Updated September 2022

Want to create a schedule for your kids but don’t want all the hassle of creating schedules, charts, and other things?

This lazy parent’s guide to creating a schedule for kids is just what you need to create a schedule without much effort.

This guide works great for any parent who wants a schedule but cannot handle too many steps. I have included things I have done to create a schedule while both homeschooling and public schooling my kiddos.

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Pick Your Priorities

This is the very first thing you need to plan before you put any sort of schedule into place. Pick your priorities. Not your kids, not your spouse…yours. For myself, I picked one work goal I wanted to complete. That is my priority. Every other detail can be handled at a different time or isn’t important enough to deal with.

The reason why you have to pick your priorities is because you can’t do it all. Right now is not the time to be an overachiever.

It was hard for me at first to only pick like 2-3 priorities a day. When all this started, I had grand plans to do “all the things”. But what I found was me yelling and angry and mad at everyone. So I took a second to see what was making me so frustrated.

Turns out, all the extra expectations I was putting on myself were stressing me out…who would have thought?!?!

So I started to pick 2-3 things I needed to do that day. That was it. I stopped trying to do all the things and only stick with a few. Now I feel more productive, I am not yelling, and I can end my day once all my tasks are complete.

Plan For “Alone Time”

After you pick your priorities, you need to schedule in time for yourself before you set a schedule for kids.

Grab your phone and put in time for yourself, whether that be a walk alone or taking a shower or simply watching a tv show by yourself. Include your spouse/significant other, and children in on this scheduling.

The reason being is that they understand why you are scheduling time. See if they want to schedule time for themselves as well.

For us, my husband doesn’t have calls in the afternoon, so I schedule my walks at that time. The kids can play with my husband or play independently or do schoolwork.

They know the rules during that time because we scheduled it in!!

Since I am such an introvert, I need alone time with no one bothering me. If I don’t do this daily, I get rather crabby. That is why it has been so important for everyone to have alone time.

Schedule Yourself First

Once you all decided the best time for you to have alone time, it is time to build your daily schedule.

First thing I do is put in my husband and my calls/meetings. The reason I do this is so that I know that during those times, the kids cannot do schoolwork that involves me. They have to do schoolwork independently or they have to play by themselves. This limits the stress around trying to do all the things.

Then I schedule a bit of time for me to work without interruptions. I also plan out what I am going to do the night before. Ok, it usually is in the afternoon because I try to be done around 3:00. My brain just doesn’t really function well after that.

I am using a paper planner that is broken up by hours. Each family member is color-coded so I don’t have to write their name just a time.

Schedule For Kids Next

Then I plug in the kids schedules next. Whatever activities they have is what I write down.

When I was homeschooling the kids, I would schedule in when they would do schoolwork after I scheduled in calls for my husband and myself. This way I knew an adult could help support the learning they were doing.

If you need more guidance on some ideas for how to keep kids working while you work, I wrote a post about that here.

Forget About The Rest

There are so many ideas on what scheduling needs to look like. But I am not a believer in all that.

Instead, you just need to worry about yourself, your kids, and anyone else in your household.

Don’t feel obligated to try and create cutesy schedules. Just use paper and pencil.

Keep things simple and you will be very happy with how your schedule for kids and yourself has turned out!

More Scheduling Ideas You Will Love

How To Create A Schedule For Stay-At-Home Moms– my favorite ways to look at what you are already doing and create a schedule that works for you.

Take A Peek Into Our Montessori Elementary Homeschool Daily Schedule– when I was homeschooling my kids, I followed the Montessori methodology. Read my tips here.

Daily Schedules and Routines for Kids– ways to create daily schedules and routine for kids that are a little more involved than the lazy parents’ way.