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I’ve always been overzealous as I overplanned my days, homeschool or no homeschool.
(My family would suggest I still try to jam too many activities into a day.)
Once upon a time, someone introduced me to a time audit to address my unrealistic expectations. And boy, did that change my world.
So I’m offering you a time audit to address unrealistic homeschool expectations!
In this time audit, I discovered I was trying to stuff 30 hours of activities into a 24-hour period.
Kinda unrealistic?? Um yeah.
There are so many things to do!
Why, yes, that’s true.
There are…
- kids to feed, dress, and teach to wash the dishes,
- math curriculum to choose,
- diapers to change,
- book lists to gather,
- cat litters to sift,
- kids to get off their screens,
- kids to teach tooth brushing at the end of busy days,
- playdates to drive to,
- homeschool activities to record,
- trips to soccer practice, rugby, voice lessons, and youth group,
- I could go on here…
There are a whole bunch of things to do.
Which take time.
But how much time?
From one homeschool mama to another, we quickly self-sabotage our homeschool days when we allow unrealistic time expectations to run the show.
And one of the ways we allow unrealistic expectations to run the show is by assuming we have more time in the day than there is.
And maybe you’ve been like me, you feel like you’re zooming through the day with more things to do than time.
You’re thinking, can I have four more hours in the day, please?
But you’ll keep going with this pace until you finally decide that you don’t like the way you’re showing up in your days: stressed, unhappy, always moving toward the next thing, but never present in your present day.
That’s why this Time Audit is a useful tool for you.
But girlfriend, as simple as this Time Audit is, it is also revolutionary.
No exaggeration. It really was in my life.
When you see that you do indeed have only so many hours in the day and that your expectation of how to use those hours is a wee bit unrealistic, you’ll get clarity, and you’ll get to decide which activities are a priority for you.
And then you won’t feel overwhelmed, stressed, or agitated.
I’ll assume that you’ll put that Time Audit on the kitchen counter and record everything you do for a week (yeah, I’m serious!).
And do this for just one week.
Just ONE week that will influence your entire life.
Until then, I’m going to suggest you ADD something to your schedule.
Yup, add something.
An hour of self-discovery every week.
This could come in the form of an hour just one night a week or ten minutes every morning.
Either way, you need time away.
(Yeah, I know you’ve heard it already, but let me make my case.)
I’m guessing your unrealistic expectations are interfering with other aspects of your life:
- Maybe you expect you’ll never be triggered by your kids, but actually, you have triggers with your kids that interfere with your confidence in parenting.
- Maybe you expect you can be fully engaged with your kids, but are actually preoccupied with relational issues that need a boundary or two.
- Maybe you expect you can do this homeschool mama thing without developing yourself too. Heck, you don’t even know who you are beyond the mama role.
- Maybe you expect a school at home can be done.
Wanna know the step to figuring them out? Spending time with them.
Ask yourself what you’re feeling and what your thoughts are around those challenges.
So are you doing that?
If you’re not sure what questions to ask yourself, I’ve created Journaling Workbooks that will help you do just that.
- Build your Boundaries Journaling Workbook
- Overcoming Overwhelm Journaling Workbook
- Big Emotions Journaling Workbook
- Homeschool Mama Daily Journal
- Reimagine your Homeschool Journaling Workbook
- Deschool your Homeschool Journaling Workbook
Any chance you think I journal?
Oh yeah, girlfriend, I journal.
Journaling is a powerful tool to clarify your challenges and get clear on your unrealistic expectations.
You can’t unravel challenges that you can’t explain.
So grab a journal, set time aside each morning or once a week, and build this self-awareness practice into your week.
Build your Boundaries Journaling Workbook
Journal questions can aid in your self-exploration, to get curious about what your reasons for boundaries issues may be. They can be a self-coaching tool to help you clarify your needs, your relationships, and your identity, so you can get your needs met & become more you. This 31-page self-coaching workbook will be your best tool to build boundaries.
After a week of using the Time Audit from the kitchen counter, let’s chat.
What did you learn about yourself this week?
(Cause it’s not just you learning about your schedule, it’s you learning what you value, prioritize, and desire for your life.)
So how does the time audit to address unrealistic homeschool expectations speak to your real homeschool?
Ask yourself:
- How many hours in the day were you actually occupying (whether they existed or not)?
- What activities do you definitely want to do?
- What activities do you definitely NOT want to do?
- Which activities are you assigning to someone else?
- Do you have enough time for sleep, exercise, and leisure?
Then let’s get clear about your priorities:
- Do your priorities reflect your values?
- Are you able to be more present in your activities?
- Are the things you’re doing what you want to be doing?
- What’s keeping you from that?
If you want to chat about this challenge, you can book a consultation call.
Book a call with me.
You can live your homeschool life on purpose, present and satisfied. You really can!
People also ask:
- How to Get Quiet Time as a Homeschool Mom with Rachel Le
- Building Boundaries and Requiring Time Outs with Stacy Wilson
- Nine Simple Steps to Plan your Homeschool with Confidence & Clarity
- How to Deal with Unrealistic Expectations as Homeschool Mamas
- Do you offer homeschool coaching? Why, yes I do!
