I work a normal 9-5 style job from home since the pandemic. I arranged to take an hour lunch with my work and an hour break at 2pm and those 2 kinda random hours are when my kids and I do our homeschool. The hour between those 2 hrs while I work is the kids "quiet time", the Littles take their nap and the oldest quietly works on his workbook. I then answer questions with the oldest at 2pm and continue their normal curriculum after questions are answered and the Littles are awake. However, by taking this extra time, to make sure I get in my full 8hrs I added one hr to the end of my work day and I clock in 30 mins early in the morning. I'm a single mom, working from home and homeschooling. If it's important enough to you, you will figure out how to make it work. I'm very lucky to have a lenient boss who's happy to change shift schedules based on what the employee needs, so this is what has been working for us for the last 3 yrs. I've also taught (trained) my kids on what to do when they need something from me while I'm working, since I'm the only adult in the house. If it's an emergency they come up to my door and say, "Mom, it's an emergency," for an immediate response, otherwise they say, "Mom" to let me know they're at the door then wait quietly for me to finish my phone call. We set up many systems, routines and reasonable expectations to make everything work.
Thank you so much for sharing. I have been a SAHM for 10 years now, homeschooling 4, but need/want to start working from home although I am not a single mom. Your experience and how you do it has been very helpful.
Awesome, would you mind making an updated video on your homeschool schedule in depth, including curriculum, the challenges, the schedule, and how you manage to teach the older girls with the younger boys running around? I wish I could see how balance this!
Summary: 5:30am: Wake. Work. 6am: Little kids up! Breakfast. Check email. 9am: More kids up! Deep homeschooling. 12pm: Lunch. 1pm: Lighter homeschooling. Piano practice. Mindless work. Cleaning. Play! 5pm: Dinner. 6pm: Get ready for bed. 7pm: Little kids asleep. Reading to big kids. 9pm: Big kids asleep. Work. 11pm: Bed time!
Great insights. I homeschooled my 2 sons while working full time as a nurse. I worked 12 hour night shifts, 8 hour evenings or home health visits during the day. We made it work and they did well. A couple thoughts. This season in life does not last forever. Enjoy it, cherish it and be ready to move along. Another thing is be flexible and open with some of your routines, meaning prioritization. And yes, you will need to make sacrifices. Remember that homeschooling is not replicating school “house” schooling. It’s more 1:1 as Jennifer said, less time is spent waiting for everyone to get tasks completed. One more thing, no regrets. Be thoughtful as to your priorities, be decisive and implement. Take care.
This is very similar to my schedule- I also work from home and homeschool. I find that the sacrifices that I've made (T.V. for example) have my made my life overall more peaceful.
One must not have any illusions about really taking care of a family. It gets the main part of our time. In order to do a good job, we have to give up on saying "what about me" all the time. But - at least in my opinion - it is the best project we could possibly have for life.
Thank you, Jennifer. This is my first time posting. I've been working from home for the last 8 years. Four years ago, we adopted 5 kids (all siblings) from Costa Rica, and our house went from calm and quiet to chaotic and crazy. God has really done amazing things in the last four years, however, and now that we have done the hard work, we are reaping the rewards when life threw another curve ball (all five kids home at least until April 24). However, as I try to balance work (I have several clients that I do editing, writing, and social media promotion for) with having five home and now homeschooling (something we originally thought we would do, and then opted not to, instead putting them all in private schools), I feel like I'm back at square one, trying to find our new normal, develop a new schedule that works for everyone, and give some kind of routine back to the kids (and me) for our sanity. This has been the first week of school (three grades so far, the other two who are in a different school start back on Friday), and on Monday I was pulling my hair out, yesterday was better, today has been chaotic. I'm giving us all grace, but I'm also stressed as I see work deadlines coming up and wondering how I can get it all done. And then I saw your video...for which I am so grateful. Thank you for being transparent, thank you for sharing what works for you, and thanks for giving us some sanity in this insane world. Blessings!
Wow...I'm a homeschooling wahm of 4 kids too and my schedule is almost exactly the same as yours! My husband works from home too and I find it pretty cool how much our lives have in common... I feel so normal now. :) We've been homeschooling since before the pandemic and I've always been a home- body (hello fellow introverts!) So I've been curious how everyone else is doing during the pandemic....our lives haven't changed very much at all apart from missing the library...
Yes, this is an issue especially now with quarantine. I am working from home for now and the teachers in our district are having the kids distance learn according to the same school day, not a self-paced program... it is very hard to do!!
11 to 5 is only 6 hours of sleep - that is not a possibility for most people, who might need 7 or 8. If I were to get up at 5, I would need to be in bed by 9:30. You are lucky to be able to get by on not much sleep.
Some mornings if I am tired I sleep later, but yes, I can function on 6 hours. It's only like this while the kids are little. As they sleep in I'll get more sleep too.
Who would have thought that your advice on this subject would be so widely needed all of a sudden. I hope more people find your channel and are encouraged by it during this time.
YAAAAAAAAY!!!!! You finally tackled this question for us homemakers and homeschoolers-BUT I am an portrait artist as well. I was always interested in how you balanced the work end. I’ve been homeschooling for five years (my oldest is 10) but I find it hard to fit “work time” (art) in. Agreed. You really cannot have everything, something will have to give. YES!! That moment from the Masterclass commercial with Joyce burns in my brain! This is really perfect for right now. Thank you soooooooooo much for this insight! 😃👏🏻❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️ I also didn’t realize you two little boys. You have four kiddos?
Wow - you do everything you do on 5.5 hours of sleep! You are truly amazing. Unfortunately I can't go with that little sleep for long - I always end up sick. I pray that I will find a way to squeeze everything in in fewer hours. And a simple question: how and when do you clean with children around? Do you send them outside, do it when they nap, something else?
Some of that works,but doing any focused computer work while kids are awake is generally impossible - they sense that I'm distracted and use that time to get all their mischief done 😊 I'm wondering if Jennifer gets any computer work done during the day (and how), or is it strictly early morning/late night?
Jennifer, I just loved the way you presented this. You are taking charge of your schedule and making priorities about what is most important to you. I need this reminder today. Although my 11 year old son is schooling online, he still needs me to supervise him. I need to be more present with him. As always, thank you for you videos. They are such a breath of fresh hair from some of the other things on TH-cam.
I LOVE your videos Jennifer and I hope you continue to make them! They are always my favorite place to come to for some chic and classy content, and peaceful topics and music to enjoy. Thank you for all you do!💗💗
B-a-l-a-n-c-e is the key! Consider waking girls up earlier and keeping boys up later to unite your wake & sleep times; you’ll have even more hours. About this blouse...gorgeous!!! Can’t wait for your spring wardrobe video. 🌷
Thank you for the title saying “this is what I do” not “the perfect”, “best” routine... everyone is different and while we need inspiration from each other doing what’s best for you and your family is going to be so unique for each family/person and those “best” titles a lot people post drives me bonkers!
Thank you for this video! I am struggling to commit to homeschooling. I've always wanted to, but now I truly may have the option to work from home permanently (thanks to corona so this pandemic has not been all bad for us), but I've found when I keep my daughter home from preschool, she needs my attention constantly. I think you're 100% right, in order to make it work we have to work around it. A lot of my work can be done when my daughter is asleep or otherwise occupied & I can quickly address any issues during work hours as needed.
I am glad TH-cam suggesting your video. I am new to homeschooling this year and devote my time during the day for homeschooling and focus on my kids. Learning online marketing and business at night and in the morning. Lack of sleep, give up things, and make choices for priorities are daily battles. I finally make peace with it. And hearing this from you is very comforting. I am not alone and on the right track. Thank you for sharing.
We are peas in a pod and live such similar lives. Our days are pretty much the same! I also do all my creative work, writing and TH-cam once they are in bed. I know this will be such an encouragement to other moms. xoxo
I love this clear breakdown. I'm considering homeschooling when I work from home, but currently my biggest obstacles are a) not being able to spend one on one time with my husband if I'm just going back to work in the evenings, and b) having an only child who sees me as their primary playmate, I tend to get tired and a little burnt out easily.
Thank you so much for posting this Jennifer. I work from home and am now homeschooling. I have found the past week to be such a struggle trying to fit it all in.
Thank you for the tips. My daughter (senior in highschool) already schools at home, but now recently my 6th grade son is schooling at home because our private school has closed. We are enjoying the change :) I appreciate the content of the video and it gives me inspiration on being disciplined in my personal life.
Good morning, Jennifer. I just mentioned your video on my instagram and thought I would come and comment in here. I watched this when it first came out but I think I felt defeated at the initial watch and was too overwhelmed with my own insecurities and bad habit of comparison and that I needed to come back another time. I apologise for that. So I am back today....8 months later. Haha! I keep thinking of Andrea Mills (oh how I miss her) and how she used to share how she did things. I need to remind myself that God made me to be the mother of my children and I CAN do this....but I am still overwhelmed. I'll get there I'm sure. Anyhow, thank you for your encouraging video. I look forward to more videos. I appreciate you
Bless you! I so needed this video. I am a History teacher, have three children (eight, five and one) and as I am considered a vital profession by the Dutch government my work needs to continue while my husband works from home as well since the crisis. Though the curriculem for the eight year is provided, I need to figure out activities for the five year and keep the one year old busy while doing the househols, getting groceries without the children. Afin, it takes a lot more energy. I am not a Catholic, but yesterday I prayed with the pope and it helped to find peace in the chaos, but sometimes it is all a bit too much at once.
Thank you for being honest about this. Many online entrepreneurs don’t tell the whole truth. I also have an website, membership, am a writer/content creator, and I beat myself up for a long time about not doing it all while my kids napped. I also have 6 kids who suddenly have to be homeschooled. The oldest 4 are 13 and 12 and mostly do it themselves, but the younger two have to be helped one on one the whole time, plus 2 hours of OT for one of them. They’ve always been early risers (all up by 6) and now that we’ve arrived in teenage years, 7 is not longer the magic hour when everyone goes to bed. It is always noisy, I’m always being interrupted, and I’m having a hard time focusing. We are coming up with a new normal routine. Always enjoy your videos and books. Thanks!
I admire your discipline Jennifer, thank you for sharing. Although I don’t think I’ll use your exact schedule, this has motivated me to rethink my daily schedule in the midst of both my partner and I working from home all of a sudden, with a two year old to take care of. I think the key message is to do what works for your family and situation, rather than what is typically done or what your feel should be done.
Jennifer, I appreciate your real look at your life and your schedule. I have been struggling because I have to teach live online 3-4 hours each day and am now homeschooling my kindergartener and I have a 2-year-old. I have been trying to do a block schedule where I spend time with my girls in the morning for about two hours from 6-8:30am. During that time I am also getting in one of my kindergartener's lessons. Then I teach and then I come back to them and we play or do a craft and then I feed them lunch at 11. I play with them again for a little bit or read to them and finish up my daughter's school work. I bounce back into teaching while the girls play but I am trying to carve out 30minutes to myself each afternoon because I am finding that I need to have a mini-break before my afternoon teaching starts or I am burned out. I am trying to be more present when I am in a block of time with my own children instead of always multi-tasking. This journey we are all on isn't easy. I am a teacher and I struggle to teach my own daughter. We are all adapting to this "new normal". I am one month in and finally feeling better about the balance. I do not know how you can keep up this pace long term but I commend you for it! Thank you for spending so much time on your creative content for us! I enjoy taking my afternoon break with you. Have a blessed day!
Thanks for sharing, 4.30am-7am seems the better way here as well, but it doesn't always work, if kids get up at night I feel tired to get up early. You are doing so well! thank you for sharing
@@AA-hr6nj my daughter is naturally motivated (yah, me). My 10 yr old son will only do work if his teacher at school looks at it and gives him credit for it. He is motivated by threats of having to repeat 4 the grade and not move up to fifth. This is what works in my home currentlym
I love your focus on either work time or mothering. What about investing in your marriage? I love that you and your husband don’t watch TV (me neither) but where is the time on your latest schedule for him/you together? I’ve homeschooled for 13 years and I was often giving my leftover energy to my husband. Now that my girls are independent high schoolers it shifts again - always a new season.Blessings to you.
Thank you Jennifer, this is all very new to us but once we all figured it out I'm sure the ladies will do great! 👩🏫👩⚖👩🎨👩🌾🤱👨👩👧👦 We got this ladies!
Hair and makeup looking great Jennifer. This doesn't apply to me since no littles at home but its still useful about the need to have a schedule. I think its going to be tricky for the parents who have a strict schedule for work they still have to clock in at 9 until 5pm and they can't make their own hours. I know my work hours are the same at home as they are in the office. 💕
Yes, the easy thing about mine is that I can choose when I want to work. If parents have to work at a set time, they will need to schedule school around that.
We often school in the evening. Because homeschooling is more "efficient" as Jennifer says, we're able to do homeschool in about 3 hours after the traditional work day has ended. My kids are a bit older so they go to bed a bit later also.
Thank you so much for sharing. When do you sleep!? Your schedule sounds very organized and routine (which I love!) but I could not survive on 6 hrs of sleep! I need about 8.5 hrs to feel good. I am asleep by 10-10:30... And awake around 6:30. This experience is all new to us. I usually work outside the home and my children are at school and daycare. I am now working from home with my 2 kids around. We are trying our best and just trying to make the best of the situation. Not to mentio trying to stay positive!
I heard someone say long ago to arrange your schedule with your personal energy waves. It seems you already do this. Hearing that was such a game changer for me. I felt like it was permission to be me and rest at 1:00 when I usually get tired. By the way, homeschooling gets easier when they get older. Hang in there moms.
Hello Jennifer, I appreciate so much the time and effort you put into this channel. Especially under the circumstances we are in as we self quarantine. I have been following you for a few months and my mental health has greatly benefited from the content that you put out each week. Your self sacrifice and perseverance truly impact so many people outside of your home. I am sharing a lot of your videos to my circle of mom friends these days. ❤️ Again, thank you so much!
Hi, Jennifer: A few questions: Are you working on a new book? Does Ben work entirely from home/help with schooling the children? (You said "WE homeschool....") Thanks!
Man, I loved homeschooling. I enjoyed the few years I went to a private school because I could do choir, band, etc. But I was so ready to go back to homeschool and have all the FREE TIME!!
Jennifer, can you make a video about how your summer days go? I'm assuming your homeschooling has ended for the year. Looking for tips on how to avoid a screen binged summer for my kids while I work from home
Does your huband work at home also and contribute to the homeschooling and parenting? I can hardly imagine with such young children you can still homeschool, run a business and keep your house pristine. Kuddos to you, what an inspiration. An advice from another speaker years ago allude her success, much like yours, to having a partner that works together with you to make this work. It is very difficult to do it alone. For the majority of us who used to work outside of the house, it is nearly impossible if our employer would not be flexible and accomodating.
Thanks! Lots of good advice. :) I need more sleep than you do, more like 8 hours, but I can relate to finding your priorities and working around them. It can be hard to decide you don't have time for certain things, but if it's worth it!
When do you usually workout, if you do? I am ok with giving up personal time but I can’t imagine fitting all of my work, grocery shopping and working out within the morning and evening times.
I work from home and homeschool. I've come up with a similar system but structure it around my lunch time and keeping them close to me as I work. I'm a full-time employee so my hours are not my own during the day. How do you keep electronics from baby-sitting the kids? What do you do about not going anywhere during the day - like field trips, etc. These are the two areas I *really* struggle with.
Hi Jennifer. I loved hearing about your schedule and how you make everything work. My question is, do you feel like you're getting enough sleep and do you "catch up" on the weekend? If you work until 11 p.m. and get up at 5 a.m., you're getting less than 6 hours of sleep. If I do that too many days in a row, I'm a zombie!
Thank you for sharing! I enjoy hearing how you make it work. I need more sleep than you, or perhaps it is that I am up so much during the night, and probably sleep less than 6 hours. I go to bed usually about 11pm, and get up about 7am when my kids wake up. But I am still up at least 3-4 times because of children, and I need every minute I can get. I would love to hear how you make your videos. It seems like they are usually during the day? Is someone else watching the kiddos during this time? Does Ben work from home. too?
Thank you for sharing your schedule, Jennifer! Question, does your family ever watch good quality families movies? If so, when would you fit that in? Thanks 😊💕
I record TH-cam videos and because of the fact that exactly what you said interruptions I have fallen off in term of creating content and recording videos during the day. At night I am not in a upbeat mood to show up on camera. How were you able to even record this video, what were the kids occupied with?
Jennifer, you mentioned bathing your kids before bed and I was wondering if you do this every evening. When I was raising my boys years ago I didn’t bathe them every night unless they were really dirty. They got a tub bath a couple times a week and a quick sponge bath for face, hands and bottoms the rest of the time. Seems we are a bit obsessed with bathing now. This schedule goes for myself too. Donna Lewis
Michael Lewis we also usually only bathe them before church and if they are really dirty. These days with Covid I’ve been bathing them a bit more- if we come home from anywhere like the store (which is really not happening). My husband still works outside and showers as soon as he gets home so I am bathing the kids just in case he is bringing any germs home.
This is great! however, I am not sure how and when you listen to podcasts or read if you finish work at 11, and start at 5 am? Also, don't you get less sleeep? It seems like you only sleep a max of 6 hours, which seems really little.
Thank you for sharing, Jennifer. Glad you are honest about what it takes! When do you film your videos then? Just curious- as I know lighting is an issue. Do you have good lighting so you can film while it’s still dark outside? Also been wondering where your kids are when you film your lovely afternoon homemaking series! ❤️
Thank you for such an inspiring video, Jennifer. I love how you emphasized that your life is very disciplined and that you still read and listen to audiobooks.
Thank you so much for this timely video. Really helpful. It shows that with hard work, this is possible. Can you please help with a question? How do you do homeschooling with 4 kids at different developmental stage? I have a 3.5 and a 15 month old, they can play with each other, but not for teaching moments. It’s a constant array of mutual interruptions. I can’t even read a book to both of them together. How do you manage this conflict? Thanks and stay safe
And thank you for mentioning that it is frustrating when your little guys get up early! It is easy for me to assume that no one else has child-sleep issues, and can get all this stuff done while they're sleeping. I know that's not true. My 5yo is my best sleeper. The 7yo is usually up once a night, same with the 3yo. I lose track with my 1yo. She is awake 1-2 times before I even go to bed, and I don't know how many times during the night. Zzzzz
Mine were like that, too. I stopped trying to do anything except care for them. It worked for me. Years later they sleep longer and I do have free time from 9:30pm to 7:30 am.
Thank you for sharing! Do you have the same schedule for weekends or are weekends free? I tried a similar schedule for a while but I’m usually just too tired by 9 pm to do anything but clean the kitchen or something... any tips on that? (How to have enough energy to do thinking work after a long day?)
Tha k you a lot for the tips! You don't get very tired at the end of the night to be able to focus? Wouldn't be better for you to wake up earlier instead? Just thinking because I will defenetly be super tired at the end of the day
There is a program on Netflix called Explained. They've an episode called Athleisure. It covers the history of clothing and makes comment on where we are now. Have you seen it? I'd love to know what you think if you have!
But you just sleep 6 hours? To me that is not enough...and imagine, in Portugal working outside in a full time is 8 hours, add the time you take on the way to work and from work to home. It's really different lifestyle. With luck we have dinner at 20h00/20h30... It's really tiring I think. Keep on the good work 😊
Some mornings if I am tired I sleep later, but yes, I can function on 6 hours. It's only like this while the kids are little. As they sleep in I'll get more sleep too.
I work a normal 9-5 style job from home since the pandemic. I arranged to take an hour lunch with my work and an hour break at 2pm and those 2 kinda random hours are when my kids and I do our homeschool. The hour between those 2 hrs while I work is the kids "quiet time", the Littles take their nap and the oldest quietly works on his workbook. I then answer questions with the oldest at 2pm and continue their normal curriculum after questions are answered and the Littles are awake. However, by taking this extra time, to make sure I get in my full 8hrs I added one hr to the end of my work day and I clock in 30 mins early in the morning. I'm a single mom, working from home and homeschooling. If it's important enough to you, you will figure out how to make it work. I'm very lucky to have a lenient boss who's happy to change shift schedules based on what the employee needs, so this is what has been working for us for the last 3 yrs. I've also taught (trained) my kids on what to do when they need something from me while I'm working, since I'm the only adult in the house. If it's an emergency they come up to my door and say, "Mom, it's an emergency," for an immediate response, otherwise they say, "Mom" to let me know they're at the door then wait quietly for me to finish my phone call. We set up many systems, routines and reasonable expectations to make everything work.
I need more of your advice in my life. This is how I'm set up now and I'm terrified I won't make it!
Thank you so much for sharing. I have been a SAHM for 10 years now, homeschooling 4, but need/want to start working from home although I am not a single mom. Your experience and how you do it has been very helpful.
Thank you ❤
Awesome, would you mind making an updated video on your homeschool schedule in depth, including curriculum, the challenges, the schedule, and how you manage to teach the older girls with the younger boys running around? I wish I could see how balance this!
Summary:
5:30am: Wake. Work.
6am: Little kids up! Breakfast. Check email.
9am: More kids up! Deep homeschooling.
12pm: Lunch.
1pm: Lighter homeschooling. Piano practice. Mindless work. Cleaning. Play!
5pm: Dinner.
6pm: Get ready for bed.
7pm: Little kids asleep. Reading to big kids.
9pm: Big kids asleep. Work.
11pm: Bed time!
Almost! I do deep work after 9pm... the mindless is during the day. Also, I typically wake up at 5:30. Only 5am when I am really motivated :)
the Daily Connoisseur fixed!!
Do you work out?
Great insights. I homeschooled my 2 sons while working full time as a nurse. I worked 12 hour night shifts, 8 hour evenings or home health visits during the day. We made it work and they did well. A couple thoughts. This season in life does not last forever. Enjoy it, cherish it and be ready to move along. Another thing is be flexible and open with some of your routines, meaning prioritization. And yes, you will need to make sacrifices. Remember that homeschooling is not replicating school “house” schooling. It’s more 1:1 as Jennifer said, less time is spent waiting for everyone to get tasks completed. One more thing, no regrets. Be thoughtful as to your priorities, be decisive and implement. Take care.
Wow!just wow! During that time did you have any help?other homeschooling parents?
Read all your books and a work from home, homeschooling mom of 3. You just described my exact schedule ◡̈
This is very similar to my schedule- I also work from home and homeschool. I find that the sacrifices that I've made (T.V. for example) have my made my life overall more peaceful.
One must not have any illusions about really taking care of a family. It gets the main part of our time. In order to do a good job, we have to give up on saying "what about me" all the time. But - at least in my opinion - it is the best project we could possibly have for life.
I need to take a nap after listening to your schedule. Impressed!
Thank you, Jennifer. This is my first time posting. I've been working from home for the last 8 years. Four years ago, we adopted 5 kids (all siblings) from Costa Rica, and our house went from calm and quiet to chaotic and crazy. God has really done amazing things in the last four years, however, and now that we have done the hard work, we are reaping the rewards when life threw another curve ball (all five kids home at least until April 24). However, as I try to balance work (I have several clients that I do editing, writing, and social media promotion for) with having five home and now homeschooling (something we originally thought we would do, and then opted not to, instead putting them all in private schools), I feel like I'm back at square one, trying to find our new normal, develop a new schedule that works for everyone, and give some kind of routine back to the kids (and me) for our sanity. This has been the first week of school (three grades so far, the other two who are in a different school start back on Friday), and on Monday I was pulling my hair out, yesterday was better, today has been chaotic. I'm giving us all grace, but I'm also stressed as I see work deadlines coming up and wondering how I can get it all done. And then I saw your video...for which I am so grateful. Thank you for being transparent, thank you for sharing what works for you, and thanks for giving us some sanity in this insane world. Blessings!
You have a lot going on... you can do it!
Wow...I'm a homeschooling wahm of 4 kids too and my schedule is almost exactly the same as yours! My husband works from home too and I find it pretty cool how much our lives have in common... I feel so normal now. :) We've been homeschooling since before the pandemic and I've always been a home- body (hello fellow introverts!) So I've been curious how everyone else is doing during the pandemic....our lives haven't changed very much at all apart from missing the library...
Yes, this is an issue especially now with quarantine. I am working from home for now and the teachers in our district are having the kids distance learn according to the same school day, not a self-paced program... it is very hard to do!!
11 to 5 is only 6 hours of sleep - that is not a possibility for most people, who might need 7 or 8. If I were to get up at 5, I would need to be in bed by 9:30. You are lucky to be able to get by on not much sleep.
She forewarned a lot of people wouldn't like what she said..plus her body is probably use to it. I couldn't do it ether. :)
Some mornings if I am tired I sleep later, but yes, I can function on 6 hours. It's only like this while the kids are little. As they sleep in I'll get more sleep too.
I was thinking the same thing, too. I get physically ill if I don’t get at least 7 hours of sleep. But I am very inspired nonetheless! 💜
Same here. I can't function well if I get only six hours or sleep for a long period of time. I will either lose temper easily or binge eat.
Finding a schedule that works for your personal lifestyle is the key. I could not say enough about finding a schedule that works for you.🌺x
Who would have thought that your advice on this subject would be so widely needed all of a sudden. I hope more people find your channel and are encouraged by it during this time.
Yup! I need to get up earlier. Thanks for the push
YAAAAAAAAY!!!!! You finally tackled this question for us homemakers and homeschoolers-BUT I am an portrait artist as well. I was always interested in how you balanced the work end. I’ve been homeschooling for five years (my oldest is 10) but I find it hard to fit “work time” (art) in. Agreed. You really cannot have everything, something will have to give. YES!! That moment from the Masterclass commercial with Joyce burns in my brain! This is really perfect for right now. Thank you soooooooooo much for this insight! 😃👏🏻❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️ I also didn’t realize you two little boys. You have four kiddos?
Wow - you do everything you do on 5.5 hours of sleep! You are truly amazing. Unfortunately I can't go with that little sleep for long - I always end up sick. I pray that I will find a way to squeeze everything in in fewer hours. And a simple question: how and when do you clean with children around? Do you send them outside, do it when they nap, something else?
Depending on their age you can involve them in cleaning. My 3.5 year old likes cleaning sometimes. Or, just clean & let them play.
Some of that works,but doing any focused computer work while kids are awake is generally impossible - they sense that I'm distracted and use that time to get all their mischief done 😊 I'm wondering if Jennifer gets any computer work done during the day (and how), or is it strictly early morning/late night?
Jennifer, I just loved the way you presented this. You are taking charge of your schedule and making priorities about what is most important to you. I need this reminder today. Although my 11 year old son is schooling online, he still needs me to supervise him. I need to be more present with him. As always, thank you for you videos. They are such a breath of fresh hair from some of the other things on TH-cam.
I LOVE your videos Jennifer and I hope you continue to make them! They are always my favorite place to come to for some chic and classy content, and peaceful topics and music to enjoy. Thank you for all you do!💗💗
B-a-l-a-n-c-e is the key! Consider waking girls up earlier and keeping boys up later to unite your wake & sleep times; you’ll have even more hours. About this blouse...gorgeous!!! Can’t wait for your spring wardrobe video. 🌷
Thank you for the title saying “this is what I do” not “the perfect”, “best” routine... everyone is different and while we need inspiration from each other doing what’s best for you and your family is going to be so unique for each family/person and those “best” titles a lot people post drives me bonkers!
Yes! I actually don't think my routine is right for many (most) people... but I just wanted to honestly share what I do.
Thank you for this video! I am struggling to commit to homeschooling. I've always wanted to, but now I truly may have the option to work from home permanently (thanks to corona so this pandemic has not been all bad for us), but I've found when I keep my daughter home from preschool, she needs my attention constantly. I think you're 100% right, in order to make it work we have to work around it. A lot of my work can be done when my daughter is asleep or otherwise occupied & I can quickly address any issues during work hours as needed.
I am glad TH-cam suggesting your video. I am new to homeschooling this year and devote my time during the day for homeschooling and focus on my kids. Learning online marketing and business at night and in the morning. Lack of sleep, give up things, and make choices for priorities are daily battles. I finally make peace with it. And hearing this from you is very comforting. I am not alone and on the right track. Thank you for sharing.
We are peas in a pod and live such similar lives. Our days are pretty much the same! I also do all my creative work, writing and TH-cam once they are in bed. I know this will be such an encouragement to other moms. xoxo
I love this clear breakdown. I'm considering homeschooling when I work from home, but currently my biggest obstacles are a) not being able to spend one on one time with my husband if I'm just going back to work in the evenings, and b) having an only child who sees me as their primary playmate, I tend to get tired and a little burnt out easily.
Thank you so much for posting this Jennifer. I work from home and am now homeschooling. I have found the past week to be such a struggle trying to fit it all in.
Thank you, Jennifer. This is a timely message for moms and dads trying to figure out how to make things work.
Thank you for the tips. My daughter (senior in highschool) already schools at home, but now recently my 6th grade son is schooling at home because our private school has closed. We are enjoying the change :) I appreciate the content of the video and it gives me inspiration on being disciplined in my personal life.
Good morning, Jennifer. I just mentioned your video on my instagram and thought I would come and comment in here. I watched this when it first came out but I think I felt defeated at the initial watch and was too overwhelmed with my own insecurities and bad habit of comparison and that I needed to come back another time. I apologise for that.
So I am back today....8 months later. Haha!
I keep thinking of Andrea Mills (oh how I miss her) and how she used to share how she did things. I need to remind myself that God made me to be the mother of my children and I CAN do this....but I am still overwhelmed. I'll get there I'm sure. Anyhow, thank you for your encouraging video. I look forward to more videos. I appreciate you
Thank you so much! When do you or how do you schedule cleaning, deep cleaning, and things like reading?
Bless you! I so needed this video. I am a History teacher, have three children (eight, five and one) and as I am considered a vital profession by the Dutch government my work needs to continue while my husband works from home as well since the crisis. Though the curriculem for the eight year is provided, I need to figure out activities for the five year and keep the one year old busy while doing the househols, getting groceries without the children. Afin, it takes a lot more energy. I am not a Catholic, but yesterday I prayed with the pope and it helped to find peace in the chaos, but sometimes it is all a bit too much at once.
Thank you for being honest about this. Many online entrepreneurs don’t tell the whole truth. I also have an website, membership, am a writer/content creator, and I beat myself up for a long time about not doing it all while my kids napped. I also have 6 kids who suddenly have to be homeschooled. The oldest 4 are 13 and 12 and mostly do it themselves, but the younger two have to be helped one on one the whole time, plus 2 hours of OT for one of them. They’ve always been early risers (all up by 6) and now that we’ve arrived in teenage years, 7 is not longer the magic hour when everyone goes to bed. It is always noisy, I’m always being interrupted, and I’m having a hard time focusing. We are coming up with a new normal routine. Always enjoy your videos and books. Thanks!
I really appreciate your candid take on the scheduling. It is very realistic and I needed that. I have GOT to start getting up earlier.
I admire your discipline Jennifer, thank you for sharing. Although I don’t think I’ll use your exact schedule, this has motivated me to rethink my daily schedule in the midst of both my partner and I working from home all of a sudden, with a two year old to take care of. I think the key message is to do what works for your family and situation, rather than what is typically done or what your feel should be done.
Jennifer, I appreciate your real look at your life and your schedule. I have been struggling because I have to teach live online 3-4 hours each day and am now homeschooling my kindergartener and I have a 2-year-old. I have been trying to do a block schedule where I spend time with my girls in the morning for about two hours from 6-8:30am. During that time I am also getting in one of my kindergartener's lessons. Then I teach and then I come back to them and we play or do a craft and then I feed them lunch at 11. I play with them again for a little bit or read to them and finish up my daughter's school work. I bounce back into teaching while the girls play but I am trying to carve out 30minutes to myself each afternoon because I am finding that I need to have a mini-break before my afternoon teaching starts or I am burned out. I am trying to be more present when I am in a block of time with my own children instead of always multi-tasking. This journey we are all on isn't easy. I am a teacher and I struggle to teach my own daughter. We are all adapting to this "new normal". I am one month in and finally feeling better about the balance. I do not know how you can keep up this pace long term but I commend you for it! Thank you for spending so much time on your creative content for us! I enjoy taking my afternoon break with you. Have a blessed day!
Thanks for sharing, 4.30am-7am seems the better way here as well, but it doesn't always work, if kids get up at night I feel tired to get up early. You are doing so well! thank you for sharing
I love this. I have already been a homeschool wahm forever but I can always be better. Thank you for your tips. We can all learn from each other.
Nikki Schumacher Official hi what advice would you give for motivating kids (4 & 8) to do work if they have never homeschooled before?
@@AA-hr6nj my daughter is naturally motivated (yah, me). My 10 yr old son will only do work if his teacher at school looks at it and gives him credit for it. He is motivated by threats of having to repeat 4 the grade and not move up to fifth. This is what works in my home currentlym
What blush are you wearing? Please do a makeup video.
What a breath of fresh air you are 🤍 Thank you for sharing your inspiring journey with us 💖
I love your focus on either work time or mothering. What about investing in your marriage? I love that you and your husband don’t watch TV (me neither) but where is the time on your latest schedule for him/you together? I’ve homeschooled for 13 years and I was often giving my leftover energy to my husband. Now that my girls are independent high schoolers it shifts again - always a new season.Blessings to you.
I am grateful with so many advices about time. Sometimes may get carried away by interruptions of digital things.
thank u so much for uplifting videos in these troubled times. both of us work from home full time, and homeschooling too.
Oh my yes interruptions thats what kills me too! I know exactly what you mean. Great advice
I love your videos! I hope you keep making them!🤗
Thank you so much for sharing!
Thank you Jennifer, this is all very new to us but once we all figured it out I'm sure the ladies will do great! 👩🏫👩⚖👩🎨👩🌾🤱👨👩👧👦 We got this ladies!
This is exactly what I needed!
When during the day do you have the little pleasures during your day? When do you read/drink tea?
Hair and makeup looking great Jennifer. This doesn't apply to me since no littles at home but its still useful about the need to have a schedule. I think its going to be tricky for the parents who have a strict schedule for work they still have to clock in at 9 until 5pm and they can't make their own hours. I know my work hours are the same at home as they are in the office. 💕
Yes, the easy thing about mine is that I can choose when I want to work. If parents have to work at a set time, they will need to schedule school around that.
We often school in the evening. Because homeschooling is more "efficient" as Jennifer says, we're able to do homeschool in about 3 hours after the traditional work day has ended. My kids are a bit older so they go to bed a bit later also.
Thank you so much for sharing. When do you sleep!? Your schedule sounds very organized and routine (which I love!) but I could not survive on 6 hrs of sleep! I need about 8.5 hrs to feel good. I am asleep by 10-10:30... And awake around 6:30. This experience is all new to us. I usually work outside the home and my children are at school and daycare. I am now working from home with my 2 kids around. We are trying our best and just trying to make the best of the situation. Not to mentio trying to stay positive!
I heard someone say long ago to arrange your schedule with your personal energy waves. It seems you already do this. Hearing that was such a game changer for me. I felt like it was permission to be me and rest at 1:00 when I usually get tired. By the way, homeschooling gets easier when they get older. Hang in there moms.
Lovely! I immediately purchased your Madame Chic book. Thank you for this video.❤
Hello Jennifer, I appreciate so much the time and effort you put into this channel. Especially under the circumstances we are in as we self quarantine. I have been following you for a few months and my mental health has greatly benefited from the content that you put out each week. Your self sacrifice and perseverance truly impact so many people outside of your home. I am sharing a lot of your videos to my circle of mom friends these days. ❤️
Again, thank you so much!
Thank you so much, Hannah!
Hi, Jennifer: A few questions: Are you working on a new book? Does Ben work entirely from home/help with schooling the children? (You said "WE homeschool....") Thanks!
Man, I loved homeschooling. I enjoyed the few years I went to a private school because I could do choir, band, etc. But I was so ready to go back to homeschool and have all the FREE TIME!!
Jennifer, can you make a video about how your summer days go? I'm assuming your homeschooling has ended for the year. Looking for tips on how to avoid a screen binged summer for my kids while I work from home
Does your huband work at home also and contribute to the homeschooling and parenting? I can hardly imagine with such young children you can still homeschool, run a business and keep your house pristine. Kuddos to you, what an inspiration. An advice from another speaker years ago allude her success, much like yours, to having a partner that works together with you to make this work. It is very difficult to do it alone.
For the majority of us who used to work outside of the house, it is nearly impossible if our employer would not be flexible and accomodating.
Thank you so much for creating this video, I really needed to hear this!
Wow, Jennifer, you are very disciplined and have so much energy!!! I really admire you!
Thanks! Lots of good advice. :) I need more sleep than you do, more like 8 hours, but I can relate to finding your priorities and working around them. It can be hard to decide you don't have time for certain things, but if it's worth it!
When do you usually workout, if you do? I am ok with giving up personal time but I can’t imagine fitting all of my work, grocery shopping and working out within the morning and evening times.
I work from home and homeschool. I've come up with a similar system but structure it around my lunch time and keeping them close to me as I work. I'm a full-time employee so my hours are not my own during the day. How do you keep electronics from baby-sitting the kids? What do you do about not going anywhere during the day - like field trips, etc. These are the two areas I *really* struggle with.
New subscriber here!!! Thank you so much for this video! Just what I needed it! 😉 hugs from Costa Rica! Stay safe! 🙏🏼
Jennifer I need homeschooling organizational tips! How to you organize supplies? I feel like our work and supplies are scattered all over!
Thank you, I was wondering if you could do a video on how to home school children😊
Thank you SO MUCH for this!
Your air and makeup are especially pretty in this video :))
Hi Jennifer. I loved hearing about your schedule and how you make everything work. My question is, do you feel like you're getting enough sleep and do you "catch up" on the weekend? If you work until 11 p.m. and get up at 5 a.m., you're getting less than 6 hours of sleep. If I do that too many days in a row, I'm a zombie!
I desperately needed this insight! Thank you, Jennifer!
Thank you for sharing! I enjoy hearing how you make it work. I need more sleep than you, or perhaps it is that I am up so much during the night, and probably sleep less than 6 hours. I go to bed usually about 11pm, and get up about 7am when my kids wake up. But I am still up at least 3-4 times because of children, and I need every minute I can get. I would love to hear how you make your videos. It seems like they are usually during the day? Is someone else watching the kiddos during this time? Does Ben work from home. too?
Thank you for this video Jennifer. Much appreciated during this uncertain time
I appreciate your honesty.
Thank you for sharing.
When do you have time for your husband, time together?
We spend the afternoons together. Since we decided to homeschool we made that conscious decision to sacrifice that evening time.
My husband and I spend time working from home together. We find joy in work together. I help him with his projects and he helps with mine.
@@TheDailyConnoisseur He doesn't work in the afternoons?
Thank you for sharing your schedule, Jennifer! Question, does your family ever watch good quality families movies? If so, when would you fit that in? Thanks 😊💕
Not really... my kids do have a movie night with the grandparents, however...
Revisiting this video for inspiration!!
I loved watching this. So empowering 💜
Jeniffer thank you for this video ❤
I record TH-cam videos and because of the fact that exactly what you said interruptions I have fallen off in term of creating content and recording videos during the day. At night I am not in a upbeat mood to show up on camera. How were you able to even record this video, what were the kids occupied with?
Jennifer, you mentioned bathing your kids before bed and I was wondering if you do this every evening. When I was raising my boys years ago I didn’t bathe them every night unless they were really dirty. They got a tub bath a couple times a week and a quick sponge bath for face, hands and bottoms the rest of the time. Seems we are a bit obsessed with bathing now. This schedule goes for myself too. Donna Lewis
Michael Lewis we also usually only bathe them before church and if they are really dirty. These days with Covid I’ve been bathing them a bit more- if we come home from anywhere like the store (which is really not happening). My husband still works outside and showers as soon as he gets home so I am bathing the kids just in case he is bringing any germs home.
This is great! however, I am not sure how and when you listen to podcasts or read if you finish work at 11, and start at 5 am? Also, don't you get less sleeep? It seems like you only sleep a max of 6 hours, which seems really little.
Thank you for sharing, Jennifer. Glad you are honest about what it takes! When do you film your videos then? Just curious- as I know lighting is an issue. Do you have good lighting so you can film while it’s still dark outside? Also been wondering where your kids are when you film your lovely afternoon homemaking series! ❤️
I shared this with my students' parents to help them during this challenging time.
Wonderful! Thank you!
Thank you for such an inspiring video, Jennifer. I love how you emphasized that your life is very disciplined and that you still read and listen to audiobooks.
I LOVE audiobooks...so do my children!
Thank you so much for this timely video. Really helpful. It shows that with hard work, this is possible. Can you please help with a question? How do you do homeschooling with 4 kids at different developmental stage? I have a 3.5 and a 15 month old, they can play with each other, but not for teaching moments. It’s a constant array of mutual interruptions. I can’t even read a book to both of them together. How do you manage this conflict? Thanks and stay safe
Great!
Thank you for sharing these details, Jennifer! 🤗
And thank you for mentioning that it is frustrating when your little guys get up early! It is easy for me to assume that no one else has child-sleep issues, and can get all this stuff done while they're sleeping. I know that's not true. My 5yo is my best sleeper. The 7yo is usually up once a night, same with the 3yo. I lose track with my 1yo. She is awake 1-2 times before I even go to bed, and I don't know how many times during the night. Zzzzz
Mine were like that, too. I stopped trying to do anything except care for them. It worked for me. Years later they sleep longer and I do have free time from 9:30pm to 7:30 am.
When do you spend time with your husband?
Thank you for sharing! Do you have the same schedule for weekends or are weekends free? I tried a similar schedule for a while but I’m usually just too tired by 9 pm to do anything but clean the kitchen or something... any tips on that? (How to have enough energy to do thinking work after a long day?)
Great ideas. One idea so that the kiddos "don't wake up" we always set an alarm at 7am & that's the time they wake up everyday! :)
Thank you for sharing this. It will really help me.
Tha k you a lot for the tips! You don't get very tired at the end of the night to be able to focus? Wouldn't be better for you to wake up earlier instead? Just thinking because I will defenetly be super tired at the end of the day
Jenn: do your children also have a 10 item wardrobe (other than diapers :))?
Most likely, but we don't count.
❤️ i have your best book ❤️
Any recommendations for when you have meetings in the day with toddlers?
Happy I am your subscriber. ♥️ Hugs from Albania
I loved hearing your schedule. I'm wondering how you survive on that amount of sleep though?
There is a program on Netflix called Explained. They've an episode called Athleisure. It covers the history of clothing and makes comment on where we are now. Have you seen it? I'd love to know what you think if you have!
This is basically my day too 😄
This was really helpful. Glad I came across your channel. New Subbie!
But you just sleep 6 hours? To me that is not enough...and imagine, in Portugal working outside in a full time is 8 hours, add the time you take on the way to work and from work to home. It's really different lifestyle. With luck we have dinner at 20h00/20h30... It's really tiring I think. Keep on the good work 😊
Some mornings if I am tired I sleep later, but yes, I can function on 6 hours. It's only like this while the kids are little. As they sleep in I'll get more sleep too.