The Hearth > Managing a Household

Blog post by an experienced homemaker

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Leahsgarden:
http://www.granny-miller.com/june-ask-granny-how-do-you-keep-on-top-of-all-the-various-diverse-homestead-tasks/

This blog post is something I keep coming back to, mostly as an encouragement to keep up the work in my own home. Certain aspects of the post that stand out for me are:


--- Quote ---My “secret” for keeping ahead and on top on things is that I’m a full-time farmwife/housewife and I no longer have children at home.
--- End quote ---

That reminds me to give myself extra grace, child raising is a full time job! It's ok to only get a few things done and spend my time more focused on the boys.


--- Quote ---I prioritize my list and try to be realistic about my energy level. What I don’t get finished in a week gets rolled over to the next week’s list. I work steady until my goals are completed.
--- End quote ---

This is a good point, I know I'm not always realistic about my energy levels.

I think a lot of people have lost their ability to work steady on a job until it's done. We get distracted so easily these days... checking our email, seeing if people posted Facebook updates, checking our phone for a text, seeing something out of place and completely forgetting the task we started. I'm not sure how to fix my "work steady" focus, except to build it up little by little. I tend to tell myself, "I'll just work on this for 15 minutes."


--- Quote ---Clutter is kept to a minimum inside and outside and I pick up and clean up as I go along – all day long.
--- End quote ---

What? You mean I can't declutter once and call it good for 2 years?  ::) But I've been trying a little harder to be more aware of my surroundings and it's clutter. If I'm going to throw a diaper away, is there any other trash that I can grab? I'm changing out of my PJs, is there any other dirty laundry I can grab and add to the pile? That kind of thing.


--- Quote ---I don’t allow myself the luxury of procrastination and never leave a day’s work incomplete unless I physically cannot continue without rest.
--- End quote ---

I'm not in this place right now, I need lots of little breaks. If I don't, I get contractions galore. :P But I also work harder on not procrastinating so much. Just jump in and get it started before it becomes a monster in my mind.


--- Quote --- Also I don’t ever watch TV .  And I do mean never.

You will find HOURS of increased productivity if you will give up the TV habit.
I haven’t really regularly watched or owned a working television in over 20 years. And it’s not an exaggeration to say that without a television I became a free thinking and self-reliant person.
--- End quote ---

We don't even own a TV (Caleb threw a wooden block at it and cracked the pixels), but I ask myself if I'm trying to "deaden" my mind. A couple years ago, it was playing solitaire. I don't even love that game or anything, but I was somehow getting a "high" whenever I won. So I'd play some more so I could get that happy feeling... and ignore what I should or could be doing to improve life in general (like putting laundry away!).

Later, I felt like my blog reading list was getting extra long and taking away time that could be used more wisely. So one by one, I started to ask myself if this blog was blessing me, did I feel enriched by reading most of the posts, or did I get nothing out of it? I ended up removing over 300 blogs from my list! I've done the same with a couple forums. They have their purposes, but they weren't serving me at this time in my life.



I've printed out this post, and will read it when I need a little boost to tackle stuff around the house. Baby steps to being a better homemaker! :)

Proudmama:
Great post and thanks for the link!  I look forward to reading her blog.

Denise

Andrea G:
Thank you so much for posting this link, and for your post.  I have to say I'm feeling convicted right now. I am so bad for procrastination and being easily distracted.
I have a feeling that this is a post that I will be coming back to as well. :)

mooremama:
I love Granny Miller. 

One little saying that helps me is "How do you eat an elephant?  One bite at a time"

I find myself repeating that to myself when I'm doing a job that seems overwhelming.  Here recently it's been stacking wood.  Aaron and Sam are busting up wood and I'm stacking it so I constantly feel like I'm loosing the race.  With every whack, they're making 2 pieces of fire wood that I'm going to have to move and stack.  When they're both out there busting, the pile grows very fast and I get defeated easily.  So I just keep thinking....one bite at a time  :)

Beth

trlmom3:
Thanks for the link, I bookmarked it for later. I'm like Granny Miller, I don't have little ones at home, but as I posted before my daughter,sil and grandson will be here temporarily.While I love that they are back in MI, it is an adjustment to have a house full. Beth I don't know how you do it with three little ones.

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