And for most leaders, it’s not your only job—you’re also homeschooling your own children, caring for your family, and managing the everyday responsibilities of life.
It’s no wonder so many co-op leaders feel stretched thin and quietly wonder if it’s possible to do all of this and stay sane.
The good news is that balance is possible—but not by adding more systems, more meetings, or more effort. Balance comes from clarity, boundaries, and the willingness to let go of some things.
Here are a few practices that can help.
Decide what matters most
Your co-op needs many things from you, but it does not need everything.
Ask yourself:
What are the 2–3 most important things this co-op truly needs from me in the coming year?
When everything feels urgent, nothing actually is. Clear priorities give you a filter for decision-making and permission to let lesser things fall away.
Contain your work
Work is like a gas—it expands to fill all available space. If you don’t contain your co-op work, it will happily take over mornings, evenings, weekends, and family time.
Set defined work hours and treat them as real boundaries. Outside of true emergencies, co-op work waits.
For example, you might:
- Reserve certain mornings for homeschooling
- Designate specific days or blocks for co-op work
- Protect evenings and weekends for rest and family
This will be uncomfortable. You won’t be able to keep doing everything you’ve been doing. That discomfort is a signal—not failure, but transition.
Invite your family into this process. Share your plan and ask them to help hold you accountable when work starts creeping into protected time.
Delegate
In addition to saying no to some things, you will need to stop doing everything yourself.
Ask:
- What are the things only I can do?
- Do all of them actually matter?
- How many can I realistically do well in the time I have?
Keep trimming your list until it fits the time you truly have.
Then look at what remains. Many important tasks can—and should—be shared. As you invite others to step in, be clear: you value these things, but you can no longer carry them alone.
This may require your leadership team to:
- Say no to some activities
- Simplify programs
- Or step into greater responsibility
Resist the urge to solve every problem yourself. Leadership is not ownership of all burdens—it’s creating space for others to carry them with you.
Keep it simple
As you evaluate your work, ask a deeper question:
If your co-op disappeared tomorrow, what would you miss most?
Those answers reveal what truly matters.
Consider:
- Is your co-op trying to do too much?
- What would actually be lost if you said no to a particular task?
- What would you have to give up to keep doing it?
Often, simplification costs less than we fear—and gives back more than we expect.
Prayer and meditation can be especially helpful here, creating space to discern what to hold and what to release.
Balance doesn’t come from doing more or pushing harder.
It comes from choosing what matters most—and letting that be enough.