I work two evening a week and one weekend day. My schedule is planned so that my husband is home and no daycare is needed and it mostly doesn’t interfere with our normal schedule since I homeschool Monday-Friday and try to be done by 2:30 each day. But some days things drag into the later afternoon and I start to feel crushed with getting everything done before I leave.
And then there is the general housekeeping that needs to get done. I put in less than 20 hours a week at my part time job but sometimes feel very stressed because of it. Some weeks I feel like everything is under control. Other weeks I feel like I am drowning.
Does anyone else work outside the house? How do you balance it all?
I don’t work outside the home, but from the home. I also tutor English 1 afternoon a week. Just want to say I get it! Some days I think nothing sounds nicer than only 1 things to focus on. Other days, I’m glad for the variety. I dabbled with outside help in the form of a house cleaning service twice a month. It never felt worth it. Last year I started reading more on minimalism and got rid of a bunch of stuff. That really helped me and my house feel less “crushed”.
I use to work outside the home for about 10hrs/wk at a job I loved but had to give it up because my husband’s work hours turned crazy. I always saw my outside job as a small vacation that took my mind off of all the housework that didn’t get finished, lol
Once a month we get the whole family (me, husband, kids) together and do all the vacuuming, dusting, washing, etc… that wasn’t getting done and spend a couple of hours doing it. It actually turns into some great family time
I work out of the home 40h a week. It helps me to keep things structured. I work two 12h days and two 8h days, same schedule each week. It still is exhausting but I do enjoy my work so that helps!
I try to streamline and optimize the other factors in my life. I only go to two brick and mortar stores these days - Costco and the grocery store. Everything else I get through amazon prime or google shopping express (we live in the bay area). we have a housecleaner come twice a month. You didn’t mention how old your children are, but if one is able to do some work independently, that helps as well. I had to think through how to structure and organize the material to facilitate independent work for my 6 year old. We are constantly trying to recalibrate and optimize.
Melinda2780, I feel your frustrations! I work 3 12 hour shifts. Each week the days vary so we do not have a set schedule around here. I simply try to prioritize what needs to be done right now. That would drive some people crazy, but trying to have a set constant schedule would be impossible for us. We also do not do every subject every day. I try to utilize our car time for audio listening, recitation and general discussion of what we have been learning. Because of our limited time, I’m always trying to find ways to teach outside the norm.
Have you tried keeping a log of how you spend your time each day? If it’s on paper you might see an area that you can adjust or simplify. For me, the computer eats away my time if I’m not careful . Many homeschoolers don’t have school 5 days per week, is that something you might consider? School work 4 days per week then one day for fun, cleaning, catch up etc. Or maybe make one of your school days a half day if you want school 5 days per week. The other half could again be for fun, catch up etc. Is there a subject that you can eliminate for now or do it on a part time basis? Lastly can your kids help around the house? Mine do, their level of clean and mine are certainly not the same, but it’s something we work on…slowly!
I work 4 days a week. My days off vary, so I plan a week at a time. Sometimes that means homeschooling on the weekends. My husband and I are off different days, so he helps with lessons on his days off. My 5 year old is learning to do basic chores and that helps me and is teaching her responsibility. When I feel overwhelmed, I just remind myself why we homeschool and that keeps me pushing thru.
Nothing makes me feel better than going through the house, organizing, and throwing out and donating a ton of stuff that we don’t really use anyways. It makes me feel less stressed and gets rid of clutter!
I’ve been doing this more and more lately. It helps that with the youngest getting older I can finally get rid of all the baby stuff I’ve been holding on to in order to pass down. The bags of stuff sitting on the porch waiting to be donated right now make me feel very good!
. Many homeschoolers don’t have school 5 days per week, is that something you might consider? School work 4 days per week then one day for fun, cleaning, catch up etc. Or maybe make one of your school days a half day if you want school 5 days per week. The other half could again be for fun, catch up etc. Is there a subject that you can eliminate for now or do it on a part time basis? Lastly can your kids help around the house? Mine do, their level of clean and mine are certainly not the same, but it’s something we work on…slowly!