Backwards Calendar Planning

So I have started what I call backwards Calendar Planning. So many folks I know plan day to day, or week to week and fill in scheduled dates as they go. When they get to the upcoming week they work everything around all their appointments.

For me, that method always means changing scheuldes, moving something on the calendar, or wondering why I don't have enough time in my day.

As a result, I started to think about what things have to happen in my life for me and my family to function and with it came the realization of needing to look at my calendar from a whole new perspective. I have changed my approach to time management and our calendar planning.

I now look at the big picture and divide it into things like MUSTS, NEED TO, WANT TO.

I look at all the things I MUST do in order to manage my home and our life and take them out of our number of hours in the week.
Total hours in week 168
MUSTS:

1. Sleep 56 hours in week
2. Eat (includes cooking time, grocery shopping, food prep & kitchen clean up time) 18 hours
3. Laundry 3 hours
4. General housecleaning, sweeping vacuuming, bathrooms 3 hours
5. Morning/Evening Routines with Paul 6 hours
6. Personal Time (workout, quiet time, shower etc.) 7 hours
7. Church 3 hours
8. Date night 2 hours
9. Homeschool 25
10. Margin 1.5 (I try to leave 1 1/2 hours each week for unexpected things)

After taking those all away, I am left with only 43 hours in the week.
I then look at the NEED TO's. NEED To's are events we feel are important enough in our life to say we Need to go to them and don't want to schedule anyting else in their place.

1. Bible Study, Small Group etc.
2. Appointments: Doctor, Dentist, Hair, etc.
3. Paul's events (any sports, 4H, church activities, music lessons)

So for us in September we will have Monthly events: 4H, Homeschool Co Op, and weekly we will have Bible study weekly, music & swim lessons. Weekly things will take up 5 hours each week and monthly will take up 8 hours. I take the monthly hours and divide them over the weeks so in this case it would be 2 hours taken away from each week.

This would bring my weekly available hours down to 36. If divided over each day that is about 5 hours a day remaining for the rest of our events, field trips, errands, etc.

I lump the rest of my things into the WANT TO's. I want deep clean my house more but if I can put quarterly cleaning into my remaining hours that works for me. I want to have a night out; but if that week we have 3 need to social events I can better say no to the WANT To. etc.

This has been a huge help and taken off massive amounts of stress when I know the real time frame I have available.

A New Focus for My Home

While on our road trip, which will be blogged about later, I was able to attend the Illinois Christian Home Educator's Annual Conference. I heard some wonderful speakers and affirmed our decisions about homeschooling.

In that process, however, it was made very aware of my role as wife, mother and teacher. How each thing done in my home will be passed onto the next generation. On the flip side of that, how each thing I learned growing up, plays into my being.

I had a great mom who always did things for others, we always had people over to our home, we always helped when there was a need. She started slowing down when I was 13 or 14 due to emphyzema. As a result my sister and I were handed much of the domestic work at home - cooking, cleaning, laundry, food shopping and such. I was never really taught but more expected to figure those things out. I realized how that manifests itself in the ministry of my home. I am not cheerful when it comes to homemaking, I struggle with clean up and organization but am a fairly decent cook. Certain tasks are always a chore instead of done with a joy and an understanding of how it serves my family. I know others too who share similar struggles, when they grew up their responsibility was school and school work and as long as that got done that was their "job." They did not learn many things from a household standpoint but became very academically smart and one friend imparticular really struggled with what some would think of as basics like housecleaning and meals; it took her nearly a year to learn it all but again not without feeling like it was a chore.

The art if discipling our children into their roles for the future so plays into the ministry of our home. If we desire our boys to be hardworking men not just educated men, we must instill that value at home as early as we can. If we desire our son to be diligient in God's word, it must start now. If folks desire their daughters to be keepers of their home in a way that is honoring and pleasing and one that brings delight to the family and to the daugthers, we must our selves be the example and teach the process.

I now need to begin each day with asking God for a renewed vision of a wife, mom, and homeschool teacher allowing that vision to be filled with joy and a heart filled with kindness and compassion; eyes that see the big picture of what we do now matters when our son marries or goes off to college, ears that will be ever listening for God's direction and hearing the needs of my family, hands and feet that will be diligient to work, and a mind that will focus on my home.