Burnt Out? The Best Homeschool Mom Tips You Need to Recover

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Burnt out? I hear you, mama! I have totally been there and in this post, I want to talk to you about what to do when you’re burnt out and share my homeschool mom tips for how to get better.

As much as we talk about preventing burn out, we almost inevitably end up there.

When you’re in that hole, you don’t need someone standing there saying, “Well, if you do this and this and this, you won’t find yourself in this place.”

No! You need someone to lean down and offer you a hand up.

You need someone to tell you what to do so that you can get better.

A lot of the time we know how to avoid homeschool mom burnout but we end up there anyway.

I am the queen of getting burnt out. I suck at avoiding it. I am getting better but I find myself there every few months or so.

For me, it’s mental burn out. I get brain fog and I cannot think clearly. By that stage, it’s usually too late and I need to shut down for a week so I can just rest.

If that sounds like you, keep reading because I’m going to share how I get better and you can too.

The Best Homeschool Mom Tips for When You’re Burnt Out

These are the things that I have personally done and have found to help. They’re not some arbitrary ideas thrown into a blog post.

They work but you have to take action in order to get yourself into a better place.

#1 Stop Everything

I know sometimes you think, “but my kids NEED to do school now”.

Look, if at all possible just stop.

Stop school and take a break.

Stop everything that you possibly can (and be brutal with this!) and take the opportunity to rest.

And if you cannot stop everything…reduce it down to as much as you can.

For instance, stop all unnecessary school subjects.

I personally cut back on all unnecessary work tasks.

Your kids need a healthy mom and a healthy mom requires rest.

You’re only going to recover when you actually get a chance to rest.

#2 Reevaluate What You Deem to Be Necessary

I remember my mom coming to this point when I was a kid.

She homeschooled us and we were involved in lots of extracurricular activities as well as church activities.

One night we were eating our dinner on our laps on the way to yet another activity and she just called it quits.

She didn’t want us to live life like that so she cut back on everything we could.

You need to step back and think, “Is this REALLY necessary?”

As homeschool moms we can sometimes have a chip on our shoulders about the whole socialization thing and we set out to prove to everyone that we can counter that “issue” by enrolling our kids in a million different activities.

We end up overloading ourselves.

The reality is that you kids don’t need all of that.

As much as there is value in many of those things, we are at risk of overloading both ourselves and our kids.

I encourage you to step back and decide what is truly necessary in the season that you’re in.

And it is just a season. Just because you can’t do it now doesn’t mean that you can’t do it forever.

Related: What Homeschooling Isn’t

#3 Practice Self-Care & Healthy Boundaries

This is something that I’m always working to get better at.

Self-care is more about having boundaries set up on a daily basis so that you can avoid becoming burnt out.

When you’re in that burn out stage, you can stop everything and rest but then you need to set up healthy boundaries to avoid a relapse.

As homeschooling families this can mean setting an hour of quiet time in the afternoon so that everyone gets a chance to recharge.

I start getting burnt out when I lax those boundaries. I get resentful towards my children when it isn’t their fault.

It is not unrealistic to expect your children to have some quiet time in their rooms and it is just as good for them as it is for you.

I think this is particularly important for new homeschoolers who have recently come from the traditional school system.

It can be a big adjustment going from having your kids away many hours of the day to being home with you 24/7.

There will be some teething pains as you set up these boundaries but I encourage you to remain consistent.

It will benefit your entire family at the end of the day and you’ll be super grateful that you stuck with it.

#4 Add Things In Slowly

I’ve seen some homeschool moms start their school year by only starting with one or two subjects and then week by week adding more.

I think this is such a wise way to begin without getting totally burnt out right away.

They slowly built up to full capacity.

Apply this to your situation so that you don’t collapse under the weight of adding everything back in all at once.

Be intentional about what you’re allowing into your day and dedicating your time to.

#5 Avoid Comparison

One of the fastest ways to make yourself feel terrible is to compare yourself to other homeschool moms.

This will not help you when you’re burnt out and it will most certainly cause you to burn out again if you keep it up as a habit.

Don’t worry about what other homeschooling families are doing.

Your kids are your business and that’s where your focus should be. There’s no competition about what subjects, activities, and other things homeschool families choose to do.

Stick to what works for your family and do it with confidence.

Conclusion

I hope this was helpful. Like I said, I’m the queen of burn out and I need to take my own advice.

No one likes to be in that space. It stinks to lose your motivation and just struggle to get the bare minimum done.

So, if you’re there right now consider this your hand up.

I’m here to help you get better and do better.

We all fall victim to burn out but that doesn’t mean we can’t get better at creating healthy boundaries and taking care of ourselves for the sake of our children.