OH! Magazine - Australian Version March 2018 | Page 18

( Focus On Family )
DITCH THE SCHEDULING
TO REDUCE STRESS
Maggie Scott shares her tips to help reduce the stress in the family schedule.
o you approach the weekend with
dread? How will you juggle what
you need to get done, plus getting your
kids to sports and other social events on
time?
D
Sixty per cent of kids are driven to school
and the rate of driving is even higher for
out of school activities.
An average family spends 5.6 hours every
week just driving their kids to sports
activities. This number increases to 16
hours per week when time spent watching
and helping are included. No wonder our
roads are clogged and families are feeling
stressed!
So, if we don’t want our kids to cut back
their activities but we want to reduce our
stress levels, what things can help us?
Here is a list of strategies that can help
families take the stress out of their
schedules!
Share the load
Find people to share the load with. It
makes no sense for each parent to drive
their kid only to an activity. Go out of your
way to connect with parents whose kids
do the same activities. If you don’t know
anyone then introduce yourself and work
to build your network. Before you know it
you will know half the class/team! To get
the ball rolling make an offer of spare
seats to others. In the same way sleep
creates sleep in babies, offering help
makes others more likely to do the same.
When someone offers you help, accept it
with an attitude of grace, not defeat!
By sharing transport not only will you
have to spend less time on the road, your
child will also have the opportunity to
forge friendships and see parents model
the sort of community behaviour we
expect our kids to demonstrate.
Plan in advance
Consolidate family activities
Look for opportunities to group the
activities, rather than spread them across
days. I find one busy day followed by one
‘rest’ day is better than having deaily
commitments. For example, if you have
multiple kids in swimming lessons, try
and get the lessons at the same time or
right after each other.
Make use of the downtime associated
with kids’ activities. Often there are short
chunks of time, like training sessions,
that can be put to good use rather than
sitting scrolling through social media.
Can you squeeze in a 30-minute run/
walk, get some work done while you wait,
or pick up any last minute supplies?
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OH! MAGAZINE ( MARCH 2018 )
Spending time in advance, to get
organised, will save you headaches in the
longer term. Make sure everyone who
needs it can access critical information
like game times and locations. If you have
schedules that change week-to-week,
make sure you check at least the day
before a match, not just immediately
before it’s due to start.
Delegate
Every family needs to find their own
balance in terms of who does what, but
don’t let yourself be a martyr to the family
schedule. If you have a partner, have
them take on responsibility for certain
things; there is also no reason why kids,
as they get older, can’t make sure they
know what time they need to be ready
and have the clothes/equipment they
need sorted out on their own.
In addition to the above there are lots of
apps/other tools that can help ensure
your scheduling becomes seamless.
Connect with your kids
One side effect of being busy is that you
gain more time to connect with your kids.
And in doing so, you might just be
surprised by how you can end up having
amazing
conversations
with
your
beloveds, during transit times.
Maggie Scott is the founder of the app
Parachutte, and a Melbourne mum of two
school-aged kids.