Weekly schedule
I know I have mentioned before that as a way to organize my homemaking, I use the old-fashioned concept of assigning a task to a certain day of the week. Currently here is what my week looks like: Monday - shopping and errands; Tuesday - desk (making appts., paying bills, filing, etc.); Wednesday - sewing (plus mending); Thursday - kitchen (making anything out of the ordinary for the coming week and any extra baking); Friday - laundry (getting caught-up plus any finicky or special wash which needs to be done); Saturday - cleaning.
I am struck again with how well this system works. Last fall, I never really settled into a set schedule. Consequently, I always felt a bit behind and certain things never seemed to get done. In desperation, I sorted out my week and began again with the new year. It makes such a difference in how smoothly I feel life is going. When I know I am going to get to something later in the week, because it has an assigned day, it is easier to set it aside guilt free. It also helps me to know what I am focusing on at any given time. I know what I should work on first. It makes it easier to prioritize.
I know why I had difficulty with finding a schedule last fall... I was out of the house too much. For various reasons, I spend more time than usual driving children hither and yon. And that was with carpools. First is made it difficult to choose a grocery shopping day. This is the one part of the schedule that absolutely needs to happen each week and the one the takes the most dedicated time. Everything else can be worked on in fits and starts, but you can't do that with grocery shopping. Consequently, it had to take up the one day where I wasn't driving somewhere else. I never had a day where I didn't leave the house for several months. This had repercussions on the rest of the week as I didn't have large chunks of time to do anything. I would start something only to have to take a break and drive somewhere. Then I could come back to it, after taking care of all the people which required my attention in the interim, only to have to stop again to begin dinner. And so on and so on.
Currently, I am driving people far less and have more time at home. And the state of my house (and emotions) are improved as a result. If you are out of the house a lot during the week and also feel a bit frazzled, I would suggest cutting back on your schedule. There is something relaxing and calming to have longer, uninterrupted amounts of time. And if it is good for us adults, it is also good for our children. My children are calmer and happier if they are not always going somewhere. It does them good to have long periods for extended play. Life has been more peaceful for all of us this year. It feels good and to my mind, far outweighs the benefits of the classes we were running around to last fall.
I am struck again with how well this system works. Last fall, I never really settled into a set schedule. Consequently, I always felt a bit behind and certain things never seemed to get done. In desperation, I sorted out my week and began again with the new year. It makes such a difference in how smoothly I feel life is going. When I know I am going to get to something later in the week, because it has an assigned day, it is easier to set it aside guilt free. It also helps me to know what I am focusing on at any given time. I know what I should work on first. It makes it easier to prioritize.
I know why I had difficulty with finding a schedule last fall... I was out of the house too much. For various reasons, I spend more time than usual driving children hither and yon. And that was with carpools. First is made it difficult to choose a grocery shopping day. This is the one part of the schedule that absolutely needs to happen each week and the one the takes the most dedicated time. Everything else can be worked on in fits and starts, but you can't do that with grocery shopping. Consequently, it had to take up the one day where I wasn't driving somewhere else. I never had a day where I didn't leave the house for several months. This had repercussions on the rest of the week as I didn't have large chunks of time to do anything. I would start something only to have to take a break and drive somewhere. Then I could come back to it, after taking care of all the people which required my attention in the interim, only to have to stop again to begin dinner. And so on and so on.
Currently, I am driving people far less and have more time at home. And the state of my house (and emotions) are improved as a result. If you are out of the house a lot during the week and also feel a bit frazzled, I would suggest cutting back on your schedule. There is something relaxing and calming to have longer, uninterrupted amounts of time. And if it is good for us adults, it is also good for our children. My children are calmer and happier if they are not always going somewhere. It does them good to have long periods for extended play. Life has been more peaceful for all of us this year. It feels good and to my mind, far outweighs the benefits of the classes we were running around to last fall.
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