Simplified Organization Audio Blog: quick actions, organized attitudes

Welcome to The Simply Convivial Audio Blog! Releasing weekly on Wednesdays, this podcast brings you short & meaty focus sessions to help you keep your head in the game as a classical homeschool mom. Check out the podcast page here and please leave a review. Thanks! Fortiter fideliter forsan feliciter, or Repentance Season 1: Education is For Life This motto keyed into a vague notion I’ve been pondering lately: The idea of focusing more on the process, on doing what I should do, and leaving the results, the outcome, to God. The world recommends setting SMART (specific, measurable, actionable, realistic, timely) goals, where the focus is on achieving measurable results. But, doesn’t the Bible focus more on obedience and trust? And aren’t so many of the things we strive for as mothers and home-educators not exactly measurable? Yes, getting dinner on the table or taking the kids to the dentist could be accomplished as a SMART goal, but these things are small parts of a bigger vision and goal that is not at all measurable, not even all that specific, and much too long-term to be “timely”: raising healthy, happy, godly children. The motto means “bravely, faithfully, perhaps successfully.” What I love about this motto is the reminder that so often the results are not in our hands. We are called to obey faithfully, but God gives the increase – in His time, in His way – and it often doesn’t look like what we expected. We can’t control how things will work out, but we can control whether or not we obey, right here, right now. We can trust that God will work it all out in the end. Read the original post: A Life of Repentance Listen: Resources: * George Grant: Education is repentance * Martin Luther: 95 Theses * Why You Want to Give Up Homeschooling Simple Sanity Saver: Brain Dump Once you have a full brain dump, you have a clear head, but you also have a notebook full of random bits – some vitally important and some trivial. Now what? Now you process. Before you can process, you need to have a planning system in place so that you can trust you won’t lose that vitally important information. In short, you need a reliable calendar, a place for notes that you actually look at, and a habit for working through task lists. Work the Plan walks you through setting up these systems and building the habits of using them if you need further help there. Processing the brain dump will also take multiple sessions over the course of a week or more. It’s sort of like you’ve totally emptied a closet (your brain) and now you have a pile of treasures and junk heaped up in front of you. It’s time to sort through it and figure out what you’re going to keep and what you’re going to throw away. So the best first processing step with your brain dump is to go through with a black pen and delete. Toss the trash. Delete the unrealistic expectations. Cross off the worries. Let go of the outside pressures. Delete whatever you can. If you aren’t sure you should delete it or if you just aren’t ready to, there’s another option. We’ll cover that in the next sanity saver segment. Spread the word! Leaving a review on iTunes will help other homeschooling moms discover this podcast!

This phrase, Festina Lente, juxtaposes both briskness and plodding. We should make haste because we should not be stagnant or lethargic, but we also should go forward slowly. So the maxim of festina lente opposes both laziness and impulsiveness. It requires both action and thought. It steers us from both sides of the ditch. Faithfulness doesn’t imply large, impressive deeds. Faithfulness is all about doing what’s in front of you – your own duty, however humble that is – reliably and earnestly. Faithfulness does not evaluate how a duty ranks in the public eye or whether or not the duty will earn credit; faithfulness steadily fulfills its calling. Classical homeschooling requires moms and homemakers who will festina lente: make haste slowly, patiently.

Welcome to The Simply Convivial Audio Blog! Releasing weekly on Wednesdays, this podcast brings you short & meaty focus sessions to help you keep your head in the game as a classical homeschool mom. Check out the podcast page here and please leave a review. Thanks! multum non multa, or Simplicity Season 1: Education is For Life The principles that we base our education upon are the same principles we can base our home routines, our activity choices, and our personal goals upon. These are truly principle principles, first things, foundational things. Another way the Latin phrase multum non multa can be translated is ‘not quantity but quality.’ This sentiment is one that has several traditional English proverbs, as well: Quality over quantity, and less is more. The principle tells us that we should privilege depth and quality over breadth and quantity. It means that it is ok to say no to good things when we realize that saying yes would diminish the quality and depth of the good things we are already committed to. It helps us recognize and be content with our finiteness. Read the original post: The Simple Life, multum non multa Listen: Resources: * Christopher Perrin’s series on the principles of classical education * Review: Managers of Their Homes Simple Sanity Saver: Brain Dump A brain dump is simply writing down whatever is piling up in your head when you start to feel a little crazy, a little overwhelmed, a little swamped. And if you’re feeling a lot swamped, a brain dump is essential! When you write it all down on paper, you move it from the ethereal realm where it’s vague obligation and stress to concrete words on paper you can deal with. When it’s written down, you can better see what’s bothering you and instead of using your mind to hold details and try to remember things, you can use your mind to actually think about those details and make solid decisions. Putting things down onto paper clears the space in your head. A brain dump is not a to do list. A brain dump is just a collection. You might move things from your brain dump notebook to a to do list, but you might also – and probably should also – move things from your brain dump notebook into the trash. Whenever you start to feel like you just can’t juggle everything, try grabbing a piece of paper and writing down all that makes up your everything you’re trying to juggle. You’re sure to have some ah-ha moments. Spread the word! Leaving a review on iTunes will help other homeschooling moms discover this podcast!  

Often when we plan out our goals, we think in year-long chunks of time, either personal goals in January or academic goals in August. If you’ve ever done this, perhaps you’ve noticed that it’s really difficult to keep those goals. A cycle I’m familiar with goes like this: * Commit to a huge life-overhaul, personal transformation sort of goal for the year. * Go for it gung-ho for two or three weeks in January. * Burn out in February. * Forget about it in March. * Remember and try again in April. * Be hit-or-miss in May. * Get distracted in June. * Remember again in August and try hard. * Have too many other things on my plate in September. * Remember in late October. * Feel like it’s too late now. * Give up until January. This year, I’ve found an way to avoid this cycle, to keep motivated, and to have goals while remaining flexible. Intervals. Interval, noun * an intervening time or space * a pause; a break in activity * a space between two things; a gap. Listen to this article: Intervals have two components: a period of focused, intense activity and a pause or space between the bursts. The applications for intervals are broad, and usually not applied to planning or goal setting. Interval Exercise When I’m trying to lose weight and get back into shape after having a baby, I turn to the couch-to-5k program. It’s an easy way to do interval training, which gives you the greatest results for the least amount of work. The idea behind intervals is that you work at your highest capacity, giving all you got, for a very short amount of time. Then you have a recovery period. You alternate periods of intense effort and recovery. When you exercise this way, you boost your metabolism and achieve longer afterburn than with any other method. Interval Programming Programmers and others in high-tech companies have started implementing this concept in their work environment. They call the intervals “sprints,” and it’s known as Agile Development. The idea instead of spending a huge amount of time and money on upfront engineering-like design of software and continual documentation along the way, they roll out software that meets the requirements as soon as possible, then debug and add features in short sprints – sending out a new version each sprint to keep the software in continual improvement. At the end of every sprint, they also evaluate how they did, where they’re going, and how they can improve not only the software, but also their processes. Interval Planning After exercising in intervals and talking to my husband about how his company implements Agile methods, I started wondering if there was a foundational principle I could apply in other areas of my life. I have often heard it said that life is a marathon, not a sprint, but how does one train for a marathon? Through sprints and rests. Even within a marathon (hypothetically for myself), runners will run faster for periods of time and then take a “break” by slowing their speed to catch their breath and build up stamina for another burst. So why not apply those same principles to how we plan and work out our plans? Interval planning to the rescue. Learn how to make an interval plan In this series, which will run on Fridays through May, I’ll talk about each of these components of an interval plan. Components of an Interval Plan

Festina Lente, or Faithfulness part of the Education Is for Life series This series was inspired by Chrisopher Perrin’s great webinars on the principles of classical education. One of my favorites so far was his “deep dive” into the principle Festina Lente. Erasmus wrote of this proverb in his Adagia: If you weigh carefully the force and the sentiment of our proverb, its succinct brevity, how fertile it is, how serious, how beneficial, how applicable to every activity of life, you will easily come to the opinion that among the huge number of sayings you will find none of greater dignity. So, let’s apply this motto maybe not to every activity of life, but at least those that make up a large percentage of our days. These principles are for life – not just for schooling. I must admit, though, I was tempted to veer into school talk when I read Erasmus’ essay on Festina Lente, because he clearly sides with a “better late than early” mindset. If you’ve ever been tempted toward an “accelerated” mindset, read sections 28 & 29 in this short essay and be encouraged to not push your children before they are ready – early academics is not classical. Listen to this post: Festina Lente This phrase, Festina Lente, juxtaposes both briskness and plodding. We should make haste because we should not be stagnant or lethargic, but we also should go forward slowly because, as Erasmus put it, Things that are foreseen and provided for by slow and gentle forethought are safer than what is hurried into action by hot and hasty heads. So the maxim of festina lente opposes both laziness and impulsiveness. It requires both action and thought. It steers us from both sides of the ditch. Faithfulness A poem Cindy Rollins through the years has oft quoted is Little drops of water, little grains of sand, make the mighty ocean and the beauteous land. And the little moments, humble though they may be, make the mighty ages of eternity. Most of what we as mothers do all day are little grains of sand: read a book, correct a child, make a meal, sweep a floor, change a diaper. Our days are full of small tasks, but their smallness does not mean they are insignificant. It is in these ways that we love our families. I think that the English word that summarizes this Latin motto is faithfulness: Faithful, adjective 1. strict or thorough in the performance of duty: a faithful worker. 2. true to one’s word, promises, vows, etc. 3. steady in allegiance or affection; loyal; constant: faithful friends. 4. reliable, trusted, or believed. 5. adhering or true to fact, a standard, or an original; accurate: Faithfulness doesn’t imply large, impressive deeds. Faithfulness is all about doing what’s in front of you – your own duty, however humble that is – reliably and earnestly. Faithfulness does not evaluate how a duty ranks in the public eye or whether or not the duty will earn credit; faithfulness steadily fulfills its calling. Moreover, it is required of stewards that they be found faithful. (1 Corinthians 4:2, ESV) Faithfulness at Home To make haste slowly in the home, I think, is to embrace routine, embrace maintenance, embrace the ongoing nature of the task.