As the school year winds down, my mind has started to cast forward to next year. Booklists, supply lists and schedules oh my! This will be our first year homeschooling high school. So Summertime prep feels different, a little more urgent.
I’m a big fan of Kendra Adachi’s new book called The Lazy Genius Way. I borrowed both the Kindle version and the hardcopy from our library. After tearful returns, I decided I probably needed to own my own copy! The straightforward book offers 13 principles to help you decide what matters and focus your energy, attention, and creativity there.
I thought I’d spend the summer sharing each principle and how we’re using it in our homeschool–just one way the principle might apply. The idea isn’t necessarily to copy what we’re doing, but to see how the principles might work in your own homeschool, the place where YOU are the expert!
Let’s get started with Lazy Genius Principle #1–Decide Once.
This principle helps us sidestep decision fatigue by clearly choosing what we’ll do in a given situation–just one time. So for example, at our house school starts at 9 am. Yes, we have the flexibility to start late. Yes, there are exceptions. But I never have to decide if it’s time to start school. I’ve decided once that 9 usually works! And I don’t have to convince kids to leave Lego or puzzles or drawing. They know when it’s time to set those aside.
But the place where deciding once has helped the most is with procedure lists. Out of all the things that could count for “doing history” I decided once that we will listen to the Story of the World audiobook, do map work, and read occasional picture books. We do other things too. But this is the reliable pattern that I can plan and prepare for.
Has decision fatigue derailed your homeschool? Is there a place where you might decide once and reap the benefits of clarity and peace?
