“Just keep swimming, just keep swimming.” A classic line… if you have kids, you know this quote is from the epic movie Finding Nemo. I don’t know about you but this has become the official mantra for the past 12 months in our household. Between quarantining, homeschooling, running a business, keeping the house together, just keep swimming… that is all we can do. I used to say I was a mom, a wife, an entrepreneur. I’ve added a few more titles such as teacher, short order cook, housekeeper, and nurse. I know I am not alone in this. Being organized is more important than ever before for all of us. Finding a groove, setting a schedule, delegating to-do’s are all very important things you should do to help keep yourself and your family’s sanity. Here are a few changes we have made in our home to keep us swimming right along!

Create Designated Workspaces 

At the beginning of the shut down we were all over the place! Zoom calling from the kitchen table, the dining room, the couch… anywhere really! We spent some time in August defining work zones. Our kids selected items to put in the workspace on their own. They picked out their desk, chairs, and even organized their shelves and cubbies to make it work for them! By each of us having our own workspace, we are free from distracting each other and can really focus to be productive throughout the day! 

Set Realistic Schedules

This is incredibly important not only as a planner but also as a mother. Keeping our kids on a regular schedule with bedtimes and meal times really helps keep the sanity! The kids still need to have a “school schedule” even if they are not going to school in person these days. Also my husband and I set our own work schedules so that we can effectively do our jobs and work together to maintain the house and kids. This often means doing calls or Zoom meets with clients in the evenings or weekends.  The key we found is bringing back the paper calendars! We print out our daily schedules and tape them to the walls around our workspace. This is a visual cue that even the youngest can follow! Too much technology can overwhelm us all! 

Take a Break 

Sometimes we need a break and that is okay. Whether it is letting my kids have extra play breaks from the constant computer time with schooling or making the trek out to grab a pizza on a Friday night, you have to create some sort of “normalcy” to keep you going. For me taking a trip to the store to pickup my grocery order means often sitting in my car sipping coffee alone for a few…this is my mental break. Taking walks with my husband daily gives us some time to decompress from the kids, work, share stories or just chat about anything or nothing at all. 

When this pandemic is all over I am sure our lives will return to the daily grind of school drop off lines, missed flight connections for my husband, soccer and gymnastic meets at the same time, and wedding planning galore. While our hustle today looks more like survival, I know my kids are watching every move I make. I hope they look back on this time and see what a team we were….We were all in this together.