Hello Busy Friend,
I’m sure you are busy, busy, busy….
School starting is just around the corner for most of us, and some have already begun! (Cheers to you!)
In my Sunday Snippets this summer, I have been sharing productivity and organization links with you to help you make this your best school year ever! (My best years were always my most organized years!)
But someone commented that they wished they were all in one place and in order so they would know which things to focus on first, etc.
So…..that is what this Tuesday Tips is going to do!
I’m going to put the videos and articles that I think will help you the most to have an organized, productive year in order, so you can have your own little “mini conference”! And you can do it at your own pace as you implement each step.
I’m passionate about productivity and organization because I know they made all the difference for me in my 32 years of homeschooling–and they continue to serve me every single day in all of my entrepreneur journey!
Blessings to you for an amazing, organized, productive school year….I want so much wonderfulness for you!
Love and hope,
Donna
Step 1: Create Your Daily Lists and Do Nothing But These!
I created a video about my experience in creating dailies–and how I had to give up the grandiose in order to do the dailies…and how those dailies made me a successful homeschooler and confident parent! Watch this first! 🙂
Step 2: Learn to Delight in the Dailies
Dailies can be a drag. There’s nothing grandiose. Nothing exciting. Nothing remarkable happening right away as a result of them. So it can be hard to delight in them. I wrote two articles about this (part I and part II) that will help anyone who gets bored with the dailies. (Please believe me when I say the dailies are everything at first!)
Step 3: Follow Through on the Dailies
It’s one thing to create a dailies list. It’s another thing to follow through on them. Since I know how hard it is to follow through on them, I created a video about that!
Step 4: Systematize Everything
After you get the dailies down pat (or during possibly), you will be amazed at your productivity when you systematize everything you can! This is so important in homeschooling. You want some things in your day to just run “like a well-oiled machine”! Systematizing will help you!
Step 5: Use 1 to 2% of Your Day to Make the Other 98% Run Smoothly
Each day has its own happenings. Some times we have enough time for the Dailies only. Other times we can do some weeklies. Some times we can even do “extras.” Use my 14 Minute Productivity Hack to look at the day and see what all you can put in it. This realistic look at your day will leave you way less frustrated!
Step 6: Each Day Plan Your First Five and Fast Five
During my 14 Minute Productivity Hack, if I look at my calendar and I have time to do more than the Dailies, I put in my First Five tasks (the first five things I will do after my Dailies) and my Fast Five (five quick tasks I can do while coffee is brewing or toddler is not pottying but is sitting on the potty! lol). On extra busy days, I don’t get to the First Five or Fast Five…but I always know what they are each day.
EXTRAS
There are other habits and productivity considerations when creating your ideal day….so I am putting these here.
a. Diligence—
We talk all the time about how to help our kids become more diligent. But I found out long ago that I have to do everything myself before I can teach things to my kids. Wowsie…was that ever hard. So I taught myself to be diligent first…then teaching them was much easier! This video details how I evaluated my diligence and improved it.
b. Prioritizing
So how do you know what you should do after your Dailies? How can you determine which things are the most important things to focus on? I have some thoughts about prioritizing on this video!
c. Taming the To-Do List
It’s one thing to create a to do list; it’s another thing to have systems in place to do the tasks on the to-do list. This video helps with the taming of that all-elusive to-do list!
d. Procrastination
Procrastination is a real issue for any of us who are our own bosses—homeschoolers, entrepreneurs, parents of littles, small business owners, etc. I love giving tips—and I have several in this video to beat procrastination!
