have 3-5 things maximum for you to work on. This way you know that in that period of time you need to get things do and can time manage yourself. Since you know that the next block is starting soon, you’ll have urgency that helps you procrastinate less!
Time Management for the Work at home Mom
So what does time blocking look like for a work at home mom? I wanted to share with you what a typical day looks like (when all naps and stars align!) so you can get an idea of how many things I put in each block and how I structure things!
5:00 am-9:00 am
Prayer and bible time
1 Work Task
Breakfast and morning chores
Workout and Shower
9:00 am-12:00 pm – pick Arianna up at school
Daily Cleaning
Phone Calls
Morning Walk
Errands or Play Date (my 1.5 year old is still home with me and the 3.5 year old and 12 year old are at school)
As you can see, I don’t have a ton of things planned but, every day I know what to work on during that block and can be specific for what calls, errands or tasks need to be done when I plan out the next day.
Time blocking is a great time management strategy to help moms get more done without feeling overwhelmed! Post your typical time blocks in the comments and PIN this to read again later!
Looking for the best way to get organized for back to school? Me too! See the thing is, every summer the same thing happens, I let go of our routines slightly, get a bit unorganized, allow the house to be more lived in and messy and just enjoy. But systems and routines help so much for getting ready for back to school.
But there is something magical about the start of the school year.
It feels just like the start of a New Year to me. Everything seems brand new, I want to work harder on my goals, finish the year strong and we start to get used to our new routines and schedules. And this year, on top of my stepson going into middle school and that adjustment, my 2.5 year old is starting PRESCHOOL!
I know, I know… cue the tears!
She’ll be going 3x a week from 9-12 which means adjust our normal schedule where we’d go on playdates or run errands, praying my 11 month old keeps his current 2 nap schedule for a bit (which means he’ll nap 9:30-11:30!! Imagine the possibilities with 6 extra ‘kid-free’ hours a week!)
Speaking of my 11 month old, we’ll also be starting Tot School at home in September which means figuring that routine out and when we’ll not only do activities but having to plan them out. (We use ABC Jesus Loves Me for our ‘curriculum’ and love the flexibility it gives while providing structure to make it easy for moms)
With my stepson staying at the same school, not much changes for his schedule but now that it’s time to add in more sports, clubs and activities and it’s a recipe for disaster when it comes to remembering everything and just feeling on top of life.
This post may contain affiliate links which cost you nothing extra to use but may provide me with a commission. To read my full disclosure head on over here.
Using Trello to Get Organized for Back to School
Enter Trello!
If you’ve been hanging on my page at all lately, you know I am OBSESSED with Trello, heck I even teamed up with my girl Elisa from Meal Planning Blueprints to make an entire COURSE around how it can help moms! Click below if you want to learn all I know about Trello!
Trello is going to be a mom’s best friend for back to school and I’m so pumped to be able to use it for the first time this entire school year. Trello eliminates having to have papers everywhere, forgetting dates and to-dos and losing things you know you need.
Trello will also allow you to share your Back to School lists and to-dos with other family members so if you have older kids, it’s a great way to communicate and if you need your spouse to pick them up from practice or your mother in law to attend a school event, you can keep it all streamlined!
Trello allows you to make BOARDS that you can organize with various lists and tasks. And because I know you don’t have a ton of time to do things, I’ve set up a Trello board just for you to copy for FREE!
Just click this link and you can snag my Back to School board (you’re welcome!) Just COPY it to your account and it’s yours to edit. If you don’t have Trello, just go here and get a free account! Between the website and the app, you’ll be in your Mom Organization Glory!
If you’re not sure about Trello or want to see how I organize my board, I did a video for you to give you all the tips on making this board work for you and your family! You can watch that or check out the step by step ideas below!
How to Copy Boards On Trello
If you want to copy the board, you’ll need a Trello account to do so but it’s free! Once you log in go on over to the right where it says SHOW MENU. Next, hit the MORE button and hit COPY BOARD. When you copy the board, you can decide if you want to rename it and where you want it to go. Feel free to use it as a template, to get ideas, and customize however you want!
How to Create a Back to School Board on Trello
Step #1 Create Lists on Trello
You’ll want to start with making lists for all the things you want to remember, Look at these as your categories. My board has lists that include;
IMPORTANT
SUPPLY LIST
SCHOOL LUNCHES
THINGS TO BUY
IMPORTANT DATES
IMPORTANT INFORMATION
ROUTINES
HOMEWORK STATION
You can add as many as you want and even organize this board by kid or month.
Step #2 Customize Cards on Trello
Now that you’ve created your lists, go though and customize each card.
Some of my favorite ways to do this is to add links of ideas I see on Pinterest (because we all know we’ll pin a ton of things and forget to do them all) , link to my meal planning boards, and create master shopping lists.
You can do this with multiple checklists on each card, adding in important dates, sales you see, organization ideas or adding attachments with specific links!
Step #3 Add members to Trello
I think one of the best features of a back to school Trello board is adding members so that you can all be on the same page. You can add your spouse, babysitter or whoever and if you want them to be responsible for a task or just let the, know of a date, use the @ sign and add their name. This way they’ll get a notification!
There are limitless possibilities when it comes to Trello for back to school and know that you can be a less stressed mom ASAP! Now go grab this FREE back to school board, copy it and start to customize it for your family!
