23 December, 2014| 

Despite my struggles with finding joy and simplicity on the homestead this year, I know deep down that the simple life can be exactly that… simple. I’ve tasted of the beauty, reward, and joy that comes out of working willingly with your hands and know that it can be recaptured and enjoyed again if I use the tools I’ve created and these techniques to help me staunch the flow of chaos and mud and mess and “mud” found on the homestead and in life. Sometimes though we need reminders of things that we already know perfectly well. Over the years I’ve been a homemaker and now a homesteader, I’ve discovered that with a bit of forethought and planning our work can more easily be managed allowing for more fruitful days! This year, I’ve realized just how much I need those management tools to run this home an farm. How frustrating it has been to always be scrambling and never able to keep up! I’m eagerly looking forward to hitting the reset button so to speak in a few days, but always keeping in the front of my mind that…

FOR WITHOUT ME YE CAN DO NOTHING. JOHN 15:5

Here are 11 strategies that I’ve learned will make my days on the homestead and in the home more blessed and abundant… and I hope you’ll find that to be the case too!

{A GOOD TOMORROW BEGINS TONIGHT}

Did you inspect everything you asked the children to do? Did you remember to defrost meat for tomorrow’s dinner? Do you need to transfer anything from today’s list to tomorrows or will it just have to wait until the next time on the schedule? Make outlining tomorrow’s list part of tonight’s bedtime ritual…

{FIRST THINGS, FIRST}

I have found it incredibly helpful to look over tomorrow’s To-Do List today and then number each item according to priority. When doing so, my tendency is to want to get all of the small jobs, easy jobs, or fun jobs knocked out first. The problem with that is the large, and often more needful, work is left undone at the end of the day. (Especially if the To-Do List was overly ambitious in the first place. ) Prioritizing the To-Do List with the big, important, and often dirty jobs getting done in the early part of the day allows you to spend the rest of the day doing your work with the satisfaction of knowing they’re behind you. You can look forward to the rest of the day instead of dreading it and making excuses why you weren’t able to get to done.

{THE EARLY BIRD}

I’ll admit, I don’t always rise early. It’s especially difficult for me in the winter when the bed is warm and the air is cold and I should be up hours before the sun. And it’s doubly difficult when my favorite moments of the day include fuzzy-headed, stinky-breathed little people. I often deliberately sabotage my morning in order to make these precious memories, but I’ve learned that when I do rise early, my days go more smoothly, with greater efficiency and productivity. A good morning is key to accomplishment! Whatever you do, do NOT start it out on the internet. You have no control over what you’ll find needs your attention in the inbox or on Facebook and it is SO easy to get sucked in and shoot your day in the foot! When I fail to heed my own advice in this regard I can easily lose an hour of my morning. And usually, when I check again during nap time, it turns out that I really didn’t miss anything. Instead, start your work for the day by reviewing your to-do list and making some mental timelines and goals to get them done… and then get cracking!

{TIME YOURSELF}

One way to prevent yourself from dawdling with your tasks is to set a goal to finish your job in a set period of time. We’ve used a method of playing “Beat The Clock” for timing ourselves that I love! Mostly used during at dishes time, we can have them done in 15-20 minutes or so… and that’s hand washing them for our family of 10! It is such a relief to have a clean kitchen done and out of the way so we can enjoy the rest of our evening! Same goes for a busy schedule!

{WHAT’S FOR DINNER?}

It is incredibly helpful to always have dinnertime plans swirling around in your head. Especially if you’ve determined to feed your family food prepared from scratch. To lack a plan for food, an un-stocked pantry, or frozen meat, you’re just asking for trouble! (And the expense of unhealthy take-out!)

{EVERY DAY HAS IT’S WORK}

For years now I have assigned each day of the week a task. Friday is bathrooms & windows. Thursday is ironing. Wednesday is mopping. And so on. I still need to add the daily task to my list, and remember to prioritize it at the top of my list. I’ve learned all too well this year that though I know what I’m to do, if it’s not on the list I sweep it under the rug. I admire those who can clean their house one day each week and then keep it clean! But for some reason we can only manage a couple hours at a stretch before it looks like a war zone again. If you find you have the same problem, then try giving every day its own work! The best reason to assign every day it’s own work is because….

{IT’S EASIER TO CLEAN A CLEAN HOUSE}

Let’s face it, there will be days where you don’t get to your work for whatever reason and it is so much easier to go back and clean when you just did it a couple of days (weeks, months depending on what job we’re talking about) ago. And since you’ve made it easier to clean the house by keeping it clean, you’ll work through the high priority items on your list more quickly and move on to the fun stuff!

{MANY HANDS MAKE LIGHT WORK}

Whether you take a “Divide & Conquer” approach or have everyone work together to get things done, the work goes so much more quickly and cheerfully if you know you are working as a team instead of feeling like a slave to everyone else! We used to do the former when it came to tidying up rooms, but in the few instances I’ve had everyone working together recently, we all seem to agree that it goes way more quickly and pleasantly for us! Gather everyone together and get done and move on with your day!

{GET ORGANIZED}

I’m the type of person (and if you’ve read this far, you probably are too) that needs schedules, routines, lists, and spreadsheets in order to be the most productive I can be. I feel a sense of accomplishment when looking at a list and seeing all the things checked off. I have found my Homemaking Binder System incredibly effective at organizing my work IF I remember to use it! I’ve adapted this system for my homestead and have made the sheets available so you can effectively manage your homestead too!

{LET IT GO}

The junk that is. Try Decluttering… it’s addictive. I don’t know about you, but decluttering is a big one. I can’t see through the mess to get anything done! Messiness and piles of junk are frustrating and when it’s cleared away, I feel like I can breathe again. Whether that’s in the kitchen, basement, garden shed, or barn, throw out your old junk that hasn’t been used in a long while and you see no foreseeable use in the future. Garage sale or scrap yard profits are a great incentive to declutter.

{DO SIMPLE THINGS}

Leave time for the truly important things list- reading a book aloud to the children, have a conversation, watch the sunrise or set, listen to the birds, watch your chickens search for food, or the cattle ruminate. These rewards will make you work more diligently to be organized & productive so you can find the time for the simple pleasures in this life!Are you naturally a more organized or disorganized person? What are your best organizational tips?