Dost thou love life? Then do not squander time, for that is the stuff life is made of. (Benjamin Franklin)
December is the month when my planning instinct kicks into overdrive. I flip the calendar page on the first, and it’s as if I’ve opened a new channel in my brain. All the while I’m enjoying holiday preparations and wondering...
Considering the greater good “Are you finished with school? Want to ride with me to the dump?” my husband Donald inquired, poking his head into the schoolroom. Pencils flew everywhere as the boys jumped up, ready to go. We hadn’t...
I enjoy books on time management, life balance, and purpose, but I’ve read so many that it’s rare that one stands out. Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World by Cal Newport definitely stood out. Moving past elementary...
A Simple Year-End Planning Routine Each year at this time, I try to spend at least an hour each day planning, organizing, and tidying. A tidying of my physical space helps to organize my mind and heart for the new year, but I’ve discovered that year-end planning works...
Love it or hate it, it’s time for a new school year. It may seem absurd to think about simplifying now, just as you are faced with crisp new notebooks, sharp pencils, and delectable stacks of books, but the first month...
Big-Rock Planning for Life Whether you are planning a homeschool year or just mapping out a routine for life, don’t forget to start planning with the big rocks—the things that matter most. Big-rock planning works in every area of life. I’ve written about it...
What to do when you can’t do everything It’s almost the end of the year, so I am thinking more about time management than usual. December is always full—in addition to the holidays, we have family birthdays, our anniversary, volunteer activities, whatever business project is...
Time management and simple scheduling can help you accomplish the things that matter most in life. I’ve made schedules for every stage in my life, and one mistake I consistently made in the early years was to try to shoehorn in too many...
My business year has two primary seasons: the convention season and the contemplative season. The end of July saw the end of business travel until next February, unless something unforeseen crops up, and I have to admit I’m delighted to be...
One of the biggest challenges facing entrepreneurial parents, especially homeschooling moms, is time management — balancing home, school, work, and life, and doing reasonable justice to each. It’s probably always been hard, but the challenge seems to have increased with the speed...
In 2013, I quit. I’ve never been a heavy consumer of news and pop culture, but for over 30 years, I faithfully read the daily newspaper and usually listened to radio news once or twice a week. I don’t watch television...
Today’s Carnival shares posts on the state of education and leaving a homeschooling legacy, helpful articles on planning and organizing your school year and day, and a few extras on things such as how to whistle, whether homeschoolers can redeem BoxTops for Education, and more
One of the most important prerequisites for doing what matters is planning. Although I do a lot of my work on the computer, I’ve used paper-based planners ever since I was in middle school. I prefer to plan during contemplative...
Join us for a great Carnival of Homeschooling, featuring articles on time and what to do with it, words, nature, celebrations, and more.
A veteran homeschooler, conference speaker, and vendor shares tips and strategies to make the home-school convention a highlight of your homeschool year.
At a recent conference, I met a fellow entrepreneurial writer I’ve known online for many years. She and her husband attended the microbusiness workshop I did, then stopped by the booth to talk about current projects, managing a business, and...
I receive e-mail through a Google apps interface that provides a calendar and docs, and handles mail in Gmail style. Every time I’ve logged in recently, a banner over my inbox has invited me to receive desktop notifications of new e-mail as...
So . . . exactly how many things are you doing at this very moment? How many programs are open on your computer, and how many windows in your browser? If you’re anything like me, I’m guessing there are too...
The Blog Carnival offers inspiration and encouragement as summer winds down and school begins. Enjoy!
I hadn’t planned to read David Allen’s splendid Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity this summer, but when I found myself going in panicky circles after a recent business trip, trying to unpack, uncover my desk, plan means,...
As you try to decide what to do for your first microbusiness, you may be tempted to research trends in order to find the most profitable niche. Research has it’s place, of course, but it’s not the only tool for...
Or maybe you’ll get somewhere, but it won’t be anywhere you were hoping to be. It takes focus to keep your eye on a distant goal while juggling present responsibilities. It also takes a bit of pruning– cutting out all...
Here’s how you can make your personal New Year a time of renewal and refreshment. Think through goals and routines, and create priorities that help you, like Mary, focus on “the better part.”
Are you ready for 2011? For the last Carnival of Homeschooling for 2010, we have a loose collection of posts under the general topic of Making Time for Things that Matter. I find that the beginning of a new year...
I’m trying to choose a cover for the new Making Time for Things that Matter Life Planner. I’d appreciate your feedback!
Create a mission statement, goals, and a plan to help you make time for things that matter.
Making time for significance I had the opportunity to speak on “Making Time for Things that Matter” at the Ultimate Homeschool Expo last week, and I’ve also been reading a book called Eternal Impact: Investing in the Lives of Others...
The Beach Reading Edition of Carnival of Homeschooling is up, and there are great posts on why to homeschool through high school, how to motivate your children, how to teach boys, and much, much more. Enjoy!
Preface Welcome to this hundred-and-umpteenth Carnival of Homeschooling! Because November is National Novel Writing Month (also known as NaNoWriMo or nano), and I’m over 10,000 words into the writing process (and can’t think of anything but writing, writing, and more...
Do you ever feel overwhelmed when there is noise and hubbub all day long? It can be hard to avoid when you have children home all the time. One of the things I did with my boys was to create...
