Bonni Stachowiak, a professor at Vanguard University and host of the Teaching in Higher Ed podcast, dives into family productivity with practical tips. She discusses under-scheduling commitments to create family margins and highlights the success of shared calendars for smooth scheduling. Bonni emphasizes involving kids in household chores, promoting collaboration and responsibility. The conversation also touches on the importance of establishing a family vision and balancing leadership with management to enhance family life.
Creating margin in daily schedules is vital for managing unexpected events and fostering a healthier family life.
Utilizing organized systems like shared digital calendars and incubation lists enhances communication and clarity of responsibilities within the family.
Deep dives
The Importance of Margin in Daily Life
Creating margin in daily schedules is essential to effectively manage unexpected events. By allowing buffer time in their agendas, the hosts demonstrate how avoiding tightly packed schedules helps maintain balance. For example, they shared how planning to arrive early for school drop-offs can prevent stressful scenarios, like being late due to traffic. This approach leads to a healthier family life, where spontaneity is embraced and they routinely enjoy unstructured time together.
Effective Communication and Organization Systems
The hosts emphasized the importance of having organized systems for communication and scheduling within their family. Using shared digital calendars allows everyone to stay informed about pick-up and drop-off times for the children, alleviating scheduling conflicts. They mentioned tools like Acuity for professional calendaring and how their organization efforts have reduced miscommunication with caregivers. This structured approach helps to create a harmonious family environment and ensures responsibilities are clearly defined.
The Power of Capturing Ideas and Maintaining Focus
Capturing ideas and tasks is crucial to managing a busy life and maintaining focus on what is important. The hosts discussed the practice of maintaining incubation lists, which enables them to note down ideas for future consideration without feeling overwhelmed. They highlighted the necessity of distinguishing between immediate tasks and long-term goals, ensuring they can dedicate their attention to what's essential at any given moment. This system allows them to feel less burdened by scattered thoughts, leading to a more organized and focused approach to both work and family.
Collaboration and Shared Responsibilities at Home
Collaboration between partners and the delegation of responsibilities are key to creating a balanced family life. The hosts shared how involving their children in household tasks fosters a sense of teamwork and teaches responsibility from a young age. They noted that creating systems for chores and family contributions not only alleviates pressure on parents but also empowers children to take ownership of their environment. This practice enhances familial bonds and supports the development of essential life skills in their children.
Bonni Stachowiak: Teaching in Higher Ed
Bonni Stachowiak is the host of the Teaching in Higher Ed podcast, a professor of business and management at Vanguard University, and my life partner. Prior to her academic career, Bonni was a human resources consultant and executive officer for a publicly traded company. She is the author of The Productive Online and Offline Professor: A Practical Guide*.
Key Points
Create margin by under-scheduling family and kid commitments. Our default setting is to have a limited about scheduled on weekends.
We collaborate on schedules by using shared iCloud calendars as a family. Acuity Scheduling* supports both of us professionally in automating scheduling to ensure conflicts are rare.
We both use systems to capture ideas and activities before we decide to move on them. The Drafts app helps both of us do this quickly. Bonni keeps a “someday/maybe” list and Dave keeps an “incubation” list.
We get the kids involved with household responsibilities, so everybody learns to contribute and share daily work.
Take time to put on your leadership hat to make decisions about what’s important. Then, you can manage from there.
Resources Mentioned
The Productive Online and Offline Professor: A Practical Guide* by Bonni Stachowiak
Full Focus Planner* from Michael Hyatt
Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World* by David Epstein
Who Killed the Weekend? by Katrina Onstad
Kourosh Dini: Mind, Music, & Productivity
Streaks app
Related Episodes
Getting Things Done, with David Allen (episode 184)
How to Become the Person You Want to Be, with James Clear (episode 376)
Finding Joy Through Intentional Choices, with Bonni Stachowiak (episode 417)
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