You’ve done it. You’re homeschooling. You’ve got your little darlings nestled at your feet while you read good and beautiful literature. You’re taking field trips to museums and art galleries. You’ve got a basket of science projects up your sleeve and a list of nature crafts ready to go. And you’re exhausted.

Is this how it’s always going to be?

Friend, homeschooling is work. It’s wonderful and tiring and work. But it doesn’t have to linger in the realm of exhaustion. Let’s talk about what to do when we get in that zone, and perhaps a few things to help us avoid it in the first place.

Plan to take a break

Remember that old saying – “if you fail to plan, you plan to fail”? Benjamin Franklin was on to something. And although he probably had some lofty country designing details in mind, it applies here too.

Taking a break from the daily routine can do more for our productiveness than we realize. When we take time to recharge and refresh, we can come back to our work with a renewed spark and sometimes even overcome obstacles that seemed impossible before.

How can we be sure we are getting the breaks we need? Plan for it. Schedule it. Block off the time and don’t let anyone interfere with it. Whether it’s 30 minutes every afternoon or a day per month, write it on your calendar and stick to it.

And guess what – your kids need it too. I know, they are living the life with all those field trips and nature crafts. But having time to just let their minds wander where they will without a structure can be just what they need to come back to their schoolwork with pep in their step.

Make your breaks meaningful – sometimes

What to do when you schedule in those breaks? Make a short list of things you love to do or have been anxious to do and schedule them in…sometimes. For so many of us we tend to see our break time as time to catch up on emails, get that annoying stain out of the living room carpet, or pull those weeds blocking the view from our Pinterest-worthy school room.

But oh how we need to remember that unstructured and unplanned time is important too. You’ve read those articles on how kids need to be bored every now and then. It actually challenges their minds and imaginations to work harder. Can we try that too? Can we just be bored for a little while? I already feel my imagination getting excited at the thought of it…

Go easy on yourself

Sometimes that feeling of needing alone time can step from a lack of confidence in what we are doing. The day-to-day worries and questions become overwhelming and we feel the need to retreat. Or we see how much our friends (or the families on Pinterest) are doing and we begin to compare.

And it bogs us down.

Let me encourage you to regularly take a step back and remind yourself of the why. Why are you homeschooling in the first place? What is your motivation? If you haven’t already defined that, read this.

Take stock of what your kids CAN do and KNOW right NOW. What have you already accomplished? What growth have you already seen? Don’t forget to look at non-academic progress. How has your relationship with your kids grown? If you moved to homeschooling from public school, how has their stress level changed?

Allow your kids time for themselves

I’ve mentioned this already, but kids need breaks too. Allow them unstructured time and a little freedom to explore their own interests. Some of us homeschooling parents can tend to make every life event into a learning opportunity. While it’s great to bring that learning in from calculating tax on the new toy they’ve saved up for, sometimes allowing our kids to discover things in their own way without our direction is just as valuable.

Don’t be afraid to be upfront with your kids about the need to recharge, and discuss ways to help each other! If you can include them in the process, they may develop a better understanding of your needs as well as how to help themselves when they are feeling overwhelmed. (See…another way to learn from daily life!)

When all else fails, reevaluate

If you are consistently exhausted, ask yourself why? What is the root cause? Life isn’t always neat and tidy, and sometimes we are faced with less-than-ideal circumstances that are out of our control. What then?

We often have to accept the fact that some things can’t be changed. But most things can be dealt with. Do you need a new routine that can alleviate the stress? Are you placing too much pressure on yourself (or the kids) to learn skills or topics that aren’t absolutely necessary?

Even the best of plans can result in the worst of realities. There is nothing wrong with scrapping the plan entirely in favor of something completely different. Do you need to consider online school for a time? A hybrid option that offers some classes outside of your home? Or maybe just scaling back to the basics while you work on finding ways to create balance?

Ask for help

In any situation, don’t be afraid to ask for help. Is there an adult family member than can babysit once in a while or make a meal once a week? Do you have older children that can watch the younger ones while you hide in the bathroom for an hour? Can you alternate babysitting with members of your church or close friends?

If you know other homeschooling families, ask the parents how they find time for themselves. Perhaps you’ll find they share similar struggles, and just talking about it can reassure you that what you’re feeling is normal. And then you can babysit for each other.

It’s a season

If you are new to homeschooling or just thinking about homeschooling, I hope I’ve encouraged you that feeling like you need “me-time” is a totally normal thing, and can totally be addressed. And if you have been at this a while, I hope you are reassured that you’re not alone and that it’s not too late to find something that works for you! After all, our end goal is to provide the best education we can for our kids. It won’t always be easy, but it will always be worth it. And in the end, it’s just for a season. Before we know it, they’ll be adults and we’ll have plenty of time for that imagination-boosting boredom.