Did you gasp when you read this headline? Yep, it’s almost that time of year…summer vacation!
And that means we work at home moms have to rework our schedule to accomodate our kids being home.
Don’t worry, it’s not that bad. In fact, you can use building your summer schedule as an opportunity to improve your work-life-family mojo.
How do you build a summer schedule? It’s as easy as 1-2-3-4.
Step One
Look at your summer as a whole – what big things do you have planned? Things like camp, vacation and home improvement projects that’ll take a few weeks.
Go ahead and pencil them in on your calendar.
Step Two
Look at each month of the summer individually and pencil in things like the 4th of July, birthdays, weddings, etc.
Step Three
Look at each week individually and schedule in the “weeklies”, like baseball on Tuesdays and Saturdays, church on Sundays and yoga on Wednesdays, for instance.
Step Four
Once you have completed steps one, two and three, you’ll have a good handle on what your summer looks like as a whole.
Then, you can build your work schedule around it.
Go ahead, lighten your work load, take some days off and enjoy this special season with your family.
What are you doing with your family this summer?
Photo by flavijus
Heather Allard
Latest posts by Heather Allard (see all)
- It’s Time to Say Farewell and Hello - October 27, 2013
- 5 Ways to Keep Your Entrepreneurial Spirit Up - September 15, 2013
- How to Create a Positive Company Culture - August 28, 2013
For our family, summer is a great time for the kids to just hang out and not feel pressured to be somewhere. I try not to schedule too many activities where we need to be there at a certain time. This leaves the schedule open for just playing, meeting friends, going for hikes, swimming. I definitely don’t get as much work done during the summer on my business, although it does help if I set my work hours. That way my kids know when we will be doing fun things together and when I have time to drive them to their friend’s homes. It also lets me know how much time I have to complete certain projects and to schedule times with clients.
Hi Kim,
I do the same thing – I leave lots of white space on our summer calendar so the kids can just relax. 🙂 Thanks for sharing!
Heather
I have started to plan for the summer. I typically have three jobs… being Mom, Part time job outside house and building a Web business. My husband and I have decided (and the second job agreed ) to let me take the summer off from the second job.
My plans consist of connecting with my family and setting a schedule for the web business based on “summer activities” . I have given my self the permission to lighten the load for a while and re-energize, and redirect my attention to what is important…big picture sort of thinking.
I can already feel my soul taking a nice, big, deep breath that it’s needed for quite some time. 10 weeks of recharging! It will be worth every moment.
Gosh, *I* can feel your soul taking a nice big deep breath!
Enjoy every minute of your recharging!! 🙂
Heather
Thanks for the great tips on how to better manage my hours this summer, looking forward to see how well this works for me.
Summer actually works out great for me. During school, it was really hectic trying to get everything done because I would have to stop what I was doing to go to the bus stops. It was also hectic with my training. I get up at 4 a.m. but I would always have to cut the sessions short in order to get the kids up for school. While my schedule is quite full for the summer, it’s indeed easier now that I don’t have to get anyone ready for school. While we won’t be doing anything special, my 15 year-old gets to be my camera girl for my video show this summer and her sisters get to be on the show.
I hear you, Germaine. I love not having to do the drop off and pick up.
And, I looooove being able to sleep in. 😉
Heather, great reminder. Last year I made things easier on myself by doing a mini-marketing launch for my copywriting business to fill my summer schedule. This way I didn’t have to do much marketing during the summer – one less thing to do.
Other thing to think about – how to get my kids to help out more, now that they’re home. Here’s my tips for that big ogre: http://fitfamilytogether.com/when-you-give-them-chores-kids-thrive
Sarah – what a great idea! Thank you for sharing. I agree with you about giving kids chores, too – kids love to feel helpful and needed, and by pitching in with chores, they accomplish that. 🙂
Hi Heather,
Wondering how your trip to Sell Your Soul was? Did you come away with all kinds of cool info? It must have been a true pleasure to finally have met Marie and Danielle in person. They are delightful.
Hope you are well.
…..and yes, I did gasp when I read the headline about the summer schedule.
🙂 susan.
Hey Susan,
I loved Selling Your Soul – honestly, I’m still processing the information I took in. 🙂 I learned a lot and it was fabulous to meet Marie and Danielle in person. Have so much love and respect for those ladies.
Heather
Great read! Thanks for the simple tips!