7 Steps I Took to Overcome Overwhelm as a Working Homeschool Mom

Last fall, I reached a breaking point. I felt like I was drowning in a sea of to-dos and should-dos, and I wondered if anything would ever change. Is this just how it feels to try to work and homeschool? Is it even possible long-term? Well, the answers are no (to the first) and yes (to the second). Here’s what I did to overcome overwhelm in that season and get to a place where homeschooling and working full-time peacefully co-exist in my life.

What to Do If You Feel Overwhelmed

If you’ve also experienced these feelings of overwhelm, this post is for you. Below, I’m sharing what worked for me, and I’m guessing that these things will also help you, if you’re in a similar season.

I Stopped Listening to Audiobooks

I know this might sound silly, but when I was feeling overwhelmed, my brain felt LOUD. It was like it was drowning in all of the input and the information that I was taking in as I worked and homeschooled and tried to be the best mother and wife I could be.

I looove books and I really enjoy listening to them as I do chores, etc. At the time of my overwhelm, I was in a season of listening to at least one book every week, along with podcasts and YouTube videos. I learned a lot from them, and there was nothing inherently wrong with them. But I was taking in so much information that I just couldn’t handle it anymore.

My brain needed me to slow down the input in order to have space for the information that was necessary for functioning as an employee and a homeschool mom and a wife.

I stopped listening to audiobooks completely for several months and the difference was astonishing. In combination with the next few things I did, letting go of audiobooks allowed my brain to quiet down and not constantly feel like it was on overload.

I Took a Social Media Break

Similar to my audiobook break, I took a social media break. I removed Facebook and Instagram from my phone completely and didn’t look at either of them for a full month.

During the break, I realized that Facebook is where I would spend the most time consuming non-relevant content and reading comments that didn’t sit well with me. The nature of Facebook just meant that the algorithm was feeding me divisive or irrelevant content that took up space in my brain and affected my attitude. So I decided that, at least for the time being, I’m done with it. Following my social media break, I never re-installed the app.

I do use (and love) Instagram. I’ve found that the algorithm does a fairly good job of only showing me content that is useful and uplifting for me. AKA: Other homeschool mom accounts. Lol. However, I still try to be careful with who I follow and how much I consume.

As I use Instagram, I don’t scroll the random reels it shows and I don’t look at Threads. The content and comments there tend to be more divisive and similar to what I was seeing on Facebook. As long as I stick to only viewing stories and posts from the people I specifically follow, I find a limited amount of time on Instagram to still be mostly positive.

I Simplified How I Manage My Tasks

Without a doubt, this is what made the biggest difference for me.

Part of the overwhelm I felt was a sense that there was wayyyy to much on my plate. But when I looked at what I was doing and all the things I was managing, the only things I could let go were the things that mattered most to me.

I couldn’t stop washing the dishes. I couldn’t quit my job. Well, I mean, I could have but with drastic consequences. But I could have stopped homeschooling or I could have given up the dream of this business, but those things were too near and dear to my heart to let go of. I didn’t want to give up the things that brought me the most joy.

So, if I didn’t want to lessen the load, I needed a better way for managing the tasks I needed to get done.

Up to that point, I had been managing each area of my life with a different tool or app. My work tasks were in a work planner and project management apps, my homeschool notes and plans were in my Notes app, my personal notes were split between my Notes app and OneNote, my housework tasks were in a home management binder.

And there wasn’t a space where I could easily view EVERYTHING I needed to accomplish in any given day.

That’s when I switched to a system where I could house everything and easily see that day’s tasks altogether or filtered out separately for work, homeschool, etc.

I took months designing the perfect system that worked specifically for my life as a working homeschool mom, and, gosh, it’s amazing. It’s taken the mental load and cut it by half, because now I know exactly what I need to do each day and allll of my notes and tasks live in one organized place.

P.S. If you’re interested in using my system, you can get on the waitlist HERE to be the first to know when it’s launched and possibly get access for free as a beta tester.

I Started Following a System for Housework

Housework has never been my strong suit. Honestly, I’ve always been terrible at keeping my house clean, and up until last fall, I basically followed an I’ll-clean-it-when-I-notice-it sort of system. When it got dirty enough for me to notice, I cleaned it. That was it.

That (non-existent) system led to a house that was definitely not clean and a husband who was constantly frustrated by the state of our home.

So I decided it was time to start following an actual system for keeping my home clean. I read “Home Management: Plain and Simple” by Kim Brenneman and then used that to create a system that works for me as a working homeschool mom.

I’ve now been following the system for almost six months and it’s been working like a charm. I don’t execute it perfectly, but my home is absolutely cleaner than it was before and I (and my husband) no longer feel the same kind of stress about the state of my home.

I Started Planning Consistently for Homeschooling

When my overwhelm was at its highest, my homeschool consistency was at its lowest. We would homeschool some days and not others. We’d go whole weeks without even touching our homeschool books. I felt like I was failing my son, and I wondered if homeschooling was really sustainable for us long term.

I knew something needed to change and I knew the only way I’d be able to homeschool consistently is if I started planning for homeschool consistently. Instead of committing to homeschooling every day, I committed to prepping for homeschool every day.

I now follow this system:

• Wednesday: Weekly homeschool planning session, where I write out our daily plans for the following week
• Sunday evening: Weekly homeschool prep, where I prep the materials and supplies I’ll need for that week
• Every evening: Daily homeschool prep, where I review our plans for the following day, set the papers we’ll be using in our “Today” folder, and set out any needed supplies

By following this system, homeschooling consistently has become much easier, and I feel much more confident in our ability to homeschool long-term.

I Created Daily Focus Areas for Work

With everything I was dealing with, keeping on top of work had started to feel impossible. I’ve always been a star performer at work, but I had noticed my performance start to dwindle and I started to worry others would begin to notice, too. The fear that I could be called out at work for less than stellar output added to my overwhelm.

Because my brain was crowded with allll the things I was trying to juggle, I was beginning to drop the ball on certain tasks at work. To fix it, I needed a new system that ensured I was getting to all of the things I needed to get to each week.

Enter “daily focus areas”. I assigned each day of the week with a specific focus area or project for work. For example, on Mondays, I do my planning and admin tasks for the week. On Tuesday, I work on planning our bi-annual retreats.

While there are other tasks I also need to get done each day, setting aside a couple hours to work on these focus areas each day helped ensure that less urgent tasks didn’t keep getting pushed back until they became urgent. My work performance increased and my fears of being “found out” for mediocre performance dissipated.

I Went to Counseling

Last but certainly not least, when things got too out of control for me to handle myself, I got help. I asked the pastors at my church for a counselor recommendation, and they gave me two names. The counselor I ended up seeing was beyond phenomenal, and I can’t overstate how much it helped to talk with her.

If you’ve tried to fix things on your own and it’s not working or if you feel like you’re drowning and you don’t know how to get out of the tide that’s swallowing you whole, please, please, please seek out professional counseling.

After four months of meeting with my counselor and implementing these other changes, my life and mental health looked drastically different and I no longer needed to meet with her. But I love knowing that she’s still there and available if I ever needed to talk again.

One Last Note

While none of these changes are all that huge, together they have been life-changing for me. I went from feeling completely in over my head to confident in accomplishing the many things on my to-do list.

I’m regularly asked how I seemingly “do it all”, and while we all know that nobody does, in fact, do it all, I manage what I do by relying on the systems mentioned above, which are all built into my productivity system that supports me in my unique life as a working homeschool mom.

If you’re in a tough season and are wondering how to overcome overwhelm as a busy homeschool mom, I hope you’ve found some things here that will be helpful to you!