Time Blocking for the Whole Family
I will be the first to admit that I haven’t figured the whole life-at-home-with-everyone-there-all-of-the-time thing yet, but we’re working on it. One thing that has made life infinitely easier is time blocking.
Time blocking is a way of implementing consistency. It’s a system of organizing your day so that you have dedicated time to a task (or group of tasks). It helps you spend less time hopping from one thing to another and stop stressing about what to do next. You have a plan.
Right now, when you may have more than one adult working from home and one or more children out of school and needing home-schooling direction, there needs to be some cooperation to have your days run smoothly. I’ve put together four Cs to help you time block with your family for a successful at-home time.
Communication
Try starting with a family meeting. Ask each family member to make a list of their priorities. This could be weekly conference calls with a work team, scheduled client sessions, homework, screen time, or family time. With smaller children, you as the parent may be choosing some of the time blocks for your little ones. As you make your list, categorize each item into one of two categories: requires high-level concentration (HLC), requires low-level concentration (LLC). If you live in an area where internet bandwidth is limited, also make note of which activities require wifi.
Coordination
Start with each person’s priority that requires a high-level of concentration. Depending on what the tasks are, you may be able to schedule each person’s HLC items at the same time. For example, you could meet with a client on Zoom in one room, your spouse/partner can work in the other room on a business proposal, and your child can read a chapter of a book. All activities require a high-level of concentration. Since each is done independently, everyone can have their focused time together.
In some cases, especially with smaller children, your LLC may be at the same time as their HLC. My son is in Kindergarten, so he needs a lot of engagement during his school-work time (his HLC). Because of this, I schedule my LLC during that time. I can respond to an email while he practices his writing. I can post on social media while he colors a map of the world. Then, when he takes a nap, plays on the iPad, or has free play time, I have my HLC time.
When you create your time blocks--especially with kids’ schedules--keep the blocks very general. In fact, you can categorize your blocks just as HLC or LLC. Especially right now, we need a little flexibility. If you schedule every detail of the day out, you’ll find yourself stressed and probably upset or disappointed.
For my son, I have his school day from 9 am to 11:30 am. That’s his HLC time. Within that time block, we may do handwriting, addition, sight words, geography, a science experiment, etc. But, I don’t put restrictions or expectations around the number of things we do or the time it should take. He may get antsy and need to run a few laps around the house between activities. The subject that took him 10 minutes yesterday may take 45 today. That’s okay. Yes, have your tasks. Have your priorities, but we’re flexible within our larger time block. Make sense? Below is an example of what an adult and child time-blocked schedule could look like.
With multiple adults and multiple electronic devices in the house, you might encounter a need for a wifi block. If you have limited wifi, be mindful of which tasks require the internet so each person can have their time.
Keep in mind during this process that it is about coordination and cooperation. Everyone is working together to help everyone else be as successful as possible. It’s not competition or compromise. There are no individual winners. Some days may feel like someone else accomplishes more of what they want; other days it will be you. It’s about finding that balance. Sometimes you have to get creative. Maybe you move a client’s session from Tuesday morning to Wednesday afternoon to help support another family member. Maybe your partner takes his conference call from the back porch to give others their HLC time.
Consistency
Just as we talked about in Finding Peace and Direction During Isolation, as creatures of habit, we crave consistency in our lives. Give your household several days of a consistent schedule, make any minor adjustments for things that worked out better on paper than in reality, and then stick with that new consistent schedule. Everyone will know what to expect when. There will be less confusion, arguments, and frustration all around. You’ll find that creating consistency will allow you to take back some of the control you may feel you’ve lost during this home-bound time.
Connection
Without all of those after-school activities and social events on our calendars now, it’s a great time to add back in family connection time. Bake cookies, play a board game, learn a new hobby. Purposely add in time blocks for family game night or YouTubing family art class. Not only will you grow closer as a family, you may even find a tradition or two that sticks around long after our lives have returned to “normal.”