Full Transcript for Three Systems for a Calmer Back to School

coming at me? 00:04:29.139 --> 00:04:30.340 Of course not, right? 00:04:30.419 --> 00:04:31.379 It's going to come. 00:04:31.539 --> 00:04:43.060 But where the real win is is having systems set up to accommodate the influx and then most importantly, make sure that you are not the owner of it for the remainder of the school year. 00:04:43.300 --> 00:05:13.699 Now, before I dive into these three tips, if you or a friend of yours, anyone that you know, has a student that is navigating middle school through high school, and especially if maybe this is their first year transitioning from single teacher classroom to multiple different teachers, multiple different classes, I want to give you a quick reminder that here at the Pink B, we have just introduced our brand newly updated top four students digital course. 00:05:13.860 --> 00:05:23.699 This really is geared for that middle school to early college ages where you are navigating a lot of different competing schedules, homework, extracurriculars, et cetera. 00:05:24.019 --> 00:05:26.019 We newly updated it for this year. 00:05:26.100 --> 00:05:28.019 We've got some new planners that we recommend. 00:05:28.100 --> 00:05:29.620 We're teaching digital as well. 00:05:29.779 --> 00:05:33.779 You can go check it out at MeganSumerle.com forward slash student. 00:05:34.019 --> 00:05:41.860 This is, I believe, a must-have in all homes because time management and planning is a life skill that we all deserve to be taught. 00:05:42.180 --> 00:05:55.460 All right, so let's come back here to kind of three tips or systems, if you will, that I highly recommend that you think about implementing during these first couple weeks navigating back to school to help reduce overwhelm. 00:05:55.699 --> 00:06:08.019 So, tip number one is to ahead of time determine where the different categories of information are going to be centralized as they're coming in. 00:06:08.340 --> 00:06:09.939 You know, there's going to be emails. 00:06:10.100 --> 00:06:12.100 Oh my God, all the emails, right? 00:06:12.180 --> 00:06:14.659 There could be physical paperwork coming home. 00:06:14.899 --> 00:06:23.300 There could be notifications and new portals that need to be set up for either school or extracurricular activities. 00:06:23.620 --> 00:06:31.139 When we have this much coming at us, the mental load spikes, all the new schedules, all the new forms, all the new everything. 00:06:31.300 --> 00:06:40.019 And if they're scattered all over the place, some in your inbox, some in a notification, some in a stack of paper in the kitchen, one in a stack of paper in your kids' room, right? 00:06:40.100 --> 00:06:41.540 It just feels chaotic. 00:06:41.779 --> 00:06:49.300 So what we want to predetermine is where is the one central place that different categories are going to land, right? 00:06:49.540 --> 00:06:53.860 And then when is the one time you're going to sit down and handle it all? 00:06:54.180 --> 00:06:56.899 So let me give you some more specifics about what I mean here. 00:06:57.139 --> 00:07:03.620 Every year at the start of the school year, I create a new folder in my email that is labeled that academic school year. 00:07:03.699 --> 00:07:08.339 So I've already got a folder that is 26 hyphen, 27 school year. 00:07:08.500 --> 00:07:12.500 And so as emails come in, you know, I check my email every day. 00:07:12.740 --> 00:07:20.019 If it is just something that I don't need to remember or process or handle, or if it's something that, you know, it's like one and done. 00:07:20.100 --> 00:07:21.540 Oh, don't forget Friday's a half day. 00:07:21.620 --> 00:07:22.819 And I'm like, yeah, I already know that. 00:07:22.980 --> 00:07:23.939 I just delete it, right? 00:07:24.019 --> 00:07:25.379 I'm not saving all of those. 00:07:25.540 --> 00:07:29.540 But as emails come in that have information, I now need to absorb. 00:07:29.699 --> 00:07:32.100 Maybe it's a schedule that's going to take me a while to figure out. 00:07:32.180 --> 00:07:33.219 Maybe it's forms. 00:07:33.379 --> 00:07:35.300 Maybe it's something I need to answer. 00:07:35.540 --> 00:07:40.259 All of those get moved into the new folder I create for the new school year. 00:07:40.420 --> 00:07:44.180 And if it requires an action item from me, I flag it, right? 00:07:44.259 --> 00:07:53.699 So they're depending upon what email system you use, you can figure out whatever works for you to make some kind of notification that allows me to easily see I have to do something, right? 00:07:53.779 --> 00:07:56.899 This is essentially going to become a to-do for me. 00:07:57.139 --> 00:07:59.060 So I do that with email. 00:07:59.300 --> 00:08:11.219 Now I also have a everyone in my family knows there's a spot in my office that if there's paperwork I need to deal with, whether it's scanning, filling out, et cetera, there's one central place that all of that goes. 00:08:11.459 --> 00:08:16.899 Now, as far as all of the portals, right, usually that starts with some form of an email. 00:08:16.980 --> 00:08:18.819 So again, that's going to be captured in there. 00:08:18.899 --> 00:08:31.379 But as far as notifications go, again, there's a system I teach called pop-up tasks, where as notifications come in, if they need future time for me, right, I mark, I keep them as unread. 00:08:31.860 --> 00:08:37.460 Now, the reason this centralization works is number one, I'm getting it out of my head. 00:08:37.700 --> 00:08:50.899 But then the second part of it is I have time each weekend that's called my household COO time, where I know I sit down and go look at that folder, handle anything in there that I flagged as stuff that needed to be done. 00:08:51.220 --> 00:08:55.860 I look through the stack of paper and then I go back through any notifications that need to be handled. 00:08:56.019 --> 00:09:07.779 So instead of trying to react to them all day long every day for the first couple of weeks, I am setting aside time for myself at the end of

every week to make sure I'm caught up on all the latest communication. 00:09:08.019 --> 00:09:14.180 And because it's not staying in my head and I have this system built, I don't have to feel overwhelmed every single day. 00:09:14.420 --> 00:09:33.940 Now, as part of that kind of giving a centralized place, one of the things I do very early, I actually do it mid-summer, is I take the school calendar and I make sure I have all of the important information relevant to our family loaded into my calendar and our family communication center. 00:09:34.019 --> 00:09:36.579 And I'm going to get to that when we get to tip number three. 00:09:36.819 --> 00:09:48.420 So for us, that means any, you know, days off from school, teacher workdays, holidays, half days, anything that is a out of the ordinary for our normal schedule. 00:09:48.579 --> 00:09:56.980 So all of that is already loaded into my calendar and it's already shared out to our family communication center. 00:09:57.059 --> 00:10:00.339 And I'll get to a little bit more detail on that here in tip three. 00:10:00.579 --> 00:10:06.980 Meaning I now, because it's on the family communication center, I don't have to be the person communicating this with my family. 00:10:07.139 --> 00:10:09.379 I can simply tell them it's on the calendar. 00:10:09.460 --> 00:10:12.420 It's their job to sync with the family communication center. 00:10:12.579 --> 00:10:12.819 Right. 00:10:12.980 --> 00:10:16.899 So our goal here is also to be like, what is it that I don't have to keep in my head? 00:10:17.139 --> 00:10:19.940 So my central place for emails goes into the new folder. 00:10:20.019 --> 00:10:22.899 I have a central spot to collect any paper. 00:10:23.059 --> 00:10:30.980 And the calendar now lives in the family communication center, one and done, right at the beginning of the school year, if it's not done already. 00:10:31.460 --> 00:10:41.620 Now, tip number two is all around building in and really prepping for what I call uncertainty time, especially the first week of back to school. 00:10:41.860 --> 00:10:42.180 All right. 00:10:42.339 --> 00:10:51.299 So uncertainty time in the way I teach it is protecting time on your calendar for stuff that you know is coming, but you don't know what it is, right? 00:10:51.380 --> 00:11:04.099 Because history has shown you that there's always going to be a couple more trips to the store for school supplies, or there is going to be maybe a really rough transition for some kids that first week back to school. 00:11:04.180 --> 00:11:10.900 And when they come home from school every afternoon, maybe there's just, you know, they need some time, they need some space, they need some support. 00:11:11.140 --> 00:11:27.940 So what I do is well in advance for that first week of school, I make sure that I protect my calendar, meaning I don't accept any commitments of my time anywhere, whether it's, you know, projects I'm working on, whether it's an appointment with someone else, et

cetera. 00:11:28.259 --> 00:11:35.299 I really avoid taking any commitments that first week of school from that window from after school to dinner. 00:11:35.460 --> 00:11:42.980 And then I also absolutely make sure where possible that I'm not committing my child to any evening things for that first week. 00:11:43.059 --> 00:11:46.019 Now they may be in a club or an activity that has evening stuff. 00:11:46.180 --> 00:11:51.940 Of course, you're gonna need to do that, but I'm not gonna add any unnecessary evening commitments in. 00:11:52.099 --> 00:12:03.220 That's not the time to schedule, you know, dinner out with the grandparents or going to going to some event that we really don't need to be at because that first week transitioning back to school is exhausting. 00:12:03.460 --> 00:12:05.940 And the last thing I want to do is have to stay up late. 00:12:06.019 --> 00:12:10.259 And the last thing I want is for my child to have to stay up late unnecessarily. 00:12:10.660 --> 00:12:15.059 So I protect my calendar by saying stuff's gonna come up. 00:12:15.140 --> 00:12:24.420 I don't know what it is, I'm uncertain about what it is, but I want to make sure I am available to support whether it's errands, whether it's just time. 00:12:24.579 --> 00:12:32.740 And then tied in with that is that first weekend after the first week of school, we keep our calendar clear, right? 00:12:32.819 --> 00:12:43.299 That is not a time for us to make travel or large commitments, knowing that there will likely be some errands that need to be run, as you know, maybe you don't need to do it during the week that first week. 00:12:43.460 --> 00:12:46.180 We know we may need to go run some errands that first weekend. 00:12:46.420 --> 00:12:49.539 And it's just acclimating to back to school life, right? 00:12:49.619 --> 00:12:52.579 I know I've got a teenager, so she will be exhausted. 00:12:52.740 --> 00:12:58.420 She will want time to sleep in and just kind of regroup and have some downtime that first weekend after school. 00:12:58.579 --> 00:13:14.339 So that is my second tip is really, you know, creating that uncertainty time, that first week and weekend back to school, so that any curveballs that come at you, any last-minute things that need to be handled can be absorbed so much easier, right? 00:13:14.420 --> 00:13:17.380 And then if you don't need all the space, that just means more downtime. 00:13:17.539 --> 00:13:19.460 Everybody wins with more downtime. 00:13:19.700 --> 00:13:27.140 Now, the third tip that I want to share here again is tying back to tip number one, which is this idea of a family communication center. 00:13:27.380 --> 00:13:34.339 I believe every household should have one, especially when you've got kids with lots of competing different schedules. 00:13:34.579 --> 00:13:40.099 Now, I am not going to use time on this episode to teach what a family communication center is. 00:13:40.339 --> 00:13:45.859 If you are new to this concept, I encourage you

to go back and listen to episode 251. 00:13:46.099 --> 00:13:51.220 In there, I taught how to set up a family communication center using the tool we use. 00:13:51.299 --> 00:13:53.700 We use a skylight calendar here in our house. 00:13:53.940 --> 00:13:58.259 If you're interested in visually seeing that, feel free to head over to YouTube as well. 00:13:58.420 --> 00:13:59.220 I've got a video there. 00:13:59.380 --> 00:14:04.019 If you just search Megan Summerl Skylight, the video will pop right up for you. 00:14:04.180 --> 00:14:10.500 And I give some really good in-depth details on how we use the Skylight Calendar and our home as a family communication center. 00:14:10.740 --> 00:14:17.059 But if you don't have one, my third tip is to figure out what yours is going to be and have it established. 00:14:17.140 --> 00:14:28.579 And by established, I mean identify what the tool is, whether it's a skylight calendar, whether it is a whiteboard that shows a weekly or monthly view on your whiteboard. 00:14:28.740 --> 00:14:34.579 It might be a custom, you know, paper that you've drawn that that lives somewhere in your house. 00:14:34.740 --> 00:14:35.140 All right. 00:14:35.380 --> 00:14:38.819 There are other tools similar to the Skylight calendar that you might be using. 00:14:38.900 --> 00:14:47.700 It could be just a shared Google Calendar that lives on, you know, a tablet screen somewhere in your home that everybody can access. 00:14:47.859 --> 00:14:54.099 But I strongly encourage you to establish where what your communication center is and where it lives. 00:14:54.339 --> 00:14:59.940 A key to where it lives is it needs to be something that is easily accessible by everybody and not hidden. 00:15:00.180 --> 00:15:02.420 This is why ours is in our kitchen. 00:15:02.500 --> 00:15:07.299 And why I love the skylight calendar is if we have company over, it can just be showing photos. 00:15:07.539 --> 00:15:14.660 So that way, you know, outside company is not seeing the details of our family life as well, which is why I really like that. 00:15:15.059 --> 00:15:18.339 So when you establish your family communication center, right? 00:15:18.420 --> 00:15:25.140 What lives on it is the key information that is important for more than one person of your family to be on top of, right? 00:15:25.220 --> 00:15:30.420 Any schedules, pickups, drop-offs, after school activities, days off from school. 00:15:30.579 --> 00:15:34.660 We even include our dinner plans each night that live on it. 00:15:34.900 --> 00:15:45.619 And when you establish this family communication center, the second part to this that makes it super powerful is starting to do family meetings, a weekly family meeting. 00:15:45.779 --> 00:15:47.380 Ours is super informal. 00:15:47.619 --> 00:15:55.859 It usually happens Sunday evening when we're eating dinner, where we are kind of reviewing the upcoming week to make sure everybody's on the same page. 00:15:56.099 --> 00:16:01.380 Now, I did have an

expert in family meetings here on the Work Life Harmony podcast not too long ago. 00:16:01.539 --> 00:16:04.259 If you missed it, go check out episode 312. 00:16:04.339 --> 00:16:05.539 It was amazing. 00:16:05.779 --> 00:16:12.420 All right, so that school calendar you already loaded in tip one lives on that family communications center, right? 00:16:12.579 --> 00:16:17.700 Along with any details about the upcoming week that is relevant for everybody to know. 00:16:17.940 --> 00:16:29.059 And what where that really will support you, not just in that back to school window, but those first, that first week or two of back to school is where you are establishing with your family, right? 00:16:29.380 --> 00:16:32.980 This is where the information lives, not in my head. 00:16:33.220 --> 00:16:42.740 So even though we've had this family communication center for years, my family members occasionally will still ask me, hey, Megan, what day is, or you know, is it this Friday that's a half day? 00:16:42.900 --> 00:16:46.099 My answer is always it's on the calendar. 00:16:46.339 --> 00:16:53.940 I don't give specific answers because I am constantly reminding my family I'm not the holder of this information, right? 00:16:54.099 --> 00:16:56.420 This is information everybody needs to have. 00:16:56.500 --> 00:16:59.140 And that's why it's on the Family Communications Center. 00:16:59.299 --> 00:17:02.180 So is it annoying sometimes to still have to say it's on the calendar? 00:17:02.259 --> 00:17:07.380 Yes, but I would much rather say it's on the calendar than be the default. 00:17:07.460 --> 00:17:12.019 It's kind of almost starts to feel like a personal executive assistant to everybody in my family. 00:17:12.099 --> 00:17:28.740 So this will really help you if you have not used a family communications center previously, establish one in this back to school season and let this be the year that you stop acting as an executive assistant or a chief information officer for every single person in your house. 00:17:28.980 --> 00:17:42.579 So as you navigate these back to school time, I know how stressful and overwhelming it can be, but remember centralizing information for everything coming in from school is a huge, huge game changer, right? 00:17:42.819 --> 00:17:48.660 Building in that uncertainty budget that first week is gonna protect that first week from getting out of control. 00:17:48.819 --> 00:17:54.259 And then third, establishing your family communication center at the start of the school year. 00:17:54.500 --> 00:17:59.380 All right, friends, happy back to school and as always, happy planning. 00:18:01.299 --> 00:18:07.779 Getting on top of all things, time management, organization, and productivity doesn't have to stop just because this episode is over. 00:18:08.019 --> 00:18:17.220 If you are feeling overwhelmed, your calendar's out of control, or you're just running in a race that will never end in terms of your to-do list, I have great news for you. 00:18:17.460 --> 00:18:21.700 I have an app in both the App Store and Google Play called the Pink Bee. 00:18:21.940 --> 00:18:28.019 And it is chock full of small but incredibly powerful trainings to help you get out of overwhelm. 00:18:28.259 --> 00:18:36.259 It includes my signature Ditch the Overwhelm training and introduction to my time management framework built specifically for women. 00:18:36.500 --> 00:18:45.140 So open up either your app store or Google Play, do a search on the word the Pink Bee, all one word, and download the app to get started today.