ADHD and Summer Work Life Balance | Simple Scheduling Strategies for ADHD Mom Entrepreneurs
Our ADHD brains have a real love-hate relationship with structure and routine when it comes to our schedules.
Even though many of us ADHDers hate to admit it, many of us do thrive on the structure that the school year provides.
And then summer comes along a blows up our whole harmonious structured vibe.
Ok, maybe it wasn't all harmonious but it was structured.
So summer hits….Schedules change. Nights are later. Routines disappear. And once a year opportunities for fun and frivolity present themselves at every turn.
But if you're a business owner, there’s a very good chance that you can't just hit pause your business for the summer and expect to pick right back up when the kids go back to school in the fall.
Which is why I wanted to take some time today to adaptable scheduling options that accommodate the unpredictability of summer while maintaining momentum and productivity.
Let’s discuss three simple strategies for creating flexible schedules versus rigid routines so you can, dare I suggest it, have a bit of summer work-life balance.
Is Work-Life Balance Possible?
I know there are many people out there that say that creating better work-life balance is a myth or impossible.
But I wholeheartedly disagree.
I think it’s because I see the concept of balance as less about being like a teeter-totter where you’ve got to have perfectly equal amounts on either side in order to achieve “balance”, and more like the wheel of a bike.
As long as all that parts and pieces you think are important are given some slice of the wheel, your wheel will still roll.
Take away a slice, even just a sliver, and your wheel is no longer complete, it isn’t going to roll, and you won’t be able to balance your bike while you’re riding.
So maybe work-life balance means all those important parts of pieces of your life that your value or deem necessary get at least a sliver of your time. 🤷♀️
ADHD Scheduling Strategies for Summer
The 3 ADHD-friendly scheduling strategies I’m sharing with you today help make sure you’re dedicating at least a little time to all the important slices each week.
Sure some week’s your family slice might take a little more space or your work may need a bit more some weeks, but the important part is that each week we are addressing the important parts of our wheel in some way, shape, or form so we can keep some balance.
ADHD Scheduling Strategies for Summer – Create a Loose Weekly Framework
As I talked about in the introduction, us ADHDers love the benefits of structure but we don’t really like implementing it.
Which is why I love the idea of making a loose framework for your week to address all the important parts of your wheel.
Start by filling in any non-negotiable commitments you’ve already made…morning swim team practice, calls with your team, family movie nights, and so on
Starting with this overview lets you see which days may be a little more full than others.
And just know that this overview may change a bit from week to week. But that’s actually makes this scheduling strategy work well for those of us with summer schedules that aren’t exactly the same week after week.
Once you’ve blocked what you MUST do, you can see what time you have available for other important tasks from your work or home to do list.
I recommend keeping a copy of this weekly overview somewhere that you and your family can reference it regularly.
This helps you stay aware of who needs to be where on what days. Or which days would be best for an impromptu trip to the zoo or spending a rainy afternoon getting caught up on creating social media posts.
And if you’d like, once you’re done with the weekly framwork, you can block time in to work on those important to-do’s in your open blocks. And speaking of time blocking…our second strategy is
ADHD Scheduling Strategies for Summer – Use Time Blocking... Lightly
I think one of the reasons us ADHDers often feel a little resistance when we hear the term “time blocking” is that is feels very rigid or inflexible.
We’re not gonna let that stupid calendar tell us what to do between 1-4pm on Tuesday!!
But when it comes to making sure that all the slivers of your wheel get the time they need so you can stay balanced, lightly blocking out regular time for work, family activities, household chores, etc can make sure your wheel keeps rolling.
It differs from the framework we discussed previously in that the framework starts by blocking out the non-negotiable, previously scheduled activities first to reveal when you can schedule time for the other important tasks or projects on your wheel.
With time blocking, you schedule general blocks ahead of time so you know the time is “blocked” to make space for that activity or project.
It might look like blocking 1-2 hours to work early in the morning every day before your kids get up and your day gets rolling.
It might be blocking 12-4p on Sunday afternoons for family dinner and time together.
The nice thing about time blocking is that there can be a bit of flexibility. You can determine what you’ll do during your morning work block based on urgency or priorities.
Each family member can take turns picking what they’d like to do during family time or you can decide as a group in the moment what sounds fun for that day.
ADHD Scheduling Strategies for Summer – Set Weekly Goals and Plans, Not Daily
My final strategy to help keep your business and home life humming along this summer is to try weekly planning versus daily.
This would mean spending some time figuring out what you’d like to do on which days for the upcoming week before Monday morning, ideally on Sunday night or even Friday as you wind down your work week.
Unlike the simple time blocking we just discussed, where you block time for activities then decide specifics at a later time, with weekly planning you’ll look for blocks of time when you can do the things that need to be done, and you assign certain tasks to certain time blocks.
Some ADHDers prefer to know what they’re getting into ahead of time so they don’t have to make a decision. They know what they’re going to do and when they’re going to do it.
All three of these strategies…creating a framework for the week, lightly time blocking your schedule, and planning for your entire week in advance…help you to make time to address all the slices in your wheel of importance so you can implement simple, flexible planning strategies to balance business tasks alongside family activities.
The goal is for you to create an easy summer schedule that addresses both personal and professional responsibilities.
And the great thing with these strategies is that you can try one and if it doesn’t seem to jam with your family or lifestyle, try a different one.
Or make adjustments with your chosen strategy until you can come up with something that works for you.
These suggestions are simply a springboard to help you figure out how you can juggle all the things and tasks and projects and activities this summer without additional overwhelm or like you have choose between your business and your family.
I’d love to know if you have any additional scheduling and planning tips as an ADHD mom business owner that help you keep things humming along during the summer months without feeling like you’re missing out.
And if you still think the planning or the follow through may be an issue for you, I’d love to help!
Click the button below to schedule your free, no-obligation call to discuss how my programs can help you plan what you’ll do each week based on priorities and availability. And how I’ll check in to make sure things are moving along.
