by Shannon Hollsten

Created on: August 19, 2010

Kids certainly aren't the only ones moping around the house with back to school blues. As a parent of two school-aged children, I find my own anxiety levels rising just thinking about homework, chauffeuring, and all the other must-have's or must-do's accumulating on my never-ending to-do list. 

Our solution:  An Interactive "Get-To-Do" List. 

We schedule our daily activities, chores, sports, TV time, down time, yada, yada, but we do it all on a giant chart with color-coded, removable tags. Anything that can be moved or, as we say, 'bumped up' and completed earlier than scheduled, leaves a 'spot' open where it is then replaced with a fun activity. 

As a family, we sat down and decided on this year's fun activities. We joined a rock climbing club, my son loves to play tennis, my daughter prefers bike rides on the trail, and I enjoy escaping into my world of books and writing. With the "Get-To-Do" board, we get to incorporate all our favorites into our busy lifestyle without feeling like we've simply added on one more 'thing' to get done.

My son says that our "Get-to-do" list is much more exciting than just 'winging it' because it's like manipulating time.  With the board, we always end up with a lot more time than we previously thought we had. My daughter likes the board because she says that without it she tends to waste time, which ultimately stresses her out because she failing to get things done results in less time with her friends.

So many families feel like they don't have enough time to hang out, play, learn piano, workout, or simply spend quality time together because they're running around playing catch-up on the business of life that they don't get to live. Yet, a simple adjustment in time management, such as our giant "Get-To-Do" chart, hung up in plain sight (ours is in the living room) where activities can be quickly added, removed, and readjusted can be unbelievably empowering.

Not only can it get rid of the back-to-school blues, but it can change the way we look at our responsibilities altogether.

If you're anything like me, the novelty of being a grown-up and paying bills like a responsible citizen wore off years ago. It turned into one of those dreadful monthly activities that even with the advent of the Internet seems overwhelming and just sucks the life out of me.

A small attitude adjustment on my part where I sat on my balcony one day and said, "Wow! I love this place. It's not a palace, but it's mine. It's home... and paying my bills is an activity that allows me to sit out here and enjoy my morning coffee while I contemplate the meaning of life or simply review my get-to-do list for the day." After that, I added "Pay Bills" to our "Get-To-Do" list.

All the activities that keep us healthy, safe, and give us time to explore our interests are in reality things we get to do versus have to do.

When you can see your world at a glance and can make changes, there's a certain level of control that you take back from what otherwise seems like a loss of control.

Stressful or demanding activities seem to carry more weight in our minds than they do in actuality. Once all the activities are up on the board, they don't seem as overwhelming or numerous as they did in our minds eye. This actually alleviates a lot of stress, which results less time spent stressing over what you need or want to do and more time doing it!

So, our solution for the back-to-school blues, a simple time management system for the entire family. It takes the focus off of returning to school, and puts an emphasis on returning to your life! 

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