Let’s start with some definitions from Dictionary.com:
There are no easy answers, no magic wands. There are only so many hours in a day, days in a week, weeks in a year. Below are some tips that have worked well for us. As they say: YMMV (Your Mileage May Vary). We share these tips with a sense of love and solidarity. Feel free to incorporate any things that resonate with you and let the rest roll on by. This is a judgement-free zone. It’s hard enough to be a working parent without feeling like you suck because you are not brewing homemade kombucha and homeschooling your kids in molecular biology while they train to be Olympic-caliber javelin throwers so they can maybe get into Harvard.
The key to this tip is always doing it two weeks at a time.
The week that is about to start is usually pretty firm: there may be a few additions or changes, but the events closer in time tend to be front of mind. Planning NOW for the week AFTER that is where the system shines. By focusing on what is coming at you the FOLLOWING week, you can avoid the massive pain of preventable last minute “fire drills.” It is WAY easier to find a babysitter or ask a friend for help or switch around a carpool or event, etc. if you have a full week’s notice. It only takes a tiny bit more time to get the two-week habit set up, but the time and stress it saves you by not having to drop everything when you realize at the last minute there is a conflict that you could have reasonably foreseen is immense.