Damnit! Who put my BIOS in Danish?!
1. Break up the day into manageable chunks. Your kids can’t sit still without a recess at school, what makes you think they can do it at home? Consider the Pomodoro Technique. This is a time management method developed by Francesco Cirillo in the 1980s which uses a timer to break work into 25 minute chunks separated by short breaks. The “Pomodoro” (tomato, in Italian) comes from the tomato-shaped kitchen timer he used to keep track. The technique helps breaking large projects into smaller, more manageable ones, supposedly improves creativity and concentration, and use your breaks to check I with the kids and have a recess.
2. Rowdy kids? I make them do burpees. I tell my kids, “You’re either going to get smarter or you’re going to get stronger, and right now you’ve chosen to get stronger.” I usually start with ten but escalate to 15 or 20 if I get any lip at all. If they complain I’ll add more, and let them know that, “pain is just weakness leaving your body.”
a. Pro tip: During schooltime (M-F 9am-3pm) I make them respond to every order I give them with, “aye aye captain” and a small salute. This ensures they know I mean business.
3. Going to jump on a work call? Put a sock on the doorknob. That’s their signal not to interrupt.
4. Checklists, checklists, checklists. Make one for you and make one for the kids. You cannot give your kids one task at a time; that’s just not efficient. Make a list, write it down, and have them check items off as they go throughout their day. Not only does this give them direction (when you may still be on that one-hour call - 90 minutes later), but it gives them a sense of accomplishment – and a chance for you to reward them. Incentivize them to make a stretch goal and reward them for hitting it – or even for a strong effort.
5. Prep meals ahead of time and keep plenty of snacks on hand. Batch process a stack of PB&J’s, make sure you’ve got all the ingredients for Triscuit nachos, hoard those boxes of Stouffer’s French Bread pizza, pre-slice 5 apples at a time, stock big bags of organic baby carrots, break out that Crock Pot (or better yet, the Instant Pot). Now is your chance to make that slow-roasted recipe that makes several meals at once.
6. Let the kids take advantage of all the amazing media out there – now is not the time to ration their screen time. You can use it as a reward for them to watch their favorite slime videos (anyone else have a 6 year-old girl?), sure, but there are phenomenal apps, podcasts, and YouTube channels to augment their education.
a. Khan Academy is a staple in our home – there is the Khan Academy app, the YouTube channel, and now there’s a Khan Academy Kids app as well.
b. The Brilliant app is great for math.
c. There are TED Talks galore that discuss subjects your kids might be into.
d. Have a burgeoning entrepreneur? Let them watch Shark Tank!