Do you feel overwhelmed and frustrated? Do you sit down at the end of your week and feel like a failure as a spouse, parent, employee and friend? Is your time hijacked by mundane tasks which prevent you from accomplishing what is truly important to you?
I understand.
As a Christian homeschooling mom of four and a small business owner, I want to live my life in a way that is honoring to God and which enables me to fulfill my purpose. For the past couple of years I have been very intentional with the way that I spend my time and one of the most helpful tools I have discovered is creating a weekly plan.
When I first began trying to organize my crazy life I made a detailed “to do” list every morning but by the end of the day I felt defeated because at least half of the items on my list were left unaccomplished and I never seemed to spend enough time on those tasks which I felt were the most important. A weekly plan worked better for me because it represents a manageable amount of time but gives me more room to fit in all of my priorities.
If you would like to create a weekly plan that works you will need to:
Determine Your Top Priorities
There are many, many ways that we can fill our time but the key to a purposeful and joyful life is knowing our true values and priorities.
My top priorities are maintaining a close spiritual connection with God, taking care of my health, loving and respecting my husband, and nurturing my children. To ensure that I actually accomplish these priorities I have to make time for them in my schedule and be very purposeful with the way that I use my time. All other activities and tasks must come after these priorities are met.
List Your Mundane To-Do’s
Once you have decided what your top priorities are you will need to make a list of all of those mundane tasks that need to be done such as laundry, vacuuming and food preparation.
Your list will vary in length depending on your season of life. Moms with young babies will spend lots of time cuddling and feeding the baby so other items may have to wait or be accomplished in a “less-than-perfect” way. When I had four children ages five and under I allowed my five year old to fold my towels and put them into the linen closet. They didn’t look very nice but they were out of the laundry basket and my child felt a sense of accomplishment.
Schedule Your Week
As a busy mom I find that routines work better than hour-by-hour scheduling most of the time. I mark off blocks of time on my weekly calendar for certain activities and I use routines to accomplish most of the basic household tasks such as laundry, cleaning and cooking.
Whatever method you choose make sure to schedule your most important activities first (marriage and family time, self-care activities) and fill in with the less important but still necessary items. Ministry and outside obligations will have to fit into the remaining time.
Be Realistic
Once you fill in your calendar you may be surprised that there is not enough time to accomplish everything on your plate right now. Depending on your season of life, you may need to eliminate all outside activities for a while until you can find more of an equilibrium. It is difficult to say “no” but you have limited time and energy and you need to spend most of your resources on your top priorities.
For many years I believed and told others that God, my marriage and my family were my top priorities but the way that I spent my time did not actually reflect what I said. I spent my time doing “ministry” thinking that I was serving God when in reality I was filling my time with “good” projects and tasks at the expense of the “best.” Moms need time to refresh and refill because there are so many demands and serving others outside your home can meet an emotional need. Just make sure that you are serving out of an overflow of joy rather than obligation and that you are meeting the needs of yourself and your family first.
For more details on my unique system of planning read Get Organized: How to Plan Your Week to Get The Most Important Stuff Done. I also have a FREE Customizable Weekly Planner available to subscribers which you can access here.
Kimberlee Stokes is a happily married wife to a very patient husband, mom of four teens and the owner of the popular website ThePeacefulMom.com where she inspires and equips women to organize their time, money, space and relationships so they can enjoy life and fulfill their purpose. When she’s not teaching her kids or writing you can find her joyfully hiking through the woods, art journaling, watching movies with her hubby or laughing with her teens. Click here to read about her latest e-book, be happy.
Sharing at Nourishing Joy, The Modest Mom Blog, A Bird and a Bean, A Mama’s Story, Time-Warp Wife, and Cornerstone Confessions.
Great post I would love it if you would link up at good morning Mondays. Blessings.