Reading books like Little House In The Prairie and Little Women really helped me understand what peaceful homemaking is and why a homemaking schedule is important. These people had lots they were doing! If you read the stories there always seemed to be this peace in their homes.
They knew exactly what had to get done for their homes to flow well and where able to accomplish their everyday task with general ease. When you know what you have to do on a regular basis you can get into a rhythm where everything just flows.
Having a homemaking routine or schedule helps you to be more efficient with your time. Everyone’s schedule will look a bit different since we have different numbers of kids, different age children and overall different lives.
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While my routine is generally pretty similar it does change depending on sick kids, how much sleep I have gotten and any errands I might have to run that day. The great thing about having systems in place in your home is you know what you can let go off for the day like cleaning the bathroom and what still has to get done like meal prep.
I’ll share with you a bit of my own routine for the day, week and month and then share how you can create your own routines to suit you! So let’s get started.
What Are Homemaking Activities?
Before we talk about a homemaking schedule let’s talk about what homemaking activities are. A homemaker manages the home, they organise the day-to-day activities which include cleaning, cooking, decluttering, laundry, budgeting, taking care of children and more.
As you can see with so many different activities going on it’s important to have a schedule to have the days run more smoothly. The homemaker has many different tasks but thankfully with a little routine in place everything can get done smoothly and yes even peacefully.
Why Have A Homemaking Schedule
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A homemaking schedule is a great way to make sure everything that needs to get done gets done. There can be a sense of peace knowing what your tasks are for the day. What I like about a schedule is it doesn’t have to be fixed.
You can chop and change as you need to, so it works for your family. For example, you might like to clean bathrooms, vacuum and mop on Fridays for potential guest on the weekends.
Weekends can be busy at grocery shops, and they stock shelves Monday night, so I go on a Tuesday. Mondays I’ll clean fridges out to prepare for my Tuesday shop. You see how this works? You make the schedule to suit you and your family’s needs.
Having a schedule keeps you ahead of the game so you shouldn’t be left overwhelmed with loads of laundry. Your home shouldn’t have to be cleaned from top to bottom in a day because with a schedule you do a little cleaning every day.
A lot of times when I don’t know what to do, I can tend to mindlessly scroll on my phone. Hours can go by, and nothing has gotten done. I like having a homemaking schedule because it keeps me focused and gives me a sense of accomplishment at the end of the day.
Having a schedule also allows time for rest and family time. I’m a morning person and tend to get most major stuff done in the morning which allows the afternoon to do things I enjoy. Like playing with my kids or starting a project of some sort.
Morning Routine
I’ll share some of the things I do most mornings to keep my day running smooth and a rough time. Now the times can vary and what I do can vary but my days do look something like this for the most part.
6:30am: When I first wake up, I like to throw a load of laundry on. It’s an easy task to accomplish. If it’s going to rain it doesn’t normally until the afternoon, so the laundry has time to dry on the line.
I also get the kettle boiling for my morning cup of dandy chai tea. Oh, I love this tea with a bit of milk and honey!
7am: Make breakfast for the kids and then wash up. We love Sourdough waffles, Sourdough Pancakes, Sourdough crepes, scrambled egg on toast, chocolate kefir chia pudding or sometimes it’s just banana and yoghurt for breakfast.
7:30am: Take out meat from the freezer for dinner.
7:30-9am: I do some sort of bigger cleaning for the day. It can be cleaning the bathroom, cleaning the kitchen, vacuuming and dusting. I don’t do all these things in one day I have one bigger thing I do 4 times a week.
Almost every day I do a load of laundry and in this time, I hang it out to dry as well.
9am- Quick snack for the kids before we start lessons. Generally, chop up some fruit, maybe some yoghurt with granola, crackers and cheese, or our favourite Chocolate Avocado smoothie.
They are guaranteed to want something as soon as I start their lessons so I give them a snack first so there are minimal interruptions.
9:30am-11:30am- Homeschool the kids. We do our group lessons as well as individual lessons normally it takes about 2 hours in total for the 2 school age kids.
11:30amish: Get laundry of the line and fold it.
That’s my morning routine done!
Afternoon Routine
12- 12:30pm: Make lunch for the kids and wash up. Normally this is leftover dinner from the night before, sandwiches or wraps or a smoothie.
12:30pm: Everyone helps to give the house a quick tidy up. I don’t like messes accumulating so anything they are not currently playing with gets put away in its proper place.
12:30pm-2pm: I love this time because I can do whatever I want. Sometimes I have a garden task I want to do like planting seeds or picking weeds.
Sometimes I need to clean the chicken coop. I might take photos for the blog, read or crochet. Work on a project or on the blog for a little. Sew something. You get my gist; I do whatever I feel like or a task that I’ve been wanting to get done for a while.
2pm: I generally will give the kids 30 minutes of play time where I play a game with them, do a puzzle, jump on the trampoline whatever they want. As long as I get my time first to do something that makes me happy, I give them their time right after.
3pm-4:30pm: We head outside. I love being outside as much as possible. The only time I don’t go out a lot is during summer it’s just too hot. But for the other 3 seasons we are outdoors.
We cuddle sheep and chickens, look at the garden, play on the swings or trampoline. Just enjoy the outdoors and fresh air.
4:30pmish: I come back in while the kids are still outside and start dinner prep.
5:30pm: Kids come in, wash their hands and we have dinner.
That’s it for the afternoon routine.
Evening Routine
6pm: I wash up the dishes and my daughter dries. My son will wipe the table down. We do a tidy up of the house as well. It’s normally a pretty quick clean up because we pick up throughout the day and everything has its own spot.
6:30pm: Kids take turn taking a bath.
6:45pm: Might have a little snack or treat for everyone this is not every night but, in this season, where it’s currently cooler weather I like to make hot chocolate or eggnog for everyone. Even a nice cup of sleepy time tea.
7pm: Everyone brushes there teeth’s and we read a few stories. We have one chapter book I read and generally 2 short stories.
7:30pm: Bedtime. I currently have to lay next to my youngest, until she falls asleep, and I try very hard not to fall asleep as well!
7:45pmish: I make sure that the kitchen is clean and do any other little tidy up that might need to get done. I will not go to bed with a messy house.
8pm-10pm: This is my time to work on my blog, read the bible, read a self help book, shower, stretch. Whatever I want to do I do it during this time and then go straight to bed, ready for the next day!
That’s it for my evening routine.
Weekly Routine
I have daily tasks I do every week. It’s nice knowing that today is bathroom day or clean the kitchen day.
Having set days to do larger tasks that need to get done regularly is extremely helpful. This ensures that they get done every week on a day that suits you and it doesn’t feel overwhelming.
I’ll share with you a little bit of my weekly cleaning schedule here.
Mondays: Load of laundry, wash bedding, clean out the fridge and wipe down counters.
Tuesdays: Load of laundry, wash the towels, clean the bathroom.
Wednesdays: Load of laundry, give the kitchen a decent clean, grocery shop
Thursdays: Vacuum, mop and dust, wipe down windowsills.
Friday: Load of laundry, wipe walls where hands like to touch, clean inside of the car.
That’s my general week. I don’t like cleaning on the weekend so Saturday and Sunday I don’t have any particular cleaning schedule. We still pick up after ourselves and I might throw on a load of laundry if it’s piling up on a Sunday but that’s about it.
Monthly Routine
There are things that need to get cleaned but not every day or every week. I have these things on a monthly schedule.
First week: Clean Kitchen cupboards and drawers.
2nd week: Clean the oven and clean both rubbish and recycling bins.
3rd week: Clean windows.
4th week: Clean skirtings and fans.
How To Create Your Own Homemaking Schedule
Now that you saw how my general schedule looks let’s talk about how you can create a homemaking schedule that suits you and your needs. On the days when you will be home more get some of the bigger tasks done. Days that you know you might be out and about schedule less.
Here are a few tips to making a schedule that suits you!
Decide What Your Priorities Are
What are the tops things you want to get done every day so you feel like you have had a successful day? Think about the things you really want done and jot them down on your schedule.
For example, is it a load of laundry a day, reading your bible, exercising, making from scratch meals? Now think about when you most likely will be able to get those particular things done.
Is the morning best for you, afternoon or evening? I am more of a rhythm person so just have a list of daily tasks listed from most important to least. But maybe you like to have things done at a certain time and if that’s you jot it down.
Schedule In A Little Cleaning Everyday
Every day I schedule in some sort of cleaning. This makes it so you aren’t stuck doing a lot of cleaning in one day! As you saw above, I have a weekly cleaning schedule so everyday a different cleaning tasks gets done.
This keeps things manageable, and the house is kept orderly this way. I highly recommend creating a weekly cleaning schedule that suits you and then fit that into your daily life.
You get to decided how often you vacuum, mop and do laundry every week. It’s completely up to you. Do what feels right and remember you can always change it!
Write It Down
Write down everything you would like to get done in your house. I mean everything from cleaning the bathroom, to decluttering bedrooms and flipping mattress.
Then use your notes and write down what should get done on a quarterly basis like cleaning an oven and washing curtains. Write down what you want to get done on a monthly basis like cleaning windows or cleaning out cupboards.
Write down everything you would like to get done on a weekly basis and then on a daily basis. Use those notes to create your own schedule that fits your needs.
Keep Your Homemaking Schedule Flexible
Remember that you don’t have to stick to strict rules and time slots. While I say it’s a homemaking schedule it’s more like a rhythm. You go with the flow.
It’s nice having tasks written out to make sure everything that needs to and should get done throughout the week does. But if for some reason certain tasks can’t get done due to sick kids, sleepless nights and so on those tasks will have a chance to get done again.
Having a written schedule really helps to free the brain space and keeps you overall more productive.
If you are finding your homemaking schedule overwhelming, change it up. It shouldn’t feel overwhelming, it honestly should feel freeing.
Conclusion
Homemaking is an individual journey. No one’s homes will run exactly the same, we are all different. Feel free to change things up, look at how others are doing things and take what works for you and drop the rest.
Be open to trying to new things and learning. Your skills and abilities will grow as you grow as a homemaker. Don’t be discouraged keep trying new things until you find what works for you. Happy Homemaking!