Your Agile Home

This new season of my life is absolutely wonderful. We moved from a beautiful rural house into the city which means we're closer to the kids' school and so much more.

A new season does also mean we have to set up our lifestyle again. When you're going through a season change, remember we are looking for progress over perfection and functional over pretty. You can pretty it up later, but you have to begin with it being exactly what you want. 

Think of something that is not currently working in your household and map out a better way to handle it. When we pursue progress, we feel like we are making progress and doing a good enough job.

 

Tell me how it goes on Instagram or in the Facebook Group!

It can feel rough and like you're the only person who doesn't even have the time to set up the systems. When we talk about setting up these routines & systems, I mean it's only going to take 5 minutes a day, with a 10-minute meeting once a week and a 20-minute meeting every two weeks. You already have these time increments.

I go over all of this in my course.

You start out with knowing your family's values, setting your family's mission statement and tracking your time.

Track your time in 30-minute increments for the next 3 days. Use this spreadsheet to track.  (It's view only, so make a copy!)This step allows you to see where your time is going and where it can be used differently.

 

Tell me how it goes on Instagram or in the Facebook Group!

To-do lists can feel pretty dreadful. No matter how much we do, there's always something to add to the list. Well, duh! You're alive.

This is why we started living the Agile life. You have very specific goals that you want to reach in a specific time period. 

I post my to-do list pretty frequently on Instagram so that you can see how I stay on top of it. 

The secret to your Honey Do List is to sit down with your partner and discuss each task. Decide if your partner will do it, if you will outsource it, or if you will be figuring out how to do it.

Set clear goals and prioritize the items related to those goals. Your lists will be completed faster! 

This episode is brought to you by Is Your Family Agile? Quiz. Take it here! Join the free FB group, Your Agile Home.

Asking for help is an art form. It is not easy because we're used to doing it all on our own and it is very difficult to break those habits.

Even people who have no problem asking for help in most ways, there are still some areas of help that it is difficult. We often feel like if we ask for help, we owe something in return. 

Today, I want you to ask someone to do something for you. Relieve yourself of the guilt. Acknowledge what is going on inside of you. That is vitally important for you to move past it. 

Tell me how it goes on Instagram or in the Facebook Group!

We’re jumping back into the school year. Are you prepared? Or is your house utter chaos when it comes to getting ready for school, bedtime and – did you even sign that permission slip that was sent home last week?

Listen to today’s episode to hear about how I use a visual schedule to keep our morning and nighttime routines consistent enough that I can have hot coffee every morning. Say goodbye to micromanaging!

Don’t forget to check out my free FB Group and read a great conversation with Melissa from Rolling Prarie Readers about keeping your kids’ brains active!

We all have to teach our children life skills each and every day and I think one of the best ways to do that is during a 2-week sprint. 

Whether you're trying to teach your children any of these necessary skills like money management (did you miss that episode? check it out here), house cleaning, laundry, cooking a meal, or going grocery shopping, listen to today's episode to learn how to break down potentially overwhelming life skills and how to utilize 2-week sprints to make the teaching and learning easier.   

Let's talk about Mommy Martyrdom. You know, those moments in the day where you're saying "ugh, nobody does anything to help me around here!" or "ugh, I have to do everything myself!"    But what I've found is that when I'm in that headspace, people stopped wanting to help me because all I was doing was huffing and puffing and complaining.   But then the voices in our heads start saying "you're not doing this thing because you don't want to help me" or "you're not doing this thing because you don't love me or appreciate the things I do"   

Let's take a minute, step back, and think about this though... 

  Listen to the episode to hear about ways to combat this Mommy Martyrdom Syndrome.

Allowances are a hot button topic for all parents, I know. Should you give an allowance at all? Should you give an allowance for chores? What sorts of things should you be incentivizing? 

In our home, we believe that in order to teach money management, our children will need to have access to money. 

Listen to the episode to hear how we handle the issue of allowance and get some ideas about how you can start teaching your children about money too. 

Mentioned on the episode: FamZoo.com

We've talked before on this podcast about how self-care is NOT the answer (missed that episode? you can check it out here!). Self-care will NOT solve your problems, but self-care IS an important part of your life. 

  So how can you practice self-care? Be prepared ahead of time.    Personally, I create self-care baskets. Whether I'm putting my bath bombs, facials, and bubble bath in a basket, or putting a crossword book (with a pen!) and my yarn in another basket, everything I need to practice self-care is in one place and easy to grab. I cannot tell you how much time I've wasted in the past trying to find a pen so I could do my crossword puzzle - now I have a system in place to solve that problem!    Self-care doesn't have to be a big production. If you spend a little time in advance, you can have everything you need right at your fingertips to practice whatever self-care means to you.      Be sure to join the FREE Facebook group and share your favorite way to practice self-care.   And don't forget to take the quiz to determine if your family is Agile.   

I cannot be the only parent who struggles with keeping up with antibiotic doses. #thestruggleisreal 

And how many times are the kids going to ask "how many days until we go to the beach????" 

Whether you're helping your kids conceptualize a timeline or you're keeping track of something you need to follow a schedule for, listen to today's episode and get tips and ideas to make tracking smaller events easier.