Effective Time Management and Strategic Planning Can Stop the Constant School Year Morning Stress!!

 

Do you find that you are a little stressed in the mornings trying to get yourself ready for work and the children ready for school?  Are you and your children arguing every morning?  Are you sending yourself and your children off into the day anxious, stressed or in a bad mood?  Do you have time for yourself to wake up and enjoy 10-15 minutes of quiet time?  Oh, and have you and the children had a healthy breakfast?

 

Most adults do not realize the impact it has on their children when they begin their own mornings stressed, rushed, anxious, grumpy.  If you are running around in the morning rushing to get yourself ready for work and the children ready for school, (dressed, personal hygiene, breakfast, school items together), your are not only adding stress to yourself but the children as well! 

 

Listed below are six steps that will help you establish a morning routine that will be more relaxing, enjoyable, and healthy for everyone.  Establishing an effective and strategic morning routine is time consuming at first but once you have it established, you only have to make minor adjustments each year.

 

STEP 1.          Create a blank time schedule with 15 minute increments for you and your children starting with the time each person wakes up until bedtime.  (On your schedule you can mark through or leave out the daytime hours that you are at work and the children are at school because that time does not affect the morning routine).  If you’re asking yourself “Why do I have to have a schedule for the evening?” Step 5 will explain.

 

STEP 2.          Make a list of every task that needs to be done by you and your children, starting with the time you wake up until the time the children are at school and the time you have arrived at work as well as any school related tasks performed in the evening. (Don’t forget your own individual morning tasks, time walking from one room to another, loading everyone in the vehicle, driving, and stoplights).

 

STEP 3.          Time yourself on every task for 3 days and write it down on a sheet of paper.  Do the same thing for each child, including the tasks that are done in the evening.

 

STEP 4.          Write down the actual times it takes you to do every task on your time sheet. This is the point where you may realize that you have not been allotting enough time in the mornings to do everything that needs to be done without rushing. (That has a negative affect on everyone and the day is just beginning!)

 

STEP 5.          Time to make adjustments!! There are many tasks that you and the children can do in the evenings that will have a positive affect on the morning routine.  You can pack lunches (refrigerate) and lay out clothes for the next morning.  Before children go to bed, have them place all books, homework, school supplies, and papers that needed signatures in the backpacks and sit them next to the door you use to exit in the mornings.  Plan a well-balanced weekly breakfast menu before you go to the grocery store to make sure you have everything needed to make the breakfasts (plan time in your morning routine schedule to prepare and eat breakfast).  Use a coffee maker that is programmable so you it can start brewing about 10 minutes before you are ready to sit down for your 10-15 minute quiet time. Finally, ask yourself, “Is there anything that can be done tonight so that it doesn’t have to be done in the morning?”

 

STEP 6.          Create the final routine schedule.  Two weeks before school begins, start the routine and follow it as much as possible so that everyone involved will know how it works and what is to be expected every morning and evening.  It will lead to an enjoyable, relaxing, and mentally healthy start to a new school year.

 

ª  TIP Make a list for each individual person because your task will be different than your children.  (A 15-year-old girl’s task will be different than a 10-year-old boy’s tasks.)

ª  TIP On the final schedule, you should have almost all of your tasks completed so that you can focus on the children.

ª  TIP Start this process a month before school begins. Use the first two weeks to create the list of tasks and make adjustments and use the second two weeks to practice the routine.

 

Comments

[Moschel Kadokura]

Establishing routines is a great way to provide structure that kids need during transition periods. What great advice! Routines help kids know what is expected of them.