Time Management – Organizing The Homestead Series

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With all that goes into the daily running of a homestead or a household, what is the number one complaint? Lack of time. Goal setting and time management are skills that need to be developed and nurtured to keep the sense of “overwhelm” at bay on the homestead.

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Being a type-A personality all my life, it was firmly ingrained that yes, I could do it all…and do it all perfectly. Have a full-time career? Check. Keep a perfectly spotless home? Check. Take care of a child and partner? Check. Keep myself in perfect shape? Try to. Develop a homesteading lifestyle? Check. Realistic? Absolutely not.

Balancing life & home are hectic. Add in homesteading and all that encompasses over and above a normal household is a recipe for chaos, burnout, and overwhelm…if you let it. There is no magic wand and homesteading is a LOT of work.

Keeping chickens? Need to build a coop, maintain that coop, feed & water daily, gather & store the eggs, and what about when one becomes ill? Gardening? Are the beds prepared and ready? Seeding, weeding, and watering are just a few of the chores needed to create a successful one, never mind the intense physical work it takes to create the gardening beds and prepare them appropriately. Daily up-keep & maintenance of a homestead can and often is a full-time job in of itself.

You get the picture. A lot of added tasks that need to be completed. Many on a daily basis, and do not include the “unexpected” that will always present itself. Guaranteed. All this can easily throw you into the “overwhelmed” state very easily.

By now, hopefully, you are not saying to yourself, “well, that sounds discouraging” or “why should I try it when it doesn’t seem possible? It is possible to have it all with a few adjustments and time management skills in place.

TIME MANAGEMENT ON THE HOMESTEAD

No matter if you already have an existing homestead, creating your dream homestead, or even adding a few “homesteading lifestyle” skills to your toolbox, one thing we all have a finite amount of is … time. We all have the same amount. It’s how we manage it that matters.

It helps to picture what you want out of your homestead. What it looks like. How much time are you willing to devote to that one project or task to make it happen.

Be sure to ask yourself, “what do I enjoy the most”? It doesn’t make much sense to put in a huge vegetable garden when you hate gardening! In other words, take the time to get to know yourself first & what you visualize for your homesteading adventures.

When it comes to homesteading, there is never a “perfect time” to begin to homestead. If we waited for the perfect time we would still be waiting. By setting our goals (be sure to check out the first in the Organizing The Homestead Series – Goal Setting ), making a plan, and being accountable for that plan (take a look at the second in our Organizing The Homestead Series – Holding Yourself Accountable) we set ourselves up for success in creating the homesteading lifestyle we desire.

Looking for tools to assist you in the goal setting & tracking process? Our “homestead goal setting & tracking planner” can help you do just that. Consisting of 12 adorable sheets that are printable in 4 convenient sizes, these sheets will help & guide you along the way. Click the image(s) below & grab yours!

DEFINING YOUR TIME MANAGEMENT STYLE

Defining yourself or getting to know your strengths and weaknesses, or “style”, maybe one of the most important steps in creating time management on the homestead. Are you a morning person or a night owl? What are your most productive times of the day? Do you like things neat and organized or are you one who doesn’t mind a little chaos & thrives in it?

Being the type of person who lives by the motto, “everything has its place”, and very happy when everything is in its place thank you very much, chaos is not my friend. Acknowledging this fact about myself allows me to create a set schedule of tasks to be completed daily, & prioritizing their importance.

Knowing what drives you crazy and what you can live with certainly helps when defining how to manage your homestead. For instance, dog hair blowing in the wind on the floor. It drives me crazy! What is the one “must” task that needs to be completed every day? Giving the floors a quick sweep through, that alone keeps my sanity. Especially during the height of the harvest season when there are 5 bushels of tomatoes to process!

Through the act of defining your management “style”, you can then easily determine what are “must be done”, what are “would like done today” and what are “things that can be done if you get to them” tasks. This then allows you to begin to set a schedule that works efficiently for you.

Realize that there is no magic wand for time management when homesteading no matter your management “style”. Once you have a firm grasp of it, what your personal expectations are, you can then learn to embrace the chaos & the crazy when it’s upon you. You’ll be happier for it…just sayin’ 🙂

TIME MANAGEMENT ON THE HOMESTEAD – IT’S A MINDSET

Going into homesteading, creating a positive mindset is key to success. Having a little organization among the chaos doesn’t hurt either 🙂 Begin each new day on a positive note. How? By instituting a few of the following suggestions.

MAKE YOUR BED

Make your bed! The act of making your bed, creating organization from “chaos” gives a sense of accomplishment, of organization, and creates a positive mindset. Author Admiral William H. McRaven, “Make Your Bed: Little Things That Can Change Your Life…And Possibly The World”, states the simple act of making your bed each morning may be the most important.

“It will give you a small sense of pride, and it will encourage you to do another task, and another, and another. And by the end of the day that one task completed will have turned into many tasks completed.”

Admiral William H. McRaven

DON’T SWEAT THE SMALL STUFF – LETTING GO

Realizing that there is no “perfection” no matter how hard we try was a huge step forward here on the hill in time management. Allowing myself to “go with the flow” and not try to control the chaos was a huge relief in stepping off the hamster wheel.

What is the hamster wheel? Chaos…in the mind. A monkey mind. One that keeps going, and going, and going. It never stops. What’s the one biggest tool to easing off the minds “hamster wheel”? Pen and paper.

Nothing has eased my racing mind more than the act of writing out the tasks that need completing. By writing down your task list (grab your copy of the weekly task list here), you are free to let it go from the mind. It begins to set a sense of organization and ease to your day.

NO, YOU CAN’T DO IT ALL

Acknowledging that you are not superwoman (man) and cannot do it all is a big step in time management. There are only so many hours in the day and so much energy one has to utilize them efficiently.

There are times when you need help. Period. This is a tough one for the homestead minded person. We think we can do it all and do it better ourselves. It’s hard to ask for help, but essential to creating a successful homestead.

For instance, when we created our “Fire Pit! A Beautiful Space To Enjoy All Year”, we needed stone. A lot of stone. Yes, we could have harvested the stones needed completely from our property, many of which we did. But realizing this was unrealistic, never mind the fact we wanted to keep the health of our backs, we purchased and had delivered the additional stone needed.

Don’t have the means to hire out the heavy stuff? Barter! Swap with a neighbor who owns a tractor and in need of gardening advice or extra produce in the summer.

Or what about processing those 5 bushels of tomatoes? Could I have accomplished this myself? Yes. But by asking for help it cut time, conserved energy, and made the process more enjoyable!

INVEST IN TIME MANAGEMENT TOOLS

There is no better investment than that of time management tools. Literal tools. Ones that will shave off large amounts of time off particular tasks. Tractors, mowers, & canning tools such as the 41.5 Qt All American Pressure Cooker as shown in the video below. This cooker literally saves hours off the process of canning, not to mention gallons of water.

By investing in the appropriate tools of the trade, you make time for other tasks. Time that would have been spent working harder for the same result.

CREATE TIME

You are most likely saying, “wait, didn’t she just say that we all have the same amount of time” available? She sure did, and we do. However, it’s in how you make use of that time that you can literally “create” more. How? Get up earlier.

By waking up earlier along with the rooster so to speak, you literally are creating time. Quiet time. Time to be creative, make your plan for the day, complete a task. You get the picture. Creating time.

PLAN SOUL FILLING TIME

Soul filling time. The time set aside to immerse yourself in something you love to do. All work and no play never served anyone. Plan into your schedule time for yourself. Self-care to maintain health, mental health, and energy so you will be available for the tasks that need accomplishing.

In the summer months? Soul filling time is spent by the pool, relaxing, taking a break with a swim, or just enjoying one another’s company. In the winter months, soul-filling time is creative time. Time spent in the “she shed” of the house. Time spent on quilting, “Simple Quilted Potholder Tutorial”, or sewing projects, “Make Your Own DIY Tea Towels”, or knitting, “Top 10 Simple DIY Dishcloths For Beginners”.

Taking a break from the “must do” list and enjoying time how you most enjoy it will feed your soul and refresh your spirit. Something in our humble opinion that is most important.

TIME MANAGEMENT ON THE HOMESTEAD – ACKNOWLEDGE TIME WASTERS

What are time wasters? Time wasters are the tasks that you get side-tracked on that really are of no importance at the moment. The tasks that can be completed over time.

For example, say you are working in the garden seeding in carrots & you forgot to grab a tool you need. When retrieving the tool needed you notice that the toolshed is not in order. You begin to organize the toolshed. Helpful? Yes. Does it get your carrots seeded in? No. Can the organization of the toolshed wait for another day? Yes.

Although the organization of the toolshed would be helpful, it is not a necessity. It would be a task best kept for another day if the goal of the initial task was to get your carrots seeded in.

TIME MANAGEMENT SKILLS FOR A SUCCESSFUL HOMESTEAD

So what are our all-time must-have skills needed to create successful time management on the homestead? Here you go…

• Make Your Bed – As stated above, set the tone for the day and make it a positive one
• Know Yourself – Define your time management “style” & create the schedule that best fits it
• Set Goals – Create goals for your vision of the homestead. What does it look like? How does it work? Be realistic here. Refer to Goal Setting – Organizing The Homestead for the tips and suggestions to get you started
• Make Yourself Accountable – As stated in “Holding Yourself Accountable”, “taking ownership of our own actions, we become empowered to make the appropriate plan needed to create success. Feel free to refer to this article for some great suggestions on holding yourself accountable
• Write It Down | Plan – Create your daily “must-do” list then begin to break it down into further tasks by scheduling out your goals into weekly, monthly, and even yearly to-do lists either in a planner or by utilizing the printables mentioned
• Learn To Say No – Learning to say no, in a polite way, was most likely the single most important skill learned here. Knowing your energetic limits will help you realistically manage your time
• Batching Tasks – Batching tasks is intentionally setting a block of time for similar tasks to be completed and not becoming distracted into working other tasks. As an example, when seeding in those carrots, you additionally turn the soil and weed that space during the same time block
• Set Time Limits – Consider setting time limits on the heavy stuff. The intense physical labor tasks such as processing wood, or building something new. Do 15 minutes here, 20 minutes there. Save your back, your energy, and get those chores & tasks completed over a period of time instead of one day
• Be Realistic – We don’t possess superpowers and need to remember, Rome was not built in a day. Be realistic when writing your schedule & planning time for each task. Remember, it always takes longer than you think
• Don’t Compare – It’s easy to fall into the habit of comparing what someone else’s space or accomplishments look like to our own. There is no positive in comparing yourself or your homestead with others. Their vision is not yours
• Ask For Help – Enough said 🙂
• Embrace The Chaos – No matter how you plan, schedule, and create time, the law of averages tells us that chaos will happen. Learning to embrace the chaotic moments and realize they won’t last forever helps keep the sanity

There is no one set way to incorporate time management on the homestead. What works for one may not for another. Hopefully, however, a few of these tips may ease the chaos.

What are your favorite time management tips? Join the conversation below and as always, subscribe to stay up-to-date with the “happenings on the hill”.

Love, Light, & Laughter ~

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