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My planner - Part 2
I talked about how I've gotten back into using a planner again and my Daily Pages last time, today I wanted to briefly tell you about the other pages I use:  The Household Organizer pages - Though these pages are actually supposed to be used for planning household cleaning, I use them to create a week-at-a-glance goal sheet for the main areas of my life: Home, Jesse, Personal, Kathrynne&Kaitlynn, Personal, BiblicalWomanhood.com, MSM Blog, and BW Blog. In each section, I jot down basic goals I have for each area for the week. For instance, this week here is one of my goals for each area: Home: Check out gardening books (I'm planning some gardening projects!) Jesse: Clean out van (something that will bless my hubby!) Kathrynne and Kaitlynn: Finish Twenty and TenPersonal: Listen to 4 teaching CDs Biblical Womanhood: Promotion with Living on a DimeMSM Blog: Post Budgeting 101- Part 3 post BW Blog: Finish planner series (!) That's just a sampling of how this page works for me--most of these categories have at least 2-3 goals per week in them. I use this goal sheet to then plan out my week and assign a day in my Daily Pages to actually start and complete the goal (or to at least start it!). I don't always finish everything on this sheet every week; in fact, I don't think I've ever finished everything, but I use it as a master guideline to work from when planning my week. If something doesn't get done off this sheet, it is moved to the following week. Creating weekly goals has been a huge help in allowing me to accomplish more, stay on track better, and keep my main priorities my main priorities. I'd highly recommend you consider trying this idea in your own home and planning. Perhaps it might be a great help for you as well! The Daily Pages and the Household Organizer pages are my most-utilized pages for planning purposes, but I also have a section which includes the Menu Planners and shopping lists from GraceWorks and I love having this in my planner. Not only can I easily consult exactly what's planned on the menu, but I have a place to write down items that we need to buy (both at the grocery store and elsewhere. At the back of my planner are my Scripture Memory pages and my Devotion pages. I try to memorize one verse per week (I'm currently working my way through Psalm 31.) and normally review it each morning during my devotion time. I use the devotion pages to journal what the Lord is teaching me through His Word. It is very helpful for me to do so and God never fails to give me a nugget of encouragement or challenge from His Word each morning. In addition, I have a section of my planner that includes note paper and note cards (I keep the note cards in a zippered pouch). These are handy for writing thank you notes on-the-go. So, that's the basic scoop on my planner. I have some other pages which I've purchased but have not put to use yet, so I'll wait to tell you about those until I've used them and like them! For those who asked, yes, I also have a Home Management Binder, too. That stays in open on our kitchen counter and rarely leaves its place, whereas my planner goes with me everywhere. My home management binder includes our daily schedule, and weekly and monthly cleaning schedule. You can read more about how I organize our household cleaning tasks here and here. Any questions? Feel free to ask and I'll do my best to answer.As always, remember this is what works for me at this season of our lives. Something entirely different might very well work for you!Labels: Finding Time, Home Management and Organization
Guest Post: Starting your day off right
 Guest Post by Cassie LargaespadaTime management is an ongoing issue in my home. Every time I think I have it all figured out, the Lord reminds me that I don't know a thing. I have tried every method I have heard before and I still end up falling flat on my face eventually. I think that is the point for me. I try so hard to control my time on my own. I like being in control and I like knowing what is coming next. It's usually not until I am at the end of my rope and don't know why things are not running smoothly that Jesus calls me back to rely on Him. Don't get me wrong, I think a schedule is necessary to survive the day. What I have to be willing to do is allow God to lead me in creating a schedule and be flexible enough to deviate when I hear Him speak to me. One of the biggest time management tools I have found to be effective is starting my day with the Lord. Now, I am not a super early riser. I really try to be up before all my children but that does not always happen (I often awake to the sound of "Moooommmmmy!!"). I do, however, find it imperative to spend some time in the morning with Jesus. I have recently changed the way I do this. I used to try to do my quiet time before my children wake up so that it was actually quiet. Now that my children are older, I have adjusted this. We now spend the first hour of the morning eating breakfast and getting ready for the day. Once everyone is ready, we all head to a room by ourselves. My older 2 have their own Bibles and they spend their time reading their Bibles and listening to worship music. The younger 2 spend time listening to music and playing with toys. They all take some time to talk to Jesus. There are a couple of reasons I decided to change this part of my schedule. One is that I just never got consistent with waking up early. When I did, I would find myself falling asleep while I was reading my Bible. The other reason that I made this change was I realized that when I did my quiet time in the morning, my children didn't see me spending time with Jesus. Also, I didn't make time during their day for them to spend time with Jesus. Now, I know this may seem like a simple tip, but my biggest encouragement is to make time to spend with the Lord everyday! Ask Him to order your day step by step. Be willing to adjust your schedule based on what he brings to your mind. George Mueller says, "Public prayer will never make up for closet communion... Although I enjoyed their fellowship (speaking of other believers), my soul needed food. Without it, I was lean and felt the effects of it the whole day."I still am amazed at the difference in my day when I make this a priority. What is amazing to me is the days when I feel like I have more to do in the day than time to do it. When I choose to give those days to God first thing, I am pleasantly surprised. I get to the end of the day and look around at my clean house, fed and educated children, laundry done and I wonder, "How did it all get done?"I also see such a difference in my children when they spend some good time with the Lord, too. They tend to be more kind to each other and considerate. They seem to obey better (or maybe I am just less annoyed by the disobedience?). Their heart, in general, is softer and more tender. I don't think spending time with God is a magic wand and makes everything in life easy. I do think that starting my day (and my children's day) with an ear to the Father makes all the difference in my perspective, motivation and attitude. So, however you organize your day, start it off right. -Cassie Largaespada is a homeschooling mother of four (ages 8, 7, 6 and 3). Visit her blog here.I'd love to hear from the rest of you on a related subject: How do you encourage your children to spend time with the Lord everyday? Thoughts, ideas, suggestions? What has worked for your family?
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Labels: Faith, Finding Time
My planner - Part 1
 Since so many of you requested I post specifics on my planner, for the next few days, I'll be doing a quick overview of the pages I currently use and what has worked for me. Hopefully it will be helpful to some of you. First off, I need to begin by telling you that while I've used some sort of planner for over ten years now, I fell of the bandwagon for a few years after having children and only used daily planning pages. So I'm still tweaking some of what I'll be sharing with you. And I'll probably continue tweaking things as time goes on, and children go older, and so forth. In February, I devoured Get More Done in Less Time and was thoroughly motivated to once again get my act together and become more organized in using a planner to improve in the area of time management. After just six weeks of using a planner again, I've already seen a marked difference--and my husband has, too! The best thing that has helped me to really utilize a planner again has been to take time to plan. (Yes, I know that is a no-brainer, but I'd be the person who would buy all these planning pages, have all these grand ideas of how I was going to get organized with them, and then never make time to actually use them. ) With my husband's blessing, I've begun going every Saturday morning by myself to a nearby coffee shop to spend two hours praying, reading God's Word, and planning out the next week. This quiet time alone allows me to focus on reviewing the past week and making goals for the next week. (And the girls get some special Daddy time at home!) Sitting down and mapping out a plan for the week using my planner pages has been a huge help in aiding me towards being more efficient. Maybe you don't have two hours to devote to quiet prayer and planning for the week, but I encourage you to set aside a little time to sit down with a cup of tea and your planner (or a notebook even!) and write some goals for your week. Having a simple plan and a place to write down things to remember and reference can be a great asset in your quest for organization. With that said, here's a run-down on the planning pages I'm currently using: Daily Planner Pages - These are first up in my planner and my most-used, can't-live-without pages. I use these original pages from Franklin Covey. (And yes, they are pricey, but the peace of mind and organization resulting from them has been worth every penny.) I keep one month of pages in my planner at a time. These are disposable pages--once they are used for a day, I throw them out. The Prioritized Daily Task List holds my daily to-do list. I normally have a few things assigned for each day when I plan out my weekly goals on Saturday mornings and then each evening, I transfer whatever didn't get done off my list to the next day (or sometime in the next week, as applicable) and add anything else to tomorrow's list that I need to accomplish. One of my favorite things about this list is that there is not a huge area to write. This ensures I don't plan way more to do than I can accomplish in a day--as I'm prone to do if I'm not careful! The Daily Notes section is where I jot down my planned posts to blog and any notes to remember on those as well as business projects or tasks I need to accomplish. On Saturdays, after planning out my week, I normally roughly plan out a blogging schedule for the next week as well. I've found it extremely beneficial to have posts semi-written and planned out in advance rather than blogging "by the seat of my pants" as I used to do. Dividing up my homemaking tasks from my business tasks while still being able to see both lists on one page has been extremely helpful to me. I still wish I could find planning pages which were designed for the homemaker with a home business, but I have yet to come across something like that. So I've found that with some adaptation these FranklinCovey pages suit my needs at present. (I'd love to hear if you've found anything better, though! I've looked and looked and come up empty-handed.)I keep my planner open on the kitchen counter to the Daily Page all day long and cross things off the lists as I complete them. This helps me keep on track and stay organized. I'll share more about the other pages in my planner tomorrow...Do you use a planner? If so, tell us about it! Have you found it to be useful? Do you buy your pages or make your own?Labels: Finding Time, Home Management and Organization
Links of interest: Scheduling, home organization, and time management
 As we bring the Finding Time series to a close this week, I wanted to share a few links which I thought might be helpful and insightful to all of us who are looking for ways to further redeem the time and be excellent keepers of our homes: --Prairie Chick, a homeschooling mom of 5, talks about our purpose and calling, baby steps and daily essentials, daily extras, weekly essentials, and treating homemaking as a 9-5 job. --Kristy Howard, mom of two little girls with one on the way, shares her daily routine here. --Kelly, mama to one sweet little girl, posted about structure in the home, her routine, and a photo "schedule" idea for toddlers (very creative!). --Tammy, mother of three young ones, wrote about using Post-It notes and a dry erase board to encourage order in your home.Labels: Finding Time, Home Management and Organization
Guest Post: Time Management--Especially For Women Who Work
While I believe that a woman's place is first and foremost in her own home, I understand that not everyone is in ideal situations. Some women are single mothers, some women aren't married and must support themselves, some husbands want their wives to work, some women must work full-time or part-time because of a financial situation. My friend, Trixie, doesn't have children and is currently working outside the home due to various circumstances. However, her heart is at home and she is seeking to have a home-centered focus, even while working full-time. I hope her post is of special encouragement to those of you who might be in a similar situation and trying to figure out how to juggle everything you must juggle in your current season of life. Enjoy! -CrystalGuest Post by Trixie from Farm Home LifeMy husband and I own three small businesses (he is at home full-time working on the businesses) . In addition, I work outside the home for 45+ hours each week. It is a real challenge to keep God, husband, and home at the center of my life. Even though the lion's share of my day is spent working outside the home I still boldly proclaim that I am a homemaker. Home is where my heart is. Here are a few things that have been especially helpful to me to help keep my heart at home while working full-time: Give Your Day to GodI ask for God's care and protection and for wisdom on how to plan the day and accomplish what needs to be done. I also pray for His help to not squander my time. Plan a MenuConsistently planning a menu each week has been a lifesaver! A menu gives me the opportunity to shop for food only once a week, and then to do as many pre-meal preparations as possible. (You can read a sample menu and the pre-prep I did for it here.) I tend to make more complicated meals on my days off and save the meals that do not take much time to prepare for weeknights. It is possible to cook most everything from scratch while working full-time. It just takes planning and preparing--plus time spent to find meals that really work for your time constraints. (See a whole year's worth of my menu plans here.) Develop a Plan for LaundryIs the laundry pile at your home ever empty? Mine neither! The best solution I've found for keeping the laundry as caught up as possible is to do one load each morning. As soon as I get up, I'll put a load in the washer and then hang it to dry. A few things go right into the dryer. As soon as they come out, I'll put them on hangers and into drawers, that morning. On Saturdays (a day off) I'll do the sheets and hang them outside weather permitting. Decide What Outside Activities Are PrioritiesMy husband and I try very hard to be at home in the evenings. We attend church services and many family events but we are very careful to not let events take over our lives. If we attended every event we were invited to and took part in every fun activity that comes our way, we would never be home. Seek Out EfficienciesI'm constantly looking for ways to be more efficient in everything I do. For instance, 3 days of the work week, I spend my lunch hour running errands, the other 2 days, weather permitting, I walk for exercise. This frees up several hours of time at home for me each week. Any extra time during the lunch hours is spent working on things for our businesses. My dear husband is my best source of advice and help in prioritizing projects and errands. I tend to want to do forty things at once and finish nothing--anytime I ask, he will sit down with me and help make a plan and figure out a way for things to work. Develop a Positive OutlookThis is an especially challenging season in my life. Right now, I would like to be a full-time homemaker and work from home helping my husband build our businesses. This is our goal, and we are steadily working towards it. However, we're not there yet and sometimes it is really hard and I begin to feel sorry for myself. If I am not careful to cultivate a positive outlook about my schedule, I find myself becoming bitter and not a nice person to be around. That is not fair to my husband, my employees, or myself. I pray for the Lord's help and strength to see each day through with a pleasant, contented attitude. Thank the Lord that He gives us a new start each day! -Trixie blogs regularly at Farm Home Life and she'd love to have you stop by for a visit!Labels: Finding Time
Finding Time: Part 9 - Creating and implementing a workable full-fledged schedule
 Yesterday I shared about how having a full-fledged schedule has impacted our lives in so many wonderful ways. For those of you wondering where you start in establishing and implementing a full-fledged schedule, here are some of my thoughts: 1. Determine what are the most important things to be accomplished in your day. If you are married, ask your husband what is most important to him that you accomplish in a day--you just might be surprised!
My most important things would be: my relationship with the Lord, honoring and serving my husband, training and caring for my children, managing our home (laundry, cleaning, cooking, etc.). Your list may look entirely different depending upon what season of life you are in--whether you are married or single, have children or not, and so forth.
2. Write down a basic order for your day allowing time for these most important things first. If you've never had a schedule before, don't try to make up a big, complicated spreadsheet with time slots. Keep it simple and start slowly. In fact, I'd recommend that you begin with no more than 10 things on your list. Perhaps you could start with your five morning routine items and then expand on that by adding five more things to accomplish by the end of the day.
It might be helpful to break your tasks up between morning and afternoon and evening. Assign five things to do in the same order every morning, three things to do after lunch, and two things to do after dinner.
3. Try different things for three to four weeks at a time and determine what works best for you. Maybe eventually a detailed every-30-minute spreadsheet will be just your thing. Maybe not. Test the waters slowly and adapt ideas to your own situation.
Again, keep it simple. You don't have to have a perfect schedule the first time around. Anything
is better than nothing at all. -------------------------
You can see what our written schedule looks like here. I've tweaked it a tiny bit since then, but the basic schedule is still the same.
Now, to give you an idea of what a real day in our home looks like (remember I said that we allow for some flexibility depending upon what interruptions arise?!), here's a quick peek into today: 7:15- Wake up, nurse Kaitlynn, read the Bible, pray, journal
(If I get up early, I get extra time in the morning to spend reading, doing household projects, or blogging. If I get up late, like this morning, I just skip this time.)
8:00- Make Jesse's lunch and spend some time with him before he leaves for work 8:15- Put Kaitlynn back down in bed, hop in the shower 8:16- Hop out of the shower to go help Jesse find his glasses which are not in their usual spot and thus he can't drive to work! 8:30 - Still looking for glasses, wake Kathrynne up to see if she has any idea where they are 8:45 - Still looking and getting a bit worried--finally discover them in the sewing closet. Kathrynne definitely got ahold of them last night and put them in the last place we'd think to look! 8:50 - Hop back into the shower and finish as quickly as possible since both girls are now up. Get dressed, give Kathrynne a quick bath and get her dressed.
9:15 - Exercise and then take a few minutes to quickly check email and moderate blog comments while girls are playing. 9:30 - Breakfast and Bible time with the girls
10:00 - Clean up breakfast, sweep floor, start laundry, girls play with Legos on the kitchen floor
10:30 - Stop to play Legos with the girls for a little bit, have girls help me pick up and vacuum main floor 11:00 - Switch laundry from washer to dryer, call my sister for a quick chat while cleaning, pick up the upstairs 11:30 - Bring girls upstairs and fold up a load of laundry, make a double batch of banana muffins with Kathrynne
12:00 - Call Jesse and talk with him while playing the girls in the "house" Kathrynne made in the hallway with pillows, blankets, and books. Do school time with the girls in the "house". 
12:30 - Eat a quick lunch, clean up, finish dinner preparations (We're having leftover soup and chicken broccoli casserole tonight, so I just set the table, put the soup in the crock pot, set out some muffins in a bowl, and mixed up a fruit salad and mixed green salad.) Kathrynne helps and Kaitlynn plays on the floor.
(I try to have dinner all finished, including having the table set, by 1:00 p.m. It doesn't always happen, but if I shoot to have it finished by then, I at least normally have a very good head start on it!)
1:00 - Violin time with Kathrynne - I play a piece for her, help her with her bow hold, and then we play songs together (she pretends to "play" on her violin while I play). 1:30 - Sewing time - I work on my redwork while Kaitlynn plays nearby and Kathrynne works on her "sewing". (I have a bag of fabric scraps, canvas, yarn, etc. that she uses for her sewing.) We listened to this podcast while we sewed.
3:00 - Reading time - we read some of The Little Princess today. Nurse Kaitlynn. Put both girls down for their quiet time/naps. 3:30 - Blogging/computer work until girls wake up--usually around 5:30. 5:30 to Bedtime - Quick pick up, dinner, family time, family worship, ready for bed, bedtime.
And there you have it! No two days are alike at our home, but having a written schedule serves as a helpful guide to direct us and keep us on track. When interruptions arise, we can just skip a few items on the schedule or re-arrange things as needed. The written plan ensures that there is normally at least some sense of order and structure in our home--which greatly helps to create a somewhat calm and peaceful atmosphere, even in the midst of lots of interruptions! Next week I'll share more about my personal planner, our cleaning schedule, and the various planning pages I use to help keep me on track and organized. I also have some great guest posts lined up on the topic of time management and organization. Stay tuned!Labels: Finding Time, Home Management and Organization
Finding Time: Part 8 - A full-fledged schedule
After I developed and implemented a workable morning routine and had seen how much of an impact this had made in my day, I moved on to establishing more organization in my life by creating and implementing a full-fledged daily schedule. Now before all of you non-schedulers run away screaming at the thought of trying to be someone you're not, hang with me for a minute while I explain what I mean by a "full-fledged schedule": I am not making the case for everyone to adopt a detailed, down-to-the-minute organized spreadsheet that you follow faithfully every moment of every day. No indeed.On the contrary, I believe a full-fledged schedule will mean different things to different people at different seasons of our life. For some, it might mean a pretty rigid spreadsheet with every 30 minutes alloted for each family member for every day of the week. For others, it might mean a simple order of events for each day that you follow loosely. Our family is somewhat in between the rigid schedule and the loose routine. I prefer to have some solid structure in place with allowance for flexibility as well. Having a good idea of where we're supposed to be when and what we're supposed to be doing helps alleviate stress and chaos in our home. But when things come up, we can easily skip a few items on the list or re-arrange as need be. And while I do have time slots written down, these are loose estimates to be followed--not set-in-stone parameters. Life happens and children need things and people get sick and interruptions come up and babies need diaper changes and, well, you just can't always plan for things to work out in neat little boxes. So our schedule has some "breathing room" to allow for these likely interruptions. As I've said before, our written schedule is a tool, not a taskmaster. It's meant to be a help, not a burden. There are some days when we just chuck the whole thing and declare a "Pajama Day" where we do nothing besides the basics (food, laundry, etc.) and spend the rest of the day just doing fun things together. And I've found that when we have good structure and order in place, we have room to take time off for fun days without the whole house falling apart. There are a thousand ways to have a full-fledged schedule and I'm not here to tell you what might work for your family. In fact, I'm not even here to tell you that "all Godly women will have a schedule" (I've yet to find the Eleventh Commandment for that!). I am here to tell you that having a written schedule has been a huge blessing to our family and I'd highly recommend you consider some type of game plan for your day, if you don't already have one in place. Just as a written budget allows our money to work so much harder and go so much farther each month, so a written game plan for each day enables us to use the time much more wisely. In addition, it has allowed me to fit in time for those things I really want to do in a day--things like spending quality time reading, playing, and teaching the girls--things I might struggle to fit in if I were just living life by the "seat of my pants". Tomorrow we'll talk about how you create and implement a workable full-fledged schedule that's right for your family. Stay tuned!By the way, I'd love to hear from any of you who have a good schedule/routine going. Leave a comment and tell us about what works for your family: Do you have a simple routine, a spreadsheet with time slots, or something in between? I'm also looking for a few guest posts on scheduling/routines and what has worked for your family! Email me (biblicalwomanhoodATsbcglobal.net) if you're interested in writing something or have already written a blog post on the subject. I'd love to gather a variety of ideas from many different families to share. Labels: Finding Time, Home Management and Organization
Guest Post: Tips and Tools for Using Time Wisely
 Guest Post from Kristy Howard at Homemaker's Cottage
I'm 26 years old and my husband and I have been blessed with two little girls--ages 4 years and 19 months--and are expecting a baby in May. My husband is a pastor and we are, obviously, very involved in our church. Learning to manage my time wisely has been a must, simply because there are only 24 hours in a day and so much to be accomplished!
This is by no means an exhaustive list, but here are some tools and habits that have greatly helped me in using time wisely over the last few years of motherhood:
Put God first. This probably sounds cliche, but it's amazing how much smoother my day goes-- and how much more I actually get accomplished--when I purposefully take time to spend in God's Word and prayer. Even a mere 10 or 15 minutes in the morning (or afternoon or evening, as the case may be) makes a huge impact on both my mood and my day--it changes my perspective, puts a song in my heart, and I honestly think that the Lord has a way of stretching the minutes in my day when I honor Him!
I might also add that it is just as important to put God first in your week--faithful church attendance is not only demonstrating obedience to Scripture, but opens the door for God to bless you and your family in many ways: spiritually, emotionally, and even materially and physically. God honors those who honor Him!
Keep a daily schedule for myself and our children. I enjoy routine and order, so this comes pretty easily for me. I've found that charts, lists, and schedules add a certain "predictability" to our day that helps things go much more smoothly.
We try to keep naps, bedtime, and wake-up-time on a basic routine. I don't plan to be out grocery shopping--or otherwise away from home--during the girls' nap time. I plan our menu once-a-week; nothing elaborate or complicated, but it helps to know at a glance what I need to do to get the next meal underway.
That being said, I am not "married" to our daily schedule. We enjoy a spontaneous "family day" with daddy every little bit, and the break from the routine does us all some good! On days when things get way off track, we simply pick up the next day and start over.
Set goals for each day and week. This ties right in with the daily schedule, since both give me a real sense of direction in my day. Instead of getting up in the morning with no clue as to what needs to be done or how I'm going to accomplish it, I know that my "goal" for each morning is to get several things accomplished before lunch: dress the girls and myself, makes beds, eat breakfast, tidy up the house a bit, start Amy's school, begin lunch preparations, maybe throw a load of laundry in the washer, or fold and put away a basket of clean towels, etc.
I strive to keep my goals both practical and attainable, that way I'm not frustrated all day and feel like I'm running against my own clock. On the other hand, reaching the end of a busy day knowing I've gotten done what I needed for to that day--even if it's only a few mundane tasks- gives me a wonderful sense of accomplishment!
Multi-task! I guess this is something that every mother has to learn to do eventually! For instance, I often load the dishwasher or start lunch preparations while Amy works on her school and Emily colors at the kitchen table. Getting a meal going in the crock pot frees me up to do housework, grocery shop, or spend some time with the girls and Jeremy while lunch is being cooked without much effort on my part. While I am only one mommy and can only do so much at once, it's amazing what can get done when I resist the tendency to have a one-track mind!
Don't own a television. I might add to this, we watch very few movies--maybe one a week. Our girls have several favorite DVDs they are permitted to watch, but overall we spend very little time glued to the monitor.
I was once asked, "What do you do all day?" when I mentioned to an individual that we don't own a TV. I replied, "Believe me, there's plenty to do!" My point and case exactly!
Obviously there are other "time wasters" besides TV, but this seems to be a major one for many families. We've found it's rather difficult to idle away hours of your time in front of a television set if you don't even own one! :)
Take life in bite-size pieces. I used to be an "all or nothing" girl. If the house was a mess, I spent the entire day cleaning it from top to bottom. If the laundry basket was overflowing with dirty clothes, I washed, dried, folded, ironed and put away laundry until it was completely finished.
I am now a mother with two small children and am expecting another baby to boot--"all or nothing" would probably mean "nothing" on most days!! Instead of sitting around the house moaning at all the work to be done, I tackle the tasks at hand in bite-size pieces. If there are 6 loads of dirty clothes waiting to be washed, I may set a goal for that day to get 3 loads washed, folded and put away; the next day I try to finish the remaining 3 loads.
I no longer have time to spend hours at the ironing board pressing Jeremy's shirts, pants and slacks; instead, I make it a priority to iron a few shirts or jeans as they are washed, that way he at least has enough ironed clothing to get him through a few days. True, his closet is still full of mostly wrinkled shirts, but by the time he needs another one I'll probably have several more ready. Spending 20 or 30 minutes at the ironing board is a bite-size job compared to ironing a closet full of wrinkled shirts--I bite off what I can handle and enjoy the feeling of getting something accomplished, regardless of what else is still waiting to be done.
Last night we got in a little later than usual from church, and I found the house unacceptably cluttered with toys. Instead of launching into a frenzied cleaning spell at 9:30 at night, the girls and I went through all the rooms of the house and put the misplaced toys, books, and other "stuff" into a baby doll buggy. It took all of 5 minutes to do and I felt better about not having to wake up to a mess. This morning, I put away everything in the baby buggy and that was that.
I love what Martha Greene put in her weekly reminder in this year's Yearbook for the Homemaker: "Don't get overwhelmed; JUST DO THE NEXT THING!" That's good advice!
Strive for perfection, but leave room for reality. Obviously no day is perfect. Even on "really good days", I go to bed knowing that more tasks and responsibility await me with the dawning of the next day. While I keep a list of things I'd like to see accomplished during the day and week--and plan how I'll get them done--I'm learning to make room for interruptions, delays and distractions.
For instance, I plan to keep my home orderly and neat, but also realize it's not a "sin" if an extra day or two goes by before I get to the dusting or vacuuming. I would love for our girls' room to always stay moderately organized, but I realize it's more important for me to spend an evening reading books or playing dolls with them than to constantly be on their case to clean, clean, clean.
Yes, my children are being trained dailyto keep their toys put away and enjoy an orderly environment, but being a mother also entails putting up with a little imperfection now and then. I strive to enjoy my family along the way and incorporate them into my daily tasks, even if they "slow me down" a bit. :) Expecting a few imperfections along the way makes it a lot easier to keep my smile and joyful spirit in place when things go "crazy", as days occasionally do.
These "tips" are nothing new but they certainly work for us! I look forward to learning more along the way... especially when baby #3 makes his arrival in a few months! :) -Kristy Howard is a full-time wife to Jeremy, and Mama to Amy, Emily, and Keith (who is due the first of May!). She loves love reading, writing, baking, gardening, shopping frugally, and learning how to better care for her wonderful family. Visit her blog, Homemaker's Cottage, for more encouragement.
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Finding Time: Tips from Readers
 Missed the first posts in this series? Start here.
From Kathi: My kids are 2, 3, and 5, and the older two go to two different preschools. Our preschool mornings were absolutely insane until I instituted this rule: Everyone must be up and dressed to shoes *with teeth brushed* before breakfast. I know it seems odd to brush teeth before eating, but otherwise I spent the next hour nagging all three to finish breakfast so we had time to do their teeth before we had to leave. Now, when it's time to go, I just take the remaining plates away and we're out the door! It puts a whole different spin on the morning.
I know a lot of people do laundry every day, and I tried that for years, but it just didn't work for me. With three messy young kids, I definitely have the clothes to do it every day, but the process seemed to be taking up way too much of my waking hours. So I revised it. Now I have three laundry days: kids' laundry on Monday and Friday and my and husband's laundry on Wednesday I separate the kids' and adults' loads because I find it far quicker to sort little clothes OR big clothes rather than trying to find a tiny onesie in a pile of men's XL undershirts!
Each laundry day requires about three loads, so I start the first one the night before, throw it in the dryer and the second load in the washer as soon as I get up, set my timer to get ready for the third load, and if all goes well, all laundry should be washed and dried by 10 a.m. or so without much effort. I then give my 5- and my 3-year-olds their own baskets of clothes to put away. No, they don't do it perfectly, but I've learned not to obsess over whether a 5-year-old boy's T-shirts are perfectly folded in his drawers...
My last tip is also laundry related. It seems like a lot of work at first, but it makes the dreaded sock-sorting chore a lot easier in the end. First, I buy all the kids plain white socks, so that I can bleach them if necessary. Second, I mark each pair with a black fabric pen: one dot for the oldest, two dots for the middle child, and three dots for the youngest (this is not my original idea--I took it off another website long ago--wish I could remember which!).
As I'm passing down socks, I simply add another dot if it's going to the next child. Then, on wash day I throw all the socks into a couple of large mesh lingerie bags. The bags go in both the washer and dryer. Voila! No missing socks when I'm ready to fold! From Amy:Stay away from time bandits like tv, telephone, and computer. Use your caller ID and answering machine.
Avoid too many activities or trips out of the house. Each trip will drain your energy and change your focus.
Plan your meals. Stick with regular meals, like Monday- Spaghetti, Tuesday- Chicken, Wednesday- Fish, etc. so you won't spend so much time trying to figure out what to plan for dinner. Brown hamburger or form patties or meatloaf to freeze as soon as you come home from the store.
Put laundry in the washer before bedtime. If you have a timer on your washer set it, if not then it will be ready for you to run in the morning.
Deal with junk mail immediately, so it doesn't pile up. Before going upstairs or to another room see if anything needs to be picked up and carried away. From K. Quinn at Homemaking Organized:When I was working 8 to 5 in the corporate world many people asked me how I managed to get so much done. We were not parents at the time but I was learning to play the piano, sewing clothing, baking all the time , and just getting a lot done. Here are some of the things which have helped me keep on task:
Starting my day on the right track. In God's presence with my Bible and prayer. Like Elizabeth George says, it just seems like everything else runs smoother when you start it off with the Lord.
Lists are at the top of my must have tools for time management. I used them in college, in the work force and continue to use them to manage my home and especially in the care of the children I care for as a foster parent.
We all know television is a huge time waster. A good friend of mine made a decision with her husband to severely cut back on their TV time and they were amazed at how much they were able to get done without being tied to the couch. We have not had a television in all of our married life.
My timer set for 15 minutes is a life-saver for me! I can clean my bathroom, take out the garbage and vacuum the house, make dinner, clean the kitchen, clean up the house after a family get together, even take a nap. You would be amazed at how long 15 minutes really is when you use that timer. You'll be anxious for it to go off it seems like such a long time. It's also a great tool to get the whole family involved in. Children find it a great game to see who can clean up first. And with your younger children they get excited running around helping mom. Have a great time management tip or sanity-saver to share? Feel free to comment or email me!
Labels: Finding Time
Finding Time: Part 7 - Developing a morning routine
Missed the first posts in this series? Start here.The more organized I am, the less time I waste and the more I get done. And I really mean that. I've had to learn the hard way that without a plan and some organization, everything turns quickly into chaos and I seem to spend most of the day running around in circles keeping very busy, but accomplishing very little. After Kathrynne was born, I dabbled into having a schedule here and there. I would make up an elaborate schedule and be all gung-ho about following it but my enthusiasm and discipline would last all of two or three days. By the next week, I'd be back to disorganization again and wondering why I just couldn't get my act together. I had all sorts of excuses as to why a schedule just wasn't working but I finally realized that a schedule wouldn't work unless I made it work. Writing a schedule was not waving a magic wand and creating instant organization in our home--I had to discipline myself to make the written schedule work. Being the highly-distracted and flighty person I am, I've spent the last 2 1/2 years slowly learning to make myself be more organized. Why? Because I love the peaceful, calm, efficient atmosphere we have in our home when I have a plan and stick with the plan. And, needless to say, my husband loves it, too. If you're new to scheduling and overwhelmed by the thought of it, let me suggest you start out simply. Don't begin by creating a massive 15-minute-incremented schedule for every member of the family. Believe me, doing something like that is setting yourself up for total failure. Instead, begin by creating and implementing a morning routine. Write down five things you want to do in the same order every morning and commit to getting up and doing these first thing every morning for three weeks. Here's my current morning routine:1. Get up, wake Kaitlynn up to nurse, read God's Word, journal, spend time in prayer 2. Exercise while Kaitlynn watches nearby 3. Put Kaitlynn back down, shower, dress 4. Make Jesse's lunch, spend time with him before he leaves for work 5. Start load of laundry, make tea, take vitamins Since you have a different husband and family and might be in a different season of your life than me, your five things will likely look much different than mine, like Tammy's here. Think of what would work best for your family (ask your husband for input, too!), then write it down, put it in a conspicuous location (on your bathroom mirror to see first thing each morning, or on the refrigerator, etc.), and commit to sticking with this routine for at least three weeks. After three weeks, evaluate if there is anything you should tweak or add to this morning routine and consider how it is working for you. If you've never had much organization in your life, I am quite sure that this one little step could make a huge impact on your entire day! As always, remember that this list of five things is not a slavemaster--it's just a guideline to help you. If your children or husband need help or something else important comes up, take a detour from it and then come back to the next thing as soon as you are able. You never want to be slave to a to-do list or schedule so that you are bull-dozing over your family or others in the process. The morning routine is there to benefit the family; if it is not being an asset, it needs to be tweaked or changed. Once I had well-established a morning routine and had been reaping the fruits which came from this, I was excited to develop even more organization into my life. We'll talk more about what I did next soon! Do you have a basic schedule/routine for your day that you follow? If so, what has helped you to develop this discipline and stick with it? If you don't have a schedule/routine, what is your greatest struggle or hurdle to overcome in trying to do so?Labels: Finding Time, Home Management and Organization
Finding Time to Read - Part 2
 Yesterday, I talked about finding time to read and I promised you a few suggestions and ideas for ways I fit in reading right now (they may or may not work for you--take what works and leave the rest!): -Always have a book handy. I try to never leave the house without a book and I try to always have a book close by throughout the day. You never know when a few minutes might pop up where you can crack the book open and read a few pages. This morning I read about 10 pages of a book while doing my stair-climbing exercises. Yesterday, I plowed through quite a few more while cooking waffles for dinner. Even if you only have a minute or two, you can get through a page or two in that time. And a page or two here and there adds up! Please note: I'm not suggesting you walk around the house with your nose in a book oblivious to anyone and anything else, but do be alert for those little cracks of time and use them to your advantage! -Read fast. Except for reading God's Word or something I really want to slowly digest, I've learned the art of speed-reading. I read fast and if I come upon a section of a book that I can tell doesn't apply to me, I normally just skim over it quickly. There's no sense in reading every word all the time--at least that's my mantra! -Read a variety of books. One of the biggest ways to squelched enthusiasm for reading is to get stuck in a rut. I try to have a variety of books going at once that way I can pick up whatever I'm in the "mood" for. Sometimes I might want something light and practical, sometimes I might be more in the mood to challenge my thinking, sometimes I need encouragement. I also have found it helpful to read books of varying lengths. -Turn off the TV. Seriously, this is probably one of the biggest reasons I have more time to read--I don't watch TV pretty much at all, ever, unless it's some major political or news event. In my opinion, reading is much more intellectually stimulating and profitable most of the time. -Cut back on your blog-reading. You might find it strange to hear a blogger tell you to cut back on blog-reading and read a book instead, but I really encourage people to guard their online time and make sure it is being productively used. It is so easy to fritter away time by blog-hopping, I know all too well myself as I've struggled with this. I've personally set a boundary right now of only allowing myself to subscribe to 30 blogs on Bloglines. There are lots and lots of great blogs out there, so be particular so that it doesn't eat up all your free time! -Set aside time on Sunday to read. At our home, everyone usually takes a Sunday afternoon nap--everyone but Mom, that is. Instead of napping, I usually have an hour or even two to read my Bible and read other books. I can often finish a short book in this amount of time or finish up another book that I'd been slowly plodding through all week. It is such a relaxing, refreshing, and encouraging thing for me to do on Sundays and a great way I've found to rest and recharge. In fact, it's normally much better than a nap! -Read aloud to your children. This is a great way to get in extra reading time and it doubles as quality time spent with your children. We're reading through the Little House on the Prairie series right now and while it's written for children, I'm learning quite a bit myself. (I keep thinking how incredibly easy my life is compared to those pioneering families!) For more of my thoughts on reading to young children, see this post. -Set goals for your reading. Keep it simple, though. The Girl Talk bloggers posted a great series encouraging us to read last year and I loved this quote from John Piper: "One of the most helpful discoveries I have made is how much can be read in disciplined blocks of twenty minutes a day. Suppose that you read slowly, say about 250 words a minute (as I do). This means that in twenty minutes you can read about five thousand words. An average book has about four hundred words to a page. So you could read about twelve-and-a-half pages in twenty minutes. Suppose you discipline yourself to read a certain author or topic twenty minutes a day, six days a week, for a year. That would be 312 times 12.5 pages for a total of 3,900 pages. Assume that an average book is 250 pages long. This means you could read fifteen books like that in one year." Maybe you don't have twenty minutes to devote to reading every day, but perhaps you have five minutes? Make a goal to read at least five minutes five times per week and see how far you can get. You might be surprised! Those are a few of my thoughts and what works for me at this season of my life. What about you? If you didn't have a chance to comment on the other post, I'd love to hear what your best tips and suggestions are for fitting in reading to a busy schedule. Also, just for fun, do you normally only read one book at a time or multiple books?
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Labels: Finding Time, Reading
Q&A: Finding Time to Read - Part 1
How do you manage to read so much every week? I'm amazed by the number of books you review each week. -a blog reader Well, my simple answer is: I like to read and I'm in an easy season of life right now--we're not in the middle of any crisis, I don't have a newborn, I'm not pregnant, and the girls are at relatively easy stages. I also only have two little children which means I have a lot more time on my hands than someone who has, say, six or seven children. That said, I've always been a fairly voracious reader and usually have at least two to five books going at any given time. Doug Phillips, a man who has had a great impact on my life has well said, "You'll be the same person you were last year except for the books you read and the people you meet and the way that God uses them in your life." Disciplining myself to read widely, read regularly, and read books that challenge my thinking and intellect has been one of the best exercises for both personal and spiritual growth in my life. I well recall reading a biography of Teddy Roosevelt--another man who has greatly influenced me--and being amazed that he often read three books per week when he was President. It pained him greatly to only be able to read that few with his full schedule because before he was president, he often read two to three books per day! I figure that if he could read so avidly while holding the office of President of the United States, surely in most seasons of my life I could find at least a little time to read! There are seasons of life when I read very little--such as part of last year when I was in the middle of morning sickness or right after Kaitlynn was born. During those simple seasons, I stuck to the basics and just tried to get 5-15 minutes of prayer and Bible reading in at least every day. I think maybe I read all of two books over the stretch of like 4 months last year. I had more important things to do--like sleeping, changing diapers, running laundry, or trying to make supper in the midst of nausea. In this particular juncture of my life, though, we have a good schedule going and as long as I stick to it, I'm able to carve out lots of little moments for reading. And I also fit in a few longer stretches here and there, too. I'll share some ideas and tips I've found for finding time to read tomorrow.
I'd love to hear from you on this, too! Do you struggle with finding time to read? If so, any thoughts or tips which have helped you?
Labels: Finding Time, Reading
Finding Time: Reader Tips #1
 I received lots of great tips and guest posts from readers for the Finding Time series. I'll be posting a sprinkling of these throughout the next few weeks as we finish up the series. Remember, as always, that these are just ideas that have worked for others--they may or may not work for you. These are to give you inspiration and helpful motivation; take what you find helpful and leave the rest. We can't all do everything at every season of life, nor should we try to!
From Kelly at The Barefoot Mama:
Keep your files and paperwork in one place. If you don't have a home office, I'd recommend a large Rubbermaid container with folders and a few shoe-box sized containers inside to keep items that may be smaller, i.e. receipts (organize in envelope monthly or categorically and then insert into small container). Running around after documents takes up time and so does putting them away. Keep it simple by always having the same place to turn to.
Remember, if you haven't used it in six months...toss it or give it away. A large part of cleaning and house maintenance involves "taming the clutter." Reduce it and it'll give you more time for other tasks.
Prepare and plan dinner ahead. It's easy and also fun! I love making a huge batch of meatballs at the beginning of the week (toss in some basil and rosemary for great extra taste!) and freeze them. I do the same with homemade chicken tenders and soups. Remember, you can make your own stocks and freeze those, too - freeze in muffin tins for one-serving portions. These are especially handy during the colder months of the year when little ones (or hubbies!) may need some chicken soup for the sniffles.
Give your best in all that you do. I find that I'm especially stressed and prone to The Frazzle Syndrome when I wake up and don't get going right away. I don't give all of my energy into getting dressed and ready to go, and then I find myself slouching, tired, and so forth. My energy is zapped before the day's even begun and I can't give my all in playing with my daughter or in cleaning my kitchen.
Most days I'm raring to go, and I spend a ton of quality time with my 18-month-old little gal, which 1.) gives me more energy and increases my focus in all areas, and 2.) gives her the "best" of Mommy so that she's quelled when I need her to play independently while I do dishes. My daughter is extremely active and wants my attention constantly (what little one doesn't?!). Giving her only half-hearted attention because I'm tired isn't quality time even if I were to spend the whole day playing with her. Put your whole self into each task and you'll be able to stay focused, energized and bless the people around you.
The most important: Remember that you're only in a "season" of your life. Right now, I'm the mother of a very energetic little toddler. I may lament those dirty dishes piling up because the night before was particularly chaotic and I may ask hubby to pick up Chinese on the way home because a little dearie rejected her noon naptime and decided to snooze from three to five instead. These days shouldn't be seen as frustrating--they're a blessing.
The blessing of motherhood, the blessing of family, and the blessing of being able to grow our relationship with God through understanding that we must be flexible, determined, forgiving and compassionate--just as He is to us. Learning to manage your time is all about learning to let go of unrealistic expectations and embrace both the crazy and the peaceful of this season in your life.
I am a mother of 3 and I've been a mom for almost 7 years. One of my children is special needs. We definitely have had our fair share of time management issues! Before I had kids, I thought I had it together pretty well.
I think one of the most fabulous ideas I have tried is to make yourself a WEEKLY to do list instead of a daily one. That way, when one day is going well, you can cross several things off. But when you are just having one of those "in pajamas all day and tired and crabby and just trying to make it" days, you don't have to be depressed or upset that you didn't get much done.
And always make nap time your "mom time." Sit down and do something for yourself so you can recharge and be ready to take on the rest of the day. For awhile, I made naptime "hurry up and do as many chores as possible" time, and it just beat me up. Now, I read a book, or blog, or answer emails, or take a nap, or if we're really behind...a shower! :) From Heather:I just started something new this week and it worked really well. I planned meals for the next two weeks, then shopped for two weeks' worth of groceries in the early morning before my family woke up. I'd planned everything out and estimated the cost, and was really happy that I actually came in under budget.
Like you've mentioned before, it's amazing how much you can actually do when you stay within your budget. I was able to buy $10 of organic produce which I would never had done if it hadn't been for the two-week plan and sticking to the budget. From Marianne: *Time management gets more essential and increasingly more difficult as your children grow into the school years. Set up a pattern/schedule for yourself long before you need to consider how a "school" schedule (whether public, private, or homeschool) will affect your day-to-day chores/tasks/errands.
*Summer time needs a schedule, too, albeit a "looser" one. Don't forget to add in activities that the normal school day make more challenging to do: go to the library one morning a week; a park another; a free day for the kids to have friends over on yet another day.
*Limit outside activities. No child need to be involved in an "enrichment" activity EVERY day of the week. Children need free time to play, explore, and just get bored (because that challenges them to come up with something to do by THEMSELVES); we limit "extra" activities to 2 days a week, including Saturdays.
*Set out EVERYTHING you'll need in the morning the night before. Everything--breakfast dishes, cereal boxes, coffee maker (couldn't survive the day without mine!). Lay out clothes for all the kids and for yourself with a choice of two shirts (if that's an issue with your child; my daughter wears a uniform so it's a non-issue here) and back-ups for last minute weather changes (sweatshirt/sweater/short sleeves/long sleeves). Put shoes, coats and backpacks in a central location by the door you'll exit in the morning, and stuff socks into the shoes so you're not scrambling for a clean pair at the last minute. And always pack those school lunches the night before; there's just no time in the morning if you wait!
Have a time management tip you'd like to submit to be included in this series? Email me.Labels: Finding Time
Finding Time: Part 6 - Track Your Time
 Missed the first posts in this series? Start here.In seeking to simplify our lives in order to focus on what's important, it is helpful to determine how we are spending our time in the first place. Sometimes, we feel as if we don't have enough time at all but there is nothing we can do about it since it seems everything we are doing is absolutely essential. Maybe that truly is the case for you, but more likely than not, there are some areas in your day where time is being wasted or spent inefficiently. The best way to figure out how you are spending your time and ways to improve and become more efficient is to track your time for an entire week.
"An entire week?" you say, "I barely have time to brush my teeth. How am I going to find time to record what I do everyday?" Well, maybe you can't handle tracking your time for a whole week. If not, start with tracking what you do every 30 minutes for 2-3 days. Get a notebook and have it in a handy place. Then, as you go about your normal day, log what you spent your time on in 30-minute increments. Set the timer to go off every 30 minutes if you need the reminder to write it down. Once you've finished tracking your time for 2-3 days or longer, look back over your time log and determine where your time is being spent. If you're like me, when I've done this in the past, I've quickly been able to spot areas where I was wasting a lot of time and it's been incredibly eye-opening for me. My biggest time-wasters are getting distracted on unnecessary things and my all-time culprit--the computer. Knowing that these are two areas I struggle with, I've made a concerted effort to especially put boundaries in place to keep me on track. I have a good schedule in place for our day and it is printed out and put in my homemaking binder in clear page protectors. Since I love crossing things off a list, I use a dry erase marker to cross each time slot off the schedule as it's completed. This helps me greatly to stay focused and on track. We don't always follow the schedule perfectly, but it is a guideline and tool that keeps me from getting distracted, off-course, and letting time slip away needlessly. [Note: Having just finished reading Get More Done in Less Time, I've even more motivated to become more organized so that I might be even more efficient in my time usage. I just ordered new planner pages from GraceWorks (in addition to my basic FranklinCovey daily pages I use), Jesse and I figured out a time where I can have a weekly planning mini-retreat (Saturday mornings at the coffee shop by myself!), and I'm inspired to take organization up a notch so that I might be a better manager of our home to bless my husband and family and all who would enter our doors. I'll be sharing more on this as I continue to learn, grow, and put things into practice!] As far as computer time goes, my best solution has been to stick to the schedule and not allow myself to get on the computer unless it's the allotted computer time or I've gotten another job done early. My goal is that my family never sees me on the computer. I don't always perfectly achieve this, but it's what I strive for. I do not want my children to grow up feeling like I'm more attached to the laptop than them. And so I usually am only on the computer in the early mornings or in the afternoons during nap time/quiet time. You know what? Staying off the computer during most of the day means I get so much more accomplished! What about you? What areas do you find are your biggest time-wasters? What solutions have you found to keeping these from stealing your efficiency? Labels: Finding Time
Finding Time: Part 5 - Less is more
 Chinamama4 left a wonderful comment on my last Finding Time post:I think that the really tricky part for Christian women is the balancing act of all the "important" things once we have eliminated the "unimportant". So many activities seem valuable and Biblical and fit into our category of "glorifying God" (Bible study groups, teaching VBS, volunteering in the food pantry...), but if they take us away from a higher priority, that is, our husband, our children, and especially the Lord, then we're missing something.
I've had to really evaluate carefully all my "extras" and have let go of many really wonderful things - teaching Sunday school, MOPS, Moms In Touch - so as to focus more fully on the Lord and on the family He has blessed me with. And it's tempting to look at other moms and think, "If she can do all that she does and still raise that great family and look lovely and keep that beautiful home, why can't I?". I am so guilty myself of playing the "comparison game." I'll see another mom with two little children who seems to be more put together and I'll look down at my spit-up stained shirt and wonder what my problem is. I've also often found myself feeling guilty after reading various blogs that I'm not baking all my bread from scratch, sewing my girls all their Sunday dresses, decorating my home with flair, making elaborate dinners, and on and on. Cindy's farewell post was just about the best post I've ever read and I encourage everyone to run over there right now and read it:When I first hopped on the Internet express, I was alert and aware of all the potential ways that I could stumble into sin. It seemed the Internet could offer up any sin on a platter and my job was to be careful. I knew I needed to avoid evil. In the end, it was not the evil things on the Internet, not even the arguments and negativity, but rather the good things that bogged me down. So many, many good things. Pictures of decorated houses, libraries, recipes, book suggestions (this alone has been enough to almost drown me), crafts, knitting, aprons, sewing, frugality, weather, poetry, audio files, friends, homeschooling suggestions, music and the ideas, the wonderful, wonderful ideas. Almost all of my successes in life have come because I do less than other people not more. I realized this the other day. I am not one of those whirling women impressing the luncheon guests. If I have less of a garden and less of a house and less curricula, fewer hobbies, fewer errands, smaller expectations I accomplish more. My productivity goes up as my distractions go down.
Read full post.
I'm slowly learning that while it is great to be inspired by others and it is wonderful to learn new skills, it's okay to do less. Really, it's okay.In fact, it is probably more than okay; it might be the best thing for your home and family if you learn to say "no," slow down, and savor life right now. We can't all do everything and we would do well to realize this. Instead, we should stop comparing ourselves to others and start focusing on what God has called us to do. This will mean different things for different people as we are all in different seasons with different husbands and different families. For some it might mean you buy your bread, never use a coupon, and don't have a blog. For others it might mean you stay home more, serve two-course dinners, and stick to the basics. Do what God has called you to do and seek to do that well. Don't spend your life trying to do more than you can do, be more than you should be, and run yourself ragged trying to impress or outdo other people. I'm learning that it's okay for me - in this season of my life - to keep dinner very simple, to be a minimalist in decorating, to put most crafts and sewing on hold for the time being, to downsize our business, and to say "no" more often. Yes, I do some blogging and online entrepreneurial things. Yes, I do more reading than some people. Yes, I enjoy bargain-shopping. But there are so many things that I don't do. In fact, I have feeling that some of you who haven't met me in real life would be surprised at how simple and basic our life is. But you know what? My husband and I really like it this way. We've cleared out a lot of excess commitments and stuff so that we can focus on what is most important--pleasing the Lord, having a strong marriage, raising up our children for the glory of God. Basic, simple, fundamental, important things. Things which will matter in Eternity. So, be free to do less and you might find out that in paring down, you have a whole lot more time to focus on what's really important. I'd love to hear from you all on this. How have you sought to simplify your life in order to have more time to focus on what's most important?Labels: Finding Time
Finding Time: Part 4 - Eliminating the unimportant
 In this Finding Time series, we're going to be moving into talking about developing a routine/schedule soon, but before we do that, we need to first examine what should be on our schedule in the first place. There is nothing which hampers efficiency more than a life cluttered up with unimportant things.One of my favorite books on time management is the simple little volume by the Girl-Talk bloggers called, Shopping for Time. They make a great case for getting the best "bargain" with our limited time resources by learning to properly evaluate our choices in light of a Biblical framework. They encourage Christian women to:Begin by listing your priorities. Here's Mom's list: -Grow in godliness.
-Love my family.
-Serve in the church.
-Fellowship with Christians.
-Evangelize non-Christians.
-Attend to my work.
-Care for my physical health. Although your list may look slightly different, it's important that your priorities come from God's Word and not culture or personal preferences. We should all have similar priorities stemming from our identity as Christian women, even though we may use other words or categories to describe them. Once you've listed your priorities...evaluate yourself, prayerfully going through the priorities one at a time. Under each category, assess how you are doing--what is going well and what needs to change. Then consider how you can grow in that key area in your life.
When we say "yes" to one thing, we are also saying "no" to something else. I purposed when I was 12 years old to wrap my life around things which would count for Eternity. Though sadly, I sometimes lose sight of this goal, the Lord often reminds me of it and I, once again, re-evaluate what I am doing in light of Eternity. Two questions which help eliminate much of the stuff that can clutter up life are: 1) Does this glorify the Lord and honor my husband (if you are married)?2) Will this matter in Eternity?If the answer is "yes" to both of those questions, then I need to evaluate it in light of the order of importance. My priorities at this season of my life as a child of God, wife, mother, and homemaker, are, in order:1) My relationship to the Lord. 2) My relationship with my husband. 3) My responsibility to train, raise, and nurture the children the Lord has blessed us with. 4) My role as keeper and guardian of our home. 5) Everything else: Fellowship with and ministry to other Christians in our church and community, reaching out to the lost, physical fitness, etc.I highly encourage you to take time today to list your priorities for the season of life you are in order of importance and then evaluate every opportunity in light of those. You will probably quickly find there are a whole lot of things you can eliminate--things which might be good things, things which might be great things for others to do, but things which, for you, will only distract you from the best things.
To be continued...
Labels: Finding Time
Finding Time: Balancing blogging and life
Frugal Friday: Time management and bargain-hunting
 Since we're discussing Time Management right now, I thought this question would be great to address for Frugal Friday: I just bought your Supermarket Savings 101 and I love it. But I don't know if I am a little too gung-ho about this. I am not feeling overwhelmed. I have all these folders organized in my favorites folder and blogs marked in my Google Reader. I have forums to help me and sites to visit.
It just seems like there are so many places to find deals and some sites have things that others don't. Some post more frequently than others. I guess I am looking for a way to simplify this so it is not so overwhelming. You said you take about 45 minutes a week and at the rate I am going, it will be hours a week checking blogs and forums. -Jessica When you are first learning to shop frugally, i | | |
The Household Organizer pages - Though these pages are actually supposed to be used for planning household cleaning, I use them to create a week-at-a-glance goal sheet for the main areas of my life: Home, Jesse, Personal, Kathrynne&Kaitlynn, Personal, BiblicalWomanhood.com, MSM Blog, and BW Blog.
