The Myth of a “Too Busy” Homeschool

Are you too busy?

Would you characterize your homeschool as too busy?

Here’s the real question—are you too busy or are you simply not prioritizing your time? We can’t do everything. We must say no to some things while we make other things a priority.

Being busy is a direct reflection of the choices we have made. How do you choose to spend your homeschool day? Do you squander time on things that are not essential? Do you get off topic instead of sticking to your instructor's guides?

What gets prioritized will look different in each homeschool. Some moms might leave lots of free time to pursue learning tangents of interest to their children. Others might find accomplishing the nuts and bolts of science is important to them.

Whatever the case may be, if your goal is to work your way through that math curriculum this year, then maybe that field trip to the science center or that weekly drama class will have to wait. You have to make choices about what is important and then structure your homeschool based on those choices.

Setting Priorities for Your Homeschool

This is your homeschool; this is your life.

You can take charge and make a choice to put certain things first and say no to others. Your response to a request doesn't have to be, "No, thank you; I'm too busy" but instead, "No, thank you; that's not a high priority for me."

Being too busy makes it sound like you are at the mercy of your schedule. Setting and sticking to priorities puts you back in the driver's seat of your homeschool.

How to Stop Being "Too Busy" and Instead Set Priorities

• Start by making a list of the things you have to do.
• Then make a list of things you want to do.
• Create a schedule, filling in the “have to” list before the "want to" list.
• Then stick to your guns!

You have spent the time to evaluate your priorities and decide what is most important to you. If having time spent at home is a priority, don’t say yes to that oh-so-fun-sounding playdate. In the end it will leave you feeling tired instead of filling your cup with what you know you really need.

So let’s stop saying we are “too busy.” Instead, let's start making a priority of the things that are important while learning to say no to the less valuable things.