Cultivating a Calm Family Routine with Corina Holden

One of the best things you can do for yourself and your family is get clear on your priorities and then structure your days and weeks around what's most important to you. Today I'm sitting down with Corina from Frump Fighters to hear her share how she's done just that! If you're ready to trade in some of the chaos for calm, you're going to love the ideas Corina shares today! Listen in!

Episode Links

Frump Fighters Website

The What to Wear Outfit Calendar

Click here for full episode transcript.

A LITTLE ABOUT CORINA

Corina lives in Washington state. She has five boys with ages ranging from one to ten, and she’s been married to her husband for 14 years. 

She manages her own business, Frump Fighters, working about 15-20 hours a week, fitting that into the margins of her day. 

A TYPICAL DAY

Corina is up at 5:00 AM after getting a full 8-9 hours of sleep. She is usually excited to start the day because she loves her business and that motivates her. 

Before her kids wake up around 6:30-7:00, she will get ready for the day getting fully dressed and doing her 5-minute makeup routine. A tip to make it easier to get ready quickly is she doesn’t wash her hair every day and she keeps her makeup simple and contained in a small bag. While getting ready, she will listen to her audio Bible or a prayer app. 

Around 5:30 she has her coffee and starts working, taking advantage of the quiet time to do tasks that require quiet such as recording videos. 

The family will have breakfast together around 7:30. Corina keeps breakfast simple, keeping the same things on repeat. After breakfast, the older kids make their lunches and then head to school around 8:15-8:30. 

The mornings look different depending on the day. On Monday and Thursday mornings, Corina and her sister switch out watching the other’s kids. On Tuesdays, her mother-in-law watches the younger two and on Wednesdays, she has a sitter that comes which allows her to work most of the day. Fridays are simply days at home. 

In the afternoons, while the younger ones nap, Corina will get in a little more work time or clean up around the house. In the evenings, unless the kids are doing soccer, they keep that time empty, enjoying the time being together as a family. 

They have a quick bedtime routine. The older kids know the four things they need to get done before they have quiet time in bed before they sleep. They have worked with the baby over time, getting him into a routine where he goes to sleep easily.

WHAT IS WORKING WELL

Corina does a good job at managing a lot of spinning plates. She really evaluates what she says “yes” to and what she says “no” to. During this season of life, her family chooses to be home more and isn’t involved in a lot of other commitments. 

She also thinks the key is to have the concept of time blocking in mind. This allows you to be flexible with where you will fit in what is important to you. This can change, but always make sure to prioritize them. 

Corina and her husband have also set limits on screen time for their kids. While they do use it to occupy the kids on occasion, they have also set clear parameters where the kids know when it is allowed and when it isn’t. 

There have also been guidelines and expectations set for when the kids will be allowed their own phones. This has helped to prevent them from wanting or asking for them because they know when the time will come. 

CHALLENGES

Corina is someone who likes to be very efficient about everything, and so patience with her children has been a struggle at times. She reminds herself of how Jesus treated little children and that has helped her a lot. 

She also struggles with doing tasks such as calling about a bill or making appointments. She read how someone called these mosquito tasks, tasks that you just have to swat all at once to get them out of the way. She now sets a time of about an hour to get them all knocked out. She keeps track of them all in her reminders app so that when that time comes she’s not forgetting any. 

One other challenge Corina faces is integrating hobbies into her life. While she feels like building her business is a hobby, she also realizes it is good to invest in other areas that would be fun and refreshing. She usually sets aside time on Sunday afternoons for an activity that is not business related. She also takes time off in December and during most of the summer so that she can do fun activities with her kids. 

AVOIDING BURNOUT

Burnout usually occurs when you are putting in all the time and work and it’s just not working or you are running into problems and issues. Something Corina thinks helps with burnout is to shape our days and spend our time on things we enjoy. 

This will look differently for each of us, but don’t shape your life based on what everyone else is doing or what others think you should do. Think about what things you enjoy and what things drain you. Eliminate or delegate what is draining you. 

When making the choices about what you will work on or your job, try to make it something you enjoy. Think long term so you will always be excited about it. Look at your values, what you are good at and build your schedule around that. 

SPENDING TIME OR MONEY ON WHAT’S IMPORTANT

How you choose to spend your time or money may not be the way others choose to do it. An example Corina gave is workouts. Everyone told her to just do workouts from home on YouTube. She didn’t enjoy them and so she never did them. What has worked for her is to sign up for a class at the gym where she goes once or twice a week when possible. For her, in person classes are motivating. 

Another example is grocery shopping. Couponing didn’t stick for her. She would rather spend the time she would have spent couponing earning more money. 

Corina also thinks it is important to think through what abundance looks like for you. Some people will want to be be multimillionaires and work a lot. Some just want to be comfortable and have room for activities here and there. 

One choice her family has made is to use Instacart. This means they spend a little extra for their groceries, but the trade off is they are saving two hours of time. They also choose to have someone help clean the house and have childcare for a few hours a week. For them, that is what feels like a well balanced life. 

LESS STRESS AND MORE PEACE

What is bringing Corina more peace right now is how she manages her phone. She has found that turning off all notifications, except for text messages, has helped keep her from being pulled to her phone. 

While she could get a basic phone, she does use a lot of the features of a smartphone. She has found that restricting access to the apps she compulsively wants to open has been helpful. She may also remove the app from her phone.