1. "Work on your wall before noon." This is something I read on another blog. It refers to Nehemiah's job of re-building the wall of Jerusalem. I know that in my house, it is much better if I work on all the things I have on my to-do list first. And my goal is to have most of it done by noon. Now, granted, there are always things to do after lunch. But my list is small enough that I can be done. Some things on my list are: laundry, bread-making, quick-clean the bathroom and school.
2. Be consistent. In our house, we make our bread instead of buy. But I have been rather inconsistent with the making of it. So lately, I have decided that I need to bake something every day. I didn't yesterday, but there was still bread in the bin. If not bread, something for desserts to put in lunches.
3. As much as possible, keep things in the same place. I think our big bowls and things have always been down here on this shelf, since we moved here. I did find that the little containers for lunches were a big problem down here. It's too easy to throw them down here. So I found space for them on a shelf where there had been some plates we weren't using much. For this week, it's been a good plan. Now for some consistency in that area - see #2.
4. Do the same things at the same time. I try to do my blog first thing in the morning along with devotions and my verses at
www.scripturetyper.com. But getting a shower competes with that. These are all things that I like to have done before the babies show up.
5. Plan a bit of fun during your day. Right after lunch dishes and naptime for babies, (see #4) I like to have some time to sit and do quiet things and sometimes it involves a movie (see #6). Lately, since I've started going to quilt guild, it's been quilting. I picked up an old project, and I will finish it today, I hope.
6. Don't turn the TV on till you're all done with work. If I do turn on the TV after lunch, it's super hard to turn it off because we can always find something on (the best thing, which is not always even good). Because of how hard it is Carpenter and I are seriously considering canceling when our contract is done, maybe before. We only got cable because we were required to have it in order to place someone in our home, and that fell through.
7. Design a system for things and stick with it, only tweak. This is the current system and I don't love it. It's not perfect. But I will continue to use it rather than pitch it, because overall it's not bad. The only thing I don't like is hearing them say, "I've dried for three times in a row." because someone messed with it or because they don't remember.
8. Make a place in your home that is reserved for quiet thinking. Mine is my room upstairs and because it's cold during the winter I never go there, but my living room is quiet during the school year. One note on this picture: I know you're not supposed to have your office in your quiet place. It's in the plan to make a different room into that, but right now it's not a possibility.
9. Work on one area at a time. This is my area today. It's actually so much better. I've had the kids clear out the boots and coats for the basement. Because this entryway is cold, I always procrastinate on cleaning it (see #10). But today, I'm going to do a bit at a time.
10. Procrastinating about that "hated" task will not make it look more desirable. None of my rooms look like this today. This is from my de-cluttering days when things were disastrous. But they aren't great either. I have some ideas to help the little ones with their clothes issues, but it takes time.
Finally, enjoy. Find joy in serving your family. Turn up the radio while cleaning. Fill your mind with Christian songs etc. This was the scene yesterday while I was finishing up my post for yesterday. They took on this task themselves even though washing dishes is my job. I pray that they find joy in serving all their lives, though I haven't been a good example of that.
Making the most of today.
Steph
This is wonderful. :) Thank you!
ReplyDelete