I am not in grad school or planning to be (haha) but this was super helpful for general time and energy management! Especially the different buckets… I have been a bit scattered lately with lots of different responsibilities, and I realize how helpful it would be to stick to one bucket at a time.
Sabbath — this is something that’s been on my heart lately. I feel the Lord inviting me into it. I tried a few years ago to make this a regular practice and it was a mess, but if I’m being honest, it was coming from a place of religious duty and performance. It caused more shame and headache than anything. My heart posture is different this time around and the invitation has been gentle and welcoming. I would appreciate any thoughts/advice you have on how to navigate practicing sabbath if your spouse is not joining you in the practice (yet)?
Buckets aren't a glamorous picture at all, but they help me so much! I hope they do you as well.
Heart posture does make such a difference with Sabbath! I'm glad you are coming back into it from a different place. I think make Sabbath as inviting of an experience as you can even if your spouse isn't participating. How can you rearrange your responsibilities and your life together to where your family is blessed by what you plan too?
This is great advice, and I’m happy to say that I did roughly the same things while I was in grad school. I was also working full time for the department of health and had internships that went along to with my degree.
We have lived and died by our family calendar for a long, long time. Like you said, if ain’t on the calendar, we’re not going. I didn’t have to use a planner but that’s only because my calendar worked well enough for that. I created a private one with all of the due dates and deleted them as the assignment was turned in. Canvas, the platform my school used for online learning, also had a due date calendar and that was a good failsafe.
I didn’t do schoolwork on Friday or Saturday, unless it was absolutely necessary. But I didn’t do much else on the those days, either. Friday nights usually found me asleep (glasses on, documentary playing on tv) by about 9, and Saturday was family time. I usually hit the books and assignments on Sunday after post-church lunch. I lost count of many times i startled awake to someone taking my glasses off my face and moving my iPad from my chest.
My husband carried the load of cooking and cleaning while I was in school, and wouldn’t let me cook or clean unless I insisted (I never did lol). We also used HelloFresh a lot during this time and my son really enjoyed cooking dinner.
I learned a lot about what I’m capable of during this time. Some truly terrible anxiety took hold of me (unrelated to school), and I ended up leaving my job at the DOH, but the amount of time it gave me back was wonderful. I kept the same routine, but I felt like I could breathe again.
I had forgotten, until reading your comment just now, about a time that my husband took over all kitchen duties while I devoted my free time to a business mentorship. For months! I was going to say, Bless your husband!, and then I remembered I should bless mine too for being so so helpful during that time. 😭
Bless them both! I didn’t realize how much of the load I carried, in regards to the meal-planning and cooking I did until I didn’t have to do any. I’m really grateful he did that for me because I think that would have been the straw that broke the camel’s back.
Yes, my husband is as involved in our home and family as I am and it's such a gift. Not just for getting me through grad school but to our boys and our lives together! Thanks for sharing what you did. I think it's so helpful to see how you can do many different things and make it work!
I have so much respect for you, Lisa!! I truly am in awe that you were able to juggle all of that and still act like a completely normal and sane person!!
I migrated fully to online planning/calendaring two years ago. Google Calendar & Notion for personal (including seminary) and Todoist for work. Prior to that I was an Erin Condren Life Planner enthusiast for years.
I love what you say about bucketing. I really need to do that. I've gotten good over the past few years in seminary at saying no and paring down but how the buckets bleed into each other and make me feel like I'm not doing anything well or wholeheartedly feels not-quite-right and this seems like a possible solution.
I am not in grad school or planning to be (haha) but this was super helpful for general time and energy management! Especially the different buckets… I have been a bit scattered lately with lots of different responsibilities, and I realize how helpful it would be to stick to one bucket at a time.
Sabbath — this is something that’s been on my heart lately. I feel the Lord inviting me into it. I tried a few years ago to make this a regular practice and it was a mess, but if I’m being honest, it was coming from a place of religious duty and performance. It caused more shame and headache than anything. My heart posture is different this time around and the invitation has been gentle and welcoming. I would appreciate any thoughts/advice you have on how to navigate practicing sabbath if your spouse is not joining you in the practice (yet)?
Buckets aren't a glamorous picture at all, but they help me so much! I hope they do you as well.
Heart posture does make such a difference with Sabbath! I'm glad you are coming back into it from a different place. I think make Sabbath as inviting of an experience as you can even if your spouse isn't participating. How can you rearrange your responsibilities and your life together to where your family is blessed by what you plan too?
This is great advice, and I’m happy to say that I did roughly the same things while I was in grad school. I was also working full time for the department of health and had internships that went along to with my degree.
We have lived and died by our family calendar for a long, long time. Like you said, if ain’t on the calendar, we’re not going. I didn’t have to use a planner but that’s only because my calendar worked well enough for that. I created a private one with all of the due dates and deleted them as the assignment was turned in. Canvas, the platform my school used for online learning, also had a due date calendar and that was a good failsafe.
I didn’t do schoolwork on Friday or Saturday, unless it was absolutely necessary. But I didn’t do much else on the those days, either. Friday nights usually found me asleep (glasses on, documentary playing on tv) by about 9, and Saturday was family time. I usually hit the books and assignments on Sunday after post-church lunch. I lost count of many times i startled awake to someone taking my glasses off my face and moving my iPad from my chest.
My husband carried the load of cooking and cleaning while I was in school, and wouldn’t let me cook or clean unless I insisted (I never did lol). We also used HelloFresh a lot during this time and my son really enjoyed cooking dinner.
I learned a lot about what I’m capable of during this time. Some truly terrible anxiety took hold of me (unrelated to school), and I ended up leaving my job at the DOH, but the amount of time it gave me back was wonderful. I kept the same routine, but I felt like I could breathe again.
I had forgotten, until reading your comment just now, about a time that my husband took over all kitchen duties while I devoted my free time to a business mentorship. For months! I was going to say, Bless your husband!, and then I remembered I should bless mine too for being so so helpful during that time. 😭
Bless them both! I didn’t realize how much of the load I carried, in regards to the meal-planning and cooking I did until I didn’t have to do any. I’m really grateful he did that for me because I think that would have been the straw that broke the camel’s back.
Yes, my husband is as involved in our home and family as I am and it's such a gift. Not just for getting me through grad school but to our boys and our lives together! Thanks for sharing what you did. I think it's so helpful to see how you can do many different things and make it work!
I have so much respect for you, Lisa!! I truly am in awe that you were able to juggle all of that and still act like a completely normal and sane person!!
haha Paloma, thank you for thinking I am normal and sane!
I migrated fully to online planning/calendaring two years ago. Google Calendar & Notion for personal (including seminary) and Todoist for work. Prior to that I was an Erin Condren Life Planner enthusiast for years.
I love what you say about bucketing. I really need to do that. I've gotten good over the past few years in seminary at saying no and paring down but how the buckets bleed into each other and make me feel like I'm not doing anything well or wholeheartedly feels not-quite-right and this seems like a possible solution.
I still use the buckets! It helps me so much. Gives me a visual to switch between responsibilities.