Navigating the Back-to-School Chaos: Set Yourself up for Success
Once August hits, it feels like a switch gets flipped with starting to think about Back to School. And not to rush through the juiciness of what’s left of summer, but I like to start remembering the biggest struggles we felt by the end of last school year and how can we better anticipate and prepare for the coming year.
Going through the back to school lists and organizing our materials is just the tip of the iceberg. For our kiddos, we are enrolled in a hybrid homeschool, so it requires tapping into some different aspects of back to school than most families.
Using this time while the days still feel long and lazy helps me feel more creative with coming up with solutions that feel aligned with my natural strengths, weaknesses and tendencies to name and tame my personal feelings of overwhelm.
And if our still yet-to-be-unpacked backpacks are any indication, we were R-E-A-D-Y to be done with last school year.
Review the Evidence
The year had started from a good place. Knowing that having two in school created some extra challenges I wasn’t prepared for, I sought out tips from other parents and the in-classroom teachers on how to navigate the curriculum and ways to make it more fun.
I created a weekly schedule template that worked with my self-diagnosed ADHD tendencies and INFP traits. It made it easier for me to see what I needed to do to prepare for teaching the material and scheduling what we were focusing on each day.
Then slowly, the wheels fell off the bus. Birthday season, family travel, holidays and state testing requirements made it challenging to find and keep a routine.
January just brought more of the same and by May we were just happy that everything got turned in and the pressure to keep up was over.
Hence why the backpacks have been left untouched and summer has been a mix of fun and guilt about how we finished the year.
Success Comes From Self-Knowledge
By reflecting on how the year felt, it has helped give me a sense of perspective. With a deep breath, I can reframe the story and more clearly see ways to live and learn. I can also more clearly name what worked and what needs a new approach.
I have been down a rabbit hole lately, learning more about my Myers-Briggs type (INFP which pairs nicely with my enneagram 9 turns out). And in the process I stumbled upon a tidbit about the inherent motivations of this archetype.
aka, understanding why certain things work for me and maybe less so for others
INFP's are motivated by vision and inspiration. Introspection actually fuels my energy and enables me to think clearly. No wonder my 4.5 year daily walk streak and journaling practice are so powerful to me.
Pulling the thread on different questions and ‘what if’ possibilities often leads to more fun rabbit holes and new ways to see the problem. But I can get overwhelmed by all of the 'things' when I don't have a sense of where things will end up.
If you are curious about your Myers-Briggs, you can take the free short assessment I love here.
Revisiting my Myers-Briggs type again helped me gain confidence in what I was already doing naturally, and is helping me lean into it more assuredly. So that I can fend off the overwhelm that comes with keeping the kids’ assignments straight along with my preparation that goes along with it.
It also helped me notice where I was getting tripped up so I could ask for help from other friends on a similar journey.
This week I realized that after four years into this rodeo, the schedule template I created helped, but only being aware of the week-to-week assignments made me feel lost, because I couldn’t see where it was all leading to.
That left me with little capacity to channel Mary Poppins as my spirit animal to add that element of fun to what needed to be done. And I wasn’t able to find fun ways to enhance and truly personalize the learning my own kiddos’ needs because I felt like I was always playing catch-up.
Being able to understand this trait, that I really need to have an overview of where this is all going before digging into the weekly assignments, will help me translate it into homeschooling. Now that I’ve discovered that ‘aha’, asking a friend and googling the answer was simple.
But it was noticing and naming the problem, knowing this trait about myself, and applying it to the situation that made it magically feel easeful.
Knowing yourself better is the critical step in living a life that lights you up. Having a framework to understand what makes you glow, your innate needs, desires and inner workings ultimately creates more ease in your everyday.
As journal prompts or self-reflection questions ask yourself-
What is my biggest struggle during the school year?
Do I have a similar issue in other parts of my life?
How can I approach it from a different perspective so I can truly solve for the ‘right’ problem?
Keep Yourself ‘Juicy’
‘Juicy’ is my way of describing a life that feels ripe with possibilities, dripping with sweetness and a messiness that keeps life memorable. Like a peach picked at the peak of summer.
In order to feel that way, you need to keep refilling your cup. Prioritizing the self-care practices that meet your specific, intrinsic needs so that you have the capacity to support yourself when challenges come up.
It’s that juiciness that makes you feel more fulfilled, resilient and alive. In short, it’s what makes you glow.
And it starts with my morning routine.
Using what I know about myself through my own contemplation and journaling, along with things that exploring my Myers-Briggs, Enneagram and Human Design have revealed, I make it a point to intentionally start my day with a few simple practices to align my energy with my goals for the day.
This information, plus my past experience of the stresses that come with trying to stay on top of our homeschool curriculum, running a business and life-ing, I keep experimenting with my morning routine so that I set myself up for success from the moment I wake up with just a few basic actions.
Here are the steps you can follow as a starting point for your own ‘juicy’ morning routine-
Take a moment to transition from sleeping to waking. Lay in bed for that extra moment to check in with yourself, observe what comes up, and set an intention for the day, focusing on the energetic and emotional state you want to embody.
Avoid immediately picking up your phone, and instead look out the window to let natural light activate your brain and gaze out so that you literally gain perspective on what’s in front of you.
When you do look at your phone, use it to first read some affirmations or listen to uplifting music to reinforce your intention and focus for the day.
Drink a full glass of water so that you signal your internal systems that you’re starting the day and literally pour into yourself so you feel ‘juicy’ and ready to take on the day.
These simple practices- transitioning mindfully, gaining perspective, and hydrating - are the core of my morning routine and sets me up for a positive and productive day. It helps me live more in alignment with my energy to eliminate unnecessary resistance that makes life harder than it needs to be.
Focusing on how you feel about the day ahead helps you calibrate your inner resources and capacity while starting your day off with a sense of wellness and replenishment and tuning into the natural cycles of life. The day works as a catalyst to get us to the places we’re meant to be more easefully and quickly. And having some quiet moments to check in with yourself allows to look into the rough glow edges and be open to possible ways to soften them and glow with more ease.
To hear more, check out what I shared about my morning routine as a recent podcast guest. On The Morning Upgrade, I talk through how I use these simple practices to align my energy with my goals for the day.
Taking these moments while the day still belongs to ME helps me do a ‘Glow Check’. It is a way to check in with and integrate the areas of the Glow Map into the day ahead and help me feel the feeling in advance that today is going to have moments where it feels amazingly awesome.
As journal prompts or self-reflection questions ask yourself-
Where do I feel unprepared or under-resourced as I start my day?
How can I shift expectations or ask for help to feel greater results?
What is something I can do before the day starts to help me grow my glow?
Curious about the Glow Map? Download your free mini-course to get started.
Start Exploring With Curiosity
Just like the Myers-Briggs assessment and Human Design remind you, there are a lot of different types of people in this world (and in your own household).
And what works for others may not work the best for you.
We need to be careful about the stories we tell ourselves about what happens when we try something that brought success and happiness to one person, felt forced and inauthentic to you. Or how something small that someone else doesn’t give another thought, weighs on you.
The practices I share here are intended to spark your own curiosity into noticing what works best for you. To inspire a growth mindset that notices ways to make life more easeful and flow with more harmony.
It’s good to be curious and try things a different way, and it’s stupendously helpful to find ways to name and learn things about yourself so that you can better guide yourself toward uncovering every nuance of your being.
Navigate the Chaos with More Ease
To help you with your journey toward having more mornings that set you up for success, I encourage you to intentionally get to know yourself this week. Use one of the typing methods I shared to offer some dynamics to contemplate as a starting point.
Observe yourself as you go through a stressful situation and notice what emotions come up, how they make you feel and what helps you move through the moment to the other side.
Look at areas of your life where things are ‘fine’ but actually drain you.
Notice where you feel like you are at max capacity or resources depleted to a critical level.
And take note of what lights you up, what comes easier for you than most and wonder how you can have more of that feeling in more parts of your life.
If you feel like you could use a map to help you navigate your glow and give you the perspective you need to navigate back to school chaos with more ease and inspire creating your own morning routine to grow your glow, download my free Glow Map mini course.
Explore the nine different facets of your glow and discover the thing that’s going to spark your own ‘aha’ moment.
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Stephanie Rose is a mom, wife, business owner and a forever student in finding ways to know herself better. She acts as guide for your own journey, sharing insights, tools and practices to help you remember your magic and live a life that lights you up. Sign up for her newsletter and check out her free resources.
