Reading · Emily McDonald Writes

This idea has been brewing in my mind for a while, and I’m finally going to put it into practice. This fall semester, I have created my own class schedule, a Life Syllabus, as a structure for my endless curiosity and desired growth.

I love digging deep into one subject at a time (I’ve been blogging about it for years). When I found myself endlessly intrigued by French culture, I read every book I could get my hands on about the way French women live. When I was curious about rhythms and routines, I read every book in popular culture on the subject. When I wanted to start a yoga practice, I read several books on yoga, including one book arguing why Christians don’t need to be so afraid of the practice (I highly recommend it). I am no stranger to a deep dive. But my previous investigations didn’t have too much structure; I read at my own pace, unsure exactly of my own objectives, and didn’t always try to put what I was learning into practice.

As a mother, a lot of my planning already revolves around the school calendar, since my objectives for the day are largely influenced by whether my daughter is in preschool playing with her friends or at home, attempting to empty every roll of toilet paper in our house into the toilet. My expectations for what I can accomplish are very different when she is in or out of the house, and I have learned to embrace my time with her and throw most plans for productivity out the window when she is in my care. We have a lot more fun that way, and I’m a lot more peaceful knowing there will be time for my aspirations later.

Over the summer, as I was strategizing how I would spend my time in the upcoming fall season, once my daughter was back in preschool, I noticed that my goals and desires were pulling me in a few specific directions. I am interested in growing my writing skills, and learning some systems that support better nutrition and easier meal planning. I want to explore the elements of the creative process, as well as learn more about beauty and craft my own personal beauty routine. And I want to do some silly things like plan elaborate imaginary parties, and watch the movies on the growing list my husband and I have been compiling together.

I started playing around with the idea of sorting these goals into “classes”, as if I were a college student with a course focused on a single topic for a single semester. These are the things I’m passionate about and want to make time for in my life. I started collecting resources on each topic: mostly books, but also including documentaries, MasterClasses, and other online materials. Using the university calendar as a guide, I formed my own class schedule for the fall semester. If you’re intrigued by this idea and want to do the same, here’s how I’d do it.

Identify which areas of your life you want to focus on this semester. My core classes include Writing, Food, Creativity, and Beauty. I plan to focus on these classes for this semester alone, from now til the winter break. Any topic I want to continue learning about will go on the schedule for a second class the Spring.

This won’t always be all about growth and improvement; I plan on taking some classes on topics that simply intrigued me, like The History of the Ancient Greeks or Beekeeping. My dear friend Melody does an excellent job at humoring her own seemingly sporadic curiosity, something I admire about her.

Be honest with yourself about how many classes you want to take in this season. Is this the time for a full class load, or maybe you only have the energy for one or two classes this semester? Don’t try to do it all. There’s always next semester.

For the six classes I’m taking this semester, each one has its own spot in my weekly schedule. Much like a traditional class, each item gets 3ish hours of class time per week, though it doesn’t have to be that way. Of course, there is some flexibility for the ebb and flow of life, but largely I’m going to try to stick to my schedule.

This semester, all my classes are self-directed, though I imagine that I eventually might like to take an actual class outside my home, like a weekly pottery class or yoga class at a local studio. This would come with its own imposed schedule that I need not create myself.

I’m including fun stuff too! Peet and I have a growing list of classic movies we’ve never seen, including movies like The Godfather and Casablanca. So, I added Classic Film to my class schedule, designating a night once a week to watch a movie on our list. I’m not putting on a lot of pressure to do any sort of intellectual critique or analysis, but I will likely share a report at the end of the semester on which movies we liked best.

Another fun class that I’m including this semester is Event Planning, which is just a way of saying that I love to pretend plan, down to tiny details, just for fun. This is something I loved to do as a kid. I planned imaginary vacations, imaginary weddings, imaginary parties and designed imaginary homes. I would make shopping lists and choose paint colors. I would plan for every element, down to small details like itineraries and invitations. My mom would sometimes aide me in decorating nurseries for pretend adoptions and making shopping lists for imaginary dinner parties. She really seemed to get this part of me, something I’m grateful for. It was a joyful extension of make believe through my adolescent years. I’m excited to play around with it again, using fun tools like Canva to add some sparkle to my planning.

Each class gets its own syllabus, including whatever “textbooks” and other resources I want to devour on the subject. This includes books, documentaries, MasterClasses, and even podcasts or Youtube content. Since I’m a book gal, most of my inspiration is coming from books that have piqued my interest. Occasionally, a book may appear on my syllabus which I have already read, but most of it will be brand new content to me.

In each syllabus, I’m including some goals and objectives for each class. With the help of ChatGPT and the desires of my own heart, I created a list of what I’m hoping to accomplish in each class by the end of the semester.

This part is key to designing my goals like a college semester. During college, I worked as a youth services librarian at a public library, managing a collection and running programs for children ages 0–12. My schedule followed the primary school calendar—things were hectic when kids were out of school and quieter when they were in session. Balancing that with my own university classes meant I was very, very busy.

But there was a magical window, about 7–10 days, between when the kids went back to school and my own university semester started. During that time, when the library was quiet but I was not yet neck-deep in my own classes, I could reset. I would tidy up the children’s area, plan programs, decorate for the season, and get everything in order for the semester ahead. I had a similar window at the end of each semester when my classes ended before theirs. I could decorate for Christmas, plan for the new year, that kind of stuff. These buffers were wonderful; they helped me stay organized and prepared, and just gave me a bit of breathing room.

Part of designing my goals like a college semester is giving myself these buffer weeks between my daughter Scout going back to preschool and starting my own “school” work. I gave myself a week to relax, reset the house, plan for the semester, and get my head on straight in the calm of a quiet house. I organized Scout’s toys, cleared out my desk, and tidied my closet. I also did a few relaxing things for myself, like getting a pedicure. This week, my “classes” begin.

At the end of the semester, I’ll give myself another buffer week between finishing up my classes and Scout breaking from school for Christmas. I’ll use that time to rest and get ahead on Christmas planning before Scout is home for the winter break, so I can start the season feeling relaxed and prepared.

I am generally plagued with a thousand things I want to learn at once. One of the best parts of designing my goals this way is that it gives me permission to focus on just a few areas of my life, with the assurance that I will be able to turn to those other endeavors at a later time. I’m planning for future semesters to include classes on piano, personal style, and memory-keeping. I also want to focus on some intrapersonal goals like strengthening my marriage, improving my friendships, and learning about a few particular parenting subjects. I always have so many dreams and curiosities rolling around in my brain, and placing those things on the docket for future semesters gives me peace to set them aside for now. Writing will likely be on the class schedule every semester, since my long-term writing goals are very important to me.

Like I mentioned above, this rhythm also gives me the chance to be fully present with my daughter during her school breaks. For her winter break, I don’t set any expectations for myself: I simply want to enjoy the Christmas season and our time together. During her longer summer break, I plan to create my own scaled-back class schedule, pursuing learning in just one or two classes in the pockets of time when I’m able to get a sitter. This approach feels right for me in this season of life, and I hope it will bring more peace to the moments I spend with my daughter.