The themes I kept reading during the summer were: simplify and schedule to make your homeschool more pleasant. I put in some time coming up with the oh-so-perfect schedule. I attempted to stick to it for about two weeks. All this to say, a precise schedule is not for everyone, so don’t beat yourself up over it.
What can you do? I don’t know how many children you have or their ages, for that surely plays a part in what you are able to do. Tristan, from this forum, has a wonderful series about chore training on her blog. I have used some of her tips to greatly improve the clean-up routine around here.
You are right about habits helping you. I’m thinking along the lines of practical habits like cleaning the kitchen right after a meal or training your children to put away their materials/toys/etc. when they are finished. These little habits help to keep our home generally tidy.
One great tip I came across this year was to have a set school time. We have a time to begin and a time to end. We generally follow a regular order within that time frame, but I’m not glued to the clock watching times. If the student gave his best efforts during school time but did not quite finish, then it carries over to the next day with no worries. If the child dawdled or didn’t finish assignments because he didn’t try, then he/she has to work on it in the afternoon while everyone else has free time- a logical no-fun consequence. I’ve only had that happen once this year with one of my children.
I also find that household habits are easier to enforce when they happen around mealtimes. After breakfast, everyone gets ready for the day, feeds a pet, and tidies bedrooms. I start a load of laundry. After lunch, everyone has a specific area to clean up. I clean up the kitchen and tend to laundry. After dinner, everyone puts away laundry. These are the habits that help our family.
I have to stress taking the time to train your child in the chores/responsibilities you expect from them. Tristan explains this well on her blog.
I’m sure there are tons more tips to be shared, but these are some I’ve found most helpful. Also, make sure you are getting enough sleep! 😉