Admit it.

Your head and your heart are just feeling different during the summer. You were programed in your youth to want to take a break now. Somehow you just got used to having several months out of school for summer vacation. Even now you long for those lazy days full of play.

It’s ok. Give yourself permission! Keep reminding yourself, however, that there still ARE people spending money and using services all year long. They didn’t all go to the beach for two months. If you keep up some contacts for your business you’ll find there is still business to feed your bank account.

Stay tuned for part 4 with some ideas for making summer business more fun!

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Adjust!

Summer is a perfect time to try a new “rhythm” (aka schedule). When we were home schooling we used this pattern to combine productivity with play. It’s also a good way to approach summer scheduling.

Our “work days” were Monday, Wednesday and Friday during the traditiona school year. On these days you may want to schedule your work time and the kids’ activity time (see yesterday’s post on keeping kids occupied).

We used Tuesday and Thursday for our “catch up days” to do the family maintenance chores like laundry, shopping and housekeeping. For summer schedules these days might be the “day off” times for spending time doing things with your kids. Go to the park, the pool or  make snow cones. After all, you work from home so you can enjoy that quality time with your kids, right?

Try using a “day on” and a “day off” sequence this summer. It doesn’t matter if you do the MWF for work or play. Do what works for your family and your business.

If your business demands that you work daily, try my friend Mary’s approach. She spends the first hour of the morning with her daughter, then works for three. Her daughter knows she will have time to herself during Mom’s work time.

Mary takes a full hour for lunch with her daughter so there’s time to cook, eat and enjoy bonding time. Then it’s back to work for Mom’s second three hour work block. Just getting a “rhythm” to your work with help you be more accountable to your tasks AND help your child(ren) know what to expect. A lot of struggle will be eliminated by giving clear expectations to your family when you chose to work from home.

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Get some back up! It’s not just for computers (although that is SMART too) or the police. There’s nothing like having some “plan Bs” up your sleeve. Having back up is a way to protect yourself from the unexpected.

As a young mother, I decided that I needed to be like circus performers and “work with a net”. I still remember giving this advice to a new mom.

Working with a “net” means keeping spare clothes or snacks in your car, extra keys (for when yours are AWOL), lists of spare child care options, phone numbers of friends or neighbors you can call on for help.

Learn to accept that you will occasionally need to call for help. It’s ok. It’s the SMART thing to do.

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Organizing ways to save time and energy on your laundry can give you back lots of business and family time.

By reader request, here are my systems in a nutshell.

I wash by the person not by the colors (as mom and grand mom did). Put a basket in floor of each person’s closet. Wash kid clothes, towel and bed linen in one weekly load. I do a separate load for Mom and Dad’s sheets plus towels. We have a special place for each person to hang wet towels (color coding is smart here) so we use 1 per week each.

At the age of 7, I work with my kids to teach them to do their laundry. By the 8th birthday the kids were responsible for doing their own laundry on their assigned day. You may want to try the new Purex one sheets for the kids’ use.

Oh! And most loads can very adequately be done in cold water. We actually wreck more fabric damage by over drying. If there are stains, pre-treat (Fels-Naptha soap bar is amazing. Check grocery stores.) Hang any stained items to dry until you make sure spots are out. Use tubular hangers (don’t color code, use all white) and place them in the laundry basket when it goes to the laundry room, so you can hang clothes right away and avoid wrinkles.

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For over 25 years now our family has had a fun Thanksgiving Dinner tradition. Like most pre-schoolers, our children learned to make the “turkeys” by tracing around their hands. They were so enamored with this magical method of creating “turkeys” that they created quite a “flock.”

Using clear glass plates (our everyday dinnerware) it was so simple to change the look with different placemats, tablecloths or “kid art.” I also collected a variety of clear glass serving plates, bowls and platters to simplify the storage of entertaining tableware.

These two ingredients combined to create the funnest dinnerware ever. I cut their turkeys out in a circle shape about the size of the inside of the plates. I added their initials to each masterpiece. Next, I covered each (both sides) in clear adhesive paper. Placing the turkeys under the clear plates gave the effect of child-painted dinnerware. The kids were thrilled!

Now, my very adult “children” would not consider our dinner complete without these special plates. Oh, and did I mention that these clear plates are under $2 each at the local discount stores? This could be a great gift idea for grandparents as well!

It won’t be long before our new grand daughter will be old enough to add her own editions to the family collection of holiday dinnerware. I think I’ll let her make pictures for all the seasons and store them in a special keepsake box.

Now, that’s a simple SMARTcut(R) to occupy your youngsters this week and beyond.

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