Successful systems you can set up at home to help reduce stress during isolation

With Aussie families living in lock down, it’s more important than ever to have some sanity saving systems in place.

With just a few tweaks to your day, you can feel more organised, which in turn reduces your stress levels.

If you’ve got children under five who are at child care a few days per week, you can make the most of these tips to help keep your house running smoothly and get you out the door on time.

These ideas really come into their own on the days you’re all at home together and you can’t partake in your usual activities such as the library, parks or play groups.

Toy system

Children can feel overwhelmed with choice when they face an area packed with all of their toys.

A great idea for little ones is to pack similar toys together into tubs, which you can then pull out as an invitation to play. Set them up for the children and let them dig in.

Some of the tubs you might have:

• toy dinosaurs
• play dough and cookie cutters
• LEGO or Duplo
• puppets or soft toys
• puzzles
• toy cars
• colouring in and crayons

When they’re ready to play, pull out one of the tubs and set it up for your child to enjoy. When presented in this way, children are more likely to engage with it and see it as something new and interesting.

Activity system

For older children, it can be really useful to set them up with a range of activities that they can get on with. It will give you enough time to dive into some work or jobs around the house.

Try to give them a mix of educational and recreational ideas that cover different stages of development (such as fine motor, gross motor etc.).

For instance you might set up:

1. An obstacle course
2. A find-a-word game and pencils
3. A puzzle to complete
4. A craft activity

The children can decide what order they complete the tasks in, and how long they want to spend on each. This helps foster a sense of independence and autonomy.

Meal planning system

All of a sudden families are eating together more often as a result of the ‘stay at home’ directive. While this is great for bonding and creating memories, it means more cooking (and mess!) for the parents.

This can be a great time to start a loose meal plan for the week, which will help you when it comes to shopping. Think about what sorts of things you might have for your meals and snacks for the week and write it up as a flexible weekly meal plan.

For instance you might decide to have:

• pasta night
• BBQ night
• roast dinner night
• stir-fry night
• Mexican night
• burger night
• leftovers night

You could even sit down as a family and each offer ideas for the types of things you would all like to eat. Are there any recipes that you want to try out? Are there some meals or snacks where the kids could help out with the cooking? Get everyone involved in the planning, as this can also help entice fussy eaters try new things.

Shopping system

After making your meal plan you can prepare a shopping list, to ensure you’re not caught short of ingredients.

Write down everything you need and consider an online delivery or click and collect order if that’s available in your area.  That way you can see the total cost before you commit to it, allowing you to be budget conscious and stick to your weekly spend.

If you do need to go to the supermarket in person, choose one person for the trip and try to go at a quiet time to limit your exposure to other shoppers.

Exercise system

It’s important to keep active even during this period of isolation. Exercise makes you feel good, and the children still need to let off some steam.

As a family you could try to incorporate some movement each day, such as a family walk or bike ride. Or if you’re at home, perhaps try out an online yoga class together.

Make up active games to play with the children in the house or the garden. A simple game of catch or tag can be great exercise for little ones.

If you can find some time to exercise solo throughout the day during naptime or when the kids are entertained, there are stacks of online classes you can try out.

Some families find that it works well for one adult to go out to exercise in the morning, and the other to go in the afternoon.

Work area system

It can be really tricky to try and work amidst the chaos of a family home if you’re not used to it. If you have the space, try to set up your work area away from the kitchen table so that it doesn’t get covered in spilled coffee.

Let’s be clear, trying to work with the kids underfoot is very difficult. This is where the above systems really come into their own, as they’re designed to ease the pressure in other parts of your life.

If you’re part of a two-parent household, it can be helpful to have a conversation about how you’re going to split the child care and work requirements.

Some single parents find that they need to get up early to work before the children wake up; work through nap times; or work at night and weekends to get everything done.

Be sure to make the most of the free child care that has been offered to Australian parents during the Coronavirus. Having a big chunk of time to get your job done is so beneficial, and the children can have a great day with their educators and friends.

If you’re a parent in need of child care in your area, visit the online child care directory https://toddle.com.au/

View all of the child care centres in your area, read reviews, see photos, read about their curriculum, and even book a tour.

If you’re an essential worker, you can also get priority placement at the centre with just a few clicks on https://toddle.com.au/