Thriving In Motherhood Podcast | Productivity, Planning, Family Systems, Time Management, Survival Mode, Mental Health, Vision - Weekly Planning In Our Marriage [Episode 336]

Weekly Planning In Our Marriage [Episode 336]

11/06/24 • 23 min

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Thriving In Motherhood Podcast | Productivity, Planning, Family Systems, Time Management, Survival Mode, Mental Health, Vision

I’ve been getting questions after the focus on how to merge effective mom planning with planning with your spouse. Andrew and I sat down after we tucked the kids into bed this week and talked about what planning looks like for us in our marriage which I hope will inspire you.

But first, let’s get some misconceptions out of the way:

Misconception #1: We Plan the Same Way

Nope! Andrew has his own style of planning that works for his work schedule and keeping his priorities in check.

Misconception #2: We are good at weekly, monthly, quarterly, and annual planning together.

Also, no. We are pretty great at weekly planning (we rarely skip). We are good at doing annual reviews together. Anything beyond that is superb, but we really haven’t been consistent over the last 13 years of marriage. I hope that encourages you. You only need to be pretty good at one thing to have a huge impact in your marriage and family life.

Misconception #3: We follow a clear checklist and it’s the same every time.

Negative. We have fine-tuned what we cover and we adjust it based on how much time and energy we have and how unusual the week is.

In this week’s podcast episode, we’re pulling back the curtain on our real-life planning process.

You’ll discover:

The story of how our weekly planning tradition began
What actually makes it into our shared planning agenda
Our individual prep work (and how much we actually share)
A peek into our typical planning session
Why these weekly check-ins matter (and what happens when we skip them)

Whether you’re just starting out or looking to refresh your approach to planning with your spouse, I think you’ll find something helpful in this episode.

But first, let’s get some misconceptions out of the way:

Misconception #1: We Plan the Same Way

Nope! Andrew has his own style of planning that works for his work schedule and keeping his priorities in check.

Misconception #2: We are good at weekly, monthly, quarterly, and annual planning together.

Misconception #3: We follow a clear checklist and it’s the same every time.

Negative. We have fine-tuned what we cover and we adjust it based on how much time and energy we have and how unusual the week is.

In this week’s podcast episode, we’re pulling back the curtain on our real-life planning process.

You’ll discover:

The story of how our weekly planning tradition began
What actually makes it into our shared planning agenda
Our individual prep work (and how much we actually share)
A peek into our typical planning session
Why these weekly check-ins matter (and what happens when we skip them)

Whether you’re just starting out or looking to refresh your approach to planning with your spouse, I think you’ll find something helpful in this episode.

Previous Episode

The Joy of Slow with Leslie Martino [Episode 335]

Have you ever felt the need to speed up your child’s life? Like it’s some kind of race to cram in everything they need before they turn 18? Today’s conversation with Leslie Martino challenged my thinking about this in the best possible way.

Leslie has four kids (14, 12, and 10-year-old twins), and she shared something that hit home: older kids deserve a slow childhood too. We often talk about peaceful, slow living for little ones, but somewhere along the way, we forget that older kids are still kids.

In this week’s episode, we talked about some practical aspects of slow living with older kids like:

How to say no to the right things
Finding a community with like-minded families
Managing the balance between activities and home life
Creating intentional check-in times with each child

If you’ve ever felt overwhelmed by the pace of life with older kids, or if you’re approaching the teenage years and wondering how to maintain close connections, this episode is for you. Leslie shares so much wisdom about creating a life that reflects your values, even (and especially) as your kids grow older.

Tune in to hear our full conversation, including Leslie’s insights from her new book, The Joy of Slow: Restoring Balance and Wonder to Homeschool Learning. Whether you homeschool or not, her perspective on slowing down and staying connected with older kids is something every parent needs to hear.

Next Episode

5 Lessons I've Learned From This Busy Season [Episode 337]

This fall has been a very busy season for our family where we are stuck tackling things that are urgent. While it has been exhausting and at times felt like survival mode (some days have been 100% survival mode), I have learned some powerful lessons that are changing how I approach my days that I discuss in this week’s episode.

I’ve found myself living on razor-thin margins lately - where there’s just enough capacity for the scheduled things, but anything else feels impossible. Throughout this season, I’ve been learning some important lessons about how to make things work better, even when we’re at capacity:

How a simple whiteboard is changing our family communication and getting everyone moving in the same direction
What happened when I started letting my family help instead of running faster and faster by myself
Why acknowledging our limitations (and communicating them to our kids) actually makes everything easier
The mindset shift that’s helping me recognize I’m more capable than I think
How simplifying and creating systems is slowly giving us more breathing room

All these lessons from our busy season are becoming part of something bigger - The Surviving to Thriving Toolkit.

After years of hearing, “I found your podcast - where do I start?”, I realize that all roads point to this toolkit. It will walk you through each stage of the journey from surviving to thriving, with real, practical help for wherever you are right now.

I’m also including a Family Systems Playbook with video walkthroughs of how we actually make things work in our home. Not because it’s the only way or even the best way, but because having a starting point can make such a difference when you’re trying to figure things out for your own family.

Right now I’m working on Win Your Week Academy (the Thriving phase) and in January I’ll start building out the other modules. I’m hoping to release the full toolkit in early 2025. If you want to be the first to know when it’s ready, you can join the waitlist at: thrivinginmotherhoodpodcast.com/toolkit.

I hope this episode helps you pause and think about where you are in your own life. Whether it’s hard, fast-paced, slow, or busy, there’s always something we can learn to move us forward.