By Amy Rehkemper, CPO
As soon as I heard schools were closing and the kids would be home indefinitely, the first thing my husband and I did was create a detailed, hour-by-hour schedule for our kids (ages 10 & 13) so they wouldn’t get the impression that this “time off” was some type of extended spring break party! Our knee-jerk reaction was a schedule that included what time to wake-up, what time to eat breakfast, lunch and dinner, and when to do chores, schoolwork, practice instruments and exercise. We put our masterpiece into a pretty chart, printed it out, and plastered multiple copies all throughout the house.
For a Type-A like myself, this was the best way to handle this new unknown situation that had just been dropped in our laps. Kids thrive with structure, right? We didn’t want chaos to ensue… so we needed to create order. However, after 20 years of running a company in which we’ve prided ourselves on customizing, personalizing and creating a client-lead organizational system, I should’ve known that demanding a strict schedule be followed was the absolute wrong approach.
Our oldest is a straight-A student, but he’s also a musician and so he dances to the beat of his own drum. He likes structure, but it’s got to be HIS structure. He wants to compose his own day and decide the daily rhythm and tempo. So, after some head-butting that turned into compromising, we landed on the realization that the best daily structure for him was a CHECKLIST. We said, okay… here’s everything we expect you to accomplish today, but you can decide the order and pace. He loved this. He enjoyed checking things off and appreciated being handed the baton to conduct his own day.
Our youngest is a highly capable student too, but she’s a total free spirit, a dreamer, and wants to be a writer when she grows up. She’s happiest with a complete lack of structure, but we’ve found through the years that she actually thrives when at least a loose framework exists around her day. We realized for her, the best schedule was one in which she could add her own setting, characters and plot! So, she got a CATEGORICAL GUIDE for to act as a “story starter” for her daily schedule.
She had blocks of time dedicated to do something…
… for the soul
… for the brain
… for the body
… for the creative spirit
… for the house/family
… for nature
This provided her a more flexible structure and gave her the creative license to shape into it her ideas and mood, and the ability to write her own storyline.
So, if you are like me and “geek-out” on a color-coded, multi-faceted and minute-by-minute schedule…. great! Make yourself a detailed, colorful masterpiece. You will feel comforted by the increased clarity, structure, and heightened productivity. However, if you feel strangled and confined by a rigid schedule… that’s not any less organized, and that’s not wrong. There’s not one “right way” for everyone to schedule their day.
After 20 years in the organizing industry, I’ve learned that imposing “my way” on people is never helpful. A professional organizer must study each client’s unique needs and goals, ask lots of questions, strive to understand their learning style, passions, habits, and personality, and only then can we customize the “perfect” organizational plan/schedule for that individual.
Now go celebrate YOU and design a routine that brings out your best self!
What “quarantine” schedule works best for you? What homeschooling schedule have you found works best for your children? What work-from-home schedule works best for you, or your spouse?
Remember, customizing routines takes time and requires some trial and error. You must have a few failed attempts before landing on the most functional tool for your situation. Once you discover what works, you will thrive!
Please consider sharing your unique schedule type with us! Visit our FB page to comment further. If you haven’t landed on the right schedule and need help designing a daily routine that’s customized to you, contact Amy to sign-up for a free 20-minute phone session and we will gladly help you get started!