Yay, I’m getting this blog posted on time!
I know it sounds funny but this is a big deal to me. By nature, my life has to be flexible to do all the things I need to do. I have three kids, two with special needs and one still very young. They need my attention 24 hours a day. I know a lot of people in need of Tender Loving Care that God regularly brings to me to care for - He made me a heart-healer to help these people, and I go where he calls me to. This often calls for cancelling or rearranging my plans to meet their need which sometimes makes getting my own things done difficult. I have happily done this for many years but lately it has grown too difficult as my life has increased demands.
So I’m cutting back on my flexibility and increasing my schedule. I have two home businesses and I cannot manage them without set hours. My daycare hours are already set, but Rachel’s Cozy Knits & Designs kept getting neglected, as did my house cleaning. So I pulled out a tool that I’ve not used in a while.
I have an app on my phone called HomeRoutines. http://www.homeroutines.com/ It also syncs with a website for easy editing, and there’s a blog, too, for encouragement. It’s pretty easy to set up. I have mine with more complicated routines that I worked out over time, but its easy enough to figure out if you keep clicking (or use their help page). http://www.homeroutines.com/using-homeroutines/.
I love this app! It helps me keep myself accountable for the things that need to get done. I earn a “gold star” when I finish a list which is good for my OCD. But you know what’s even better? Just seeing all the tasks that I’ve marked off and I know I’m doing a good job. 😀.
This is especially true in the “zone” cleaning. I have it set up to do monthly tasks a bit at a time. I have my home divided up into 6 different zones and and have each assigned to a day of the week, and I will work each of those lists over course of the month. The 7th zone I honor the Sabbath on Saturdays and so don’t list anything.
I have daily, weekly, and monthly tasks. For example, On Thursday I have my everyday morning, afternoon, and evening list, and a weekly list specifically for Thursdays, and my Bedroom/Office zone list. Every day I drink my coffee, every Thursday I write a blog post, and every Thursday I will make progress on my once-a-month tasks for Zone 4: my bedroom / home office.
I just updated my routines list on Sunday and while I was at it, I set up a separate copy for Blur and I’m noticing that he is marking off his app much more regularly than he ever marked off his paper routine lists. I already am more productive and feel much better about myself and my home is a much more comfortable place to be. This is my second week in a row that I have posted up my blog on time, and I look forward to many more!
My overall schedule looks like this:
Sunday: flexible day
Monday: weekly preparation day
Tuesday: shopping day
Wednesday: studio-time (crafting for my business)
Thursday: office work
Friday: catch up day (flexible)
Saturday: Sabbath: rest / flexible day
These tasks are mostly for 9 am - 2pm - the time all the kids are in school, when I can focus on getting work done. At 2pm I get my daughter from preschool, then soon after get my son and the other kids I watch - it gets a bit chaotic in the afternoon. lol. I hope to schedule more time for crafting for my business, possibly in the evenings, but this is a start! :)
No comments:
Post a Comment