Category: Homemaking

What does a homemaker do all day, anyway?

Have you ever been asked this question, and not known what to reply? Or maybe you’re not even sure what you’re supposed to be doing all day as a homemaker!

Homemaking doesn’t come with a job description, so it’s up to you and me to create one. As homemakers, we run our households. We make up the rules about how our days will flow. We make priorities for our time, and work toward goals. We are responsible for keeping our families fed and clothed, our houses ship-shape, and our homes peaceful, life-giving havens.

This is beginning to sound like a tall order, isn’t it? How does one woman do all of these things?

Let me tell you a secret: it will never be “done,” and never “perfect.”

That’s the nature of keeping a home. But that’s also part of its beauty: we get to start fresh every day, even if the previous day was a miserable failure.

How can I be a productive homemaker?

This is a question we all ask ourselves at some time or another. Some days, it feels like I don’t get anything done besides cooking supper.

While we can’t completely avoid the disappointments, there are some practical things we can do to ensure that most days are not failures.

In general, this means setting up some kind of framework. It’s the job description and responsibilities of your position, if you like to think of it that way.

If you prefer to see homemaking as a vocation instead of an occupation, you might think of this framework as a quilting frame or embroidery hoop which holds the fabric in place while you work at different parts.

The frame is important because it allows you to see the whole piece, but focus on one small area at a time.

So what is this framework for homemaking? What kind of structure helps us to make the best use of our time every day?

I like lists, but sometimes these aren’t very effective. I find myself writing tasks on the list that I’ve already accomplished, just so I can check them off! Or the list gets too long, and I feel behind before the day is fairly started!

Enter the daily schedule. It’s flexible enough to meet each day’s individual needs, yet structured enough to help you accomplish the things you need to do on a daily or weekly basis.

Benefits of a daily schedule

What makes a daily schedule so helpful for homemakers?

Hint: it’s not just about getting the maximum amount done each day, though schedules do help you to be more productive!

Writing tasks down gets them out of your head.

This means you won’t be constantly trying to remember everything you need to do!

If you forget, you can just look at the schedule. Oftentimes, though, I don’t even have to look at the schedule once I’ve written it out. Somehow, putting things on paper helps me remember them better.

It also makes me less stressed. I hate the feeling that I’m forgetting something, and I definitely don’t want to go through that every day. Creating a schedule gives me more peace of mind.

It helps you to maximize productivity during specific parts of the day.

Perhaps you’re a morning person, and you can push through lots of tasks before lunchtime — if you don’t get distracted by a magazine or your phone. Or you’re a night owl, and move slowly in the morning no matter how long your to-do list is.

Maybe you have young children, and can’t seem to focus on tasks that require lots of brain power unless the kids are sleeping. Naptime is a precious sliver of quiet in your day.

Having a schedule helps you to see which times of day are your best times for getting housework done, or focusing on something that requires maximum attention.

Making a schedule allows you to choose how your day will flow.

Do you find yourself always rushing to get the house clean and supper ready at a certain time? What if you could plan your day better, so that supper preparations and tidying up wouldn’t be so hurried all the time?

Making a schedule allows you to divide up your day into manageable chunks of time, so ideally you never have to rush about frantically. (I do say “ideally,” because we all know that those days happen!)

More than just spreading out the tasks, a schedule helps you to set a flow for the day. Some activities make sense at certain times, like working on a project during naptime, or cooking supper at 5:00 pm.

But if you don’t sit down and plan out how you want your day to go, it probably won’t be very organized. I have found that my most peaceful days are those when I know what I need to accomplish and how much time each task should take.

I know this sounds like you’re working steadily all day long, but that’s not the case. Making a schedule allows you to schedule in leisure time, too. You can pencil in an hour for a walk in the middle of the day, if you like, or teatime with a friend.

Writing it down actually allows me to enjoy my leisure time more, because I don’t feel guilty about not working constantly. If my house is a mess and I have a bunch of chores to do, I’m not going to really relax and enjoy a long walk.

Types of schedules

This brings us to a discussion about different types of schedules. You may be familiar with day planners and hourly schedules, where you detail which activities should happen every hour.

Those worked well for me when I had several places to go during the day, and set appointments and deadlines. You may like that amount of structure, and thrive on an hourly schedule like this.

If you would like to see an example of an hourly schedule for a homemaker, Jayden’s daily schedule is great!

Since I became a full-time homemaker, my schedules are rarely this detailed or time-specific. For better or worse, I don’t get up at the same time every day, and my mornings can vary widely. I need a schedule that is more flexible than an hourly model.

Priority-based Schedules

The type of schedule I use is based on my priorities for the day. I pick a handful of things I need to do, such as housework and making meals.

Then I add in a few things that are good for my physical and spiritual wellbeing: walking, running, and pilates are physical activities I enjoy, while journaling, prayer, and Scripture reading are good for my spirit.

Finally, I make room for some activities I enjoy for their own sake: baking, reading, having tea, writing to a friend, or writing about homemaking…

Next, I make my schedule. My days are mostly pretty flexible, but there are some set times (meals and naptime/bedtime) that do not change. So I build my schedule around these times.

Note: The main difference between this type of schedule and an hourly schedule is that a priority-based schedule does not focus on specific time slots for each task. I find this freeing, but you may prefer to schedule your days more strictly.

My Schedule

Morning: Housework

I am a morning person, and can usually accomplish a fair amount before lunchtime. Therefore, I dedicate the time between breakfast and lunch to housework. (One day per week, this time is used for grocery shopping and running errands in town.)

Lunch

Early Afternoon: Outside time

Between lunch and naptime, I do something outside with my kids. We take a walk, shovel snow, or work in the garden. Any additional time is spent reading stories.

Naptime: Quiet projects

Naptime is for working on my own projects. This is the time I can do whatever I like, my quiet time for reading or writing. I try not to waste it on the internet, but sometimes that happens, and it’s okay because that time wasn’t supposed to be spent on something really important.

Late Afternoon: Supper prep

After naps, I focus on making supper and tidying the house. My goal is to have everything fairly neat, quiet, and orderly when my husband comes home from work. If the meal won’t take long to prepare, I might have time to finish up housework left over from the morning. However, I try not to start any projects at this time of day.

Dinnertime

Evening: Family time

After dinner is family time. I do not try to get any more housework or writing done during this time, because I know it will end in frustration. Instead, I focus on my husband and kids. We read stories, play music, and tidy up one last time before bed.

Late Evening: Wind down

After the kids are asleep is my time to tie up any loose ends from the day and prepare for the next morning.

I can’t do anything that makes noise or requires much light after the kids go to sleep, due to our close living quarters, so I don’t try to get any more housework done at night.

That’s my schedule, in fairly brief form! Please understand that this is an ideal schedule, and it certainly doesn’t happen every day! But when I do stick to it, my days are peaceful as well as productive.

Creating your own schedule

Whether you choose to make an hourly schedule or one that is priority-based, there are a few things you should take into account.

When I make up a schedule, I try to think through a typical week in my head to determine which activities need to be written down (so they actually get done), and which ones don’t need to happen every week.

If you don’t have a ‘typical week’, just think through last week. It’s something to start with, anyway.

What to include

Whichever style of schedule you choose, start by writing down mealtimes. If you’re using an hourly format, you will set an actual time for each meal: i.e., 7:00 – Breakfast time, 12:00 – Lunch time, etc.

If you are making a priority-based schedule, you don’t need to write down a specific time for meals. Just put Breakfast somewhere near the top of your paper, Lunch somewhere in the middle, and Supper near the bottom. You can always rewrite the page later if it needs to be adjusted.

After mealtimes are accounted for, make sure the housework has its place. Cooking, cleaning, laundry, and all the rest of it needs to get done some time!

You may prefer to do a little bit of each task every day: fold one load of laundry, clean one room, etc. I prefer to tackle one big task or category of tasks each day. I use a weekly housekeeping schedule to keep it straight.

After housework, build in time for some activities that are good for you, physically, mentally, and emotionally. Homemaking isn’t all work, and there is room for creativity and having fun!

Morning & evening routines

You may wish to create a morning and/or evening routine in your daily schedule. Morning routines can be really helpful in starting your day out on the right foot and helping you to feel ready for the day.

I have to admit, right now my morning routine is pretty minimal. I would probably benefit from setting an alarm and getting up earlier, so my mornings can be more consistent!

Know your weaknesses and target those areas

One of the best things your daily schedule can help you do is to improve your weaknesses. However, you have to do it intentionally.

• If you know you tend to dawdle in the mornings, having a structured morning routine can help you overcome procrastination and headaches later on in the day.
• If you get distracted by your phone or computer, set specific limits on how much time you are allowed to spend on them each day.
• If you can spend hours perusing cookbooks or Pinterest while you plan meals, set a time limit for that as well. (Guilty!)
• If your evenings are always stressful and rushed as you try to get supper on the table, plan your afternoons well so that supper prep starts earlier.

These simple considerations can make a huge difference in your schedule and your life!

Thoughts about Schedules

I hope you find some of these ideas helpful in creating your own daily schedule. Remember, schedules aren’t for making you work every second of the day. They are for ensuring you have a balance of work and leisure, so that you can get everything done without getting burned out!

One last point: Some days are so hectic, schedules go out the window. When that happens, don’t beat yourself up about not sticking to your daily schedule! The last thing you need at that point is more stress.

On particularly crazy days, I often pick just one or two things that absolutely need to happen, and focus on those until they are complete. When I’m faced with a jam-packed day, anything more can be overwhelming.

Setting up a daily schedule is part of becoming intentional about homemaking. It helps you to appreciate your days more, whether they are spent at home or not.

Interested in learning more? Read more about this kind of homemaking in my introduction to intentional homemaking.

At some point along the journey of homemaking, you realize that the rhythm of life at home moves differently than life in the public sphere. It is quieter, more peaceful, less busy and stressed. A slower pace means boredom for some, but it can be so much more than that.

To some people, this slower rhythm seems like a problem: if your machine is moving slower than a different one, maybe there’s something wrong with it, and it needs to be fixed.

Others get used to a faster, more exciting pace of life, and find themselves bored easily at home. They want to be where the action is.

If you have recently transitioned to the role of full-time homemaker, you know that the pace of life at home is very different from the rush of the workaday world.

Or perhaps you are passionate about homemaking, while still balancing a job outside the home. In that case, you go back and forth from home to work, adapting to different rhythms and demands.

Should home life be just as busy and exciting as the parts of our life spent in public? Or should we accept and even embrace a slower pace at home?

Is homemaking boring?

To answer this question, let’s think about the purpose of homemaking for a moment. Homemakers create homes for their families. True homes are welcoming, comfortable havens where people can find rest and good cheer.

The essence of home might be described as a place of welcome, refreshment, peace, and safety.

Homes are meant to shelter us from the world, in a manner of speaking. Yes, they can hold parties and entertain friends or family when we choose to open our doors, but our homes are the one special place where we can relax and be our private selves without having to defend our philosophical, religious, or political ideas at every turn.

Homes are where we nourish, preserve, and teach, not fight for our values.

If we look at the question in this light, perhaps it’s natural that our homes move more slowly than the outside world of busy society. After all, the goal of home is very different than the goal of public life.

Homemakers are the Gatekeepers

One thing we must be careful to do as homemakers is to keep our homes separate from the world outside. I don’t mean we should close off our homes to everything and everyone outside of our family; but we should be careful about just how much we let inside.

If we want our homes to be havens, then they can’t be too noisy or rushed.

(This has nothing to do with children. I have small children at home, and I do realize that sometimes life is very noisy!)

What I mean is that home life should move at a more leisurely pace than life in society. If we are always running from one activity to the next, that destroys the peaceful atmosphere of home.

This does not mean your life at home should be boring. Far from it! What it does mean is that you have a responsibility to set the tone in your home.

You, as the homemaker, control the pace of life in your home. Even if you have a house full of kids, your decisions about what comes in and what stays out can make a huge difference in the atmosphere of your home.

Does your home refresh you or bore you?

Let’s put it this way: if your home reflects the world outside like a mirror image, you are likely seeking happiness out there. If your home reflects your own unique family and values, you are likely seeking happiness in home and family.

This is an important question, by the way. As the homemaker, if you aren’t happy in your role, you will have a very hard time creating a happy home for your family.

If you are constantly behind on the housework and struggling to get dinner on the table because of too many activities or commitments outside the home, your family life will start to suffer.

Home might even start to become a place of tension instead of rest: a place where the to-do list awaits as soon as you walk in the door.

But if you take your role as gatekeeper seriously, and give your attention to creating a welcoming home instead of just a pretty house, your home life will flourish.

You will be happier and more satisfied with your life, and your family will find more peace within the walls of their home.

Taking time to do your tasks thoughtfully and build your daily schedule to flow peacefully adds much to the comfort of a home–for everyone, not just you!

What to do when you’re bored at home

Now, some of you have probably been cultivating a slow home life for a while. Maybe you even feel bored, like you’re missing out on everything else that’s going on in the world.

Perhaps you look at a single friend or family member and think, “Wow, her life is so exciting! All I do is stay home.”

Don’t fall into the trap of comparing, friend! We will never be able to see all the joys and pains in the hearts of every person. We have each been given one life to live, and we must live it as best we can.

The path of homemaking may not be glamorous, but it certainly doesn’t have to be boring. Homemaking can be joyful and meaningful. I would rather have that over glamor and drama, wouldn’t you?

So embrace the slow rhythm of life at home, instead of wishing for more excitement. Remember that there is a time and a season for everything, and someday you might look back wistfully to these slow and simple days.

Overcoming boredom with meaningful living

That’s all well and good, you might say, but how do I appreciate slow and simple days right now?

We have grown accustomed to getting whatever we want instantaneously, so any kind of waiting seems irksome to our generation. Perhaps what we need is to refocus on the meaning of the things we do, instead of how fast we can get them done!

Slow living does not mean moving slowly about our tasks, or staring out the window because there’s nothing else to do. It is intentionally removing distractions from our lives in order to appreciate the simple things and make life more meaningful.

Slow living means doing things for a purpose, and doing them thoughtfully. It is realizing that faster is not always better: getting more done can actually be less productive, if the goal is to live a meaningful life.

There are plenty of tools to help you be more productive, whether at home or at work. Technology has gotten so advanced that computers can do all sorts of tasks for us. But at the same time, it has robbed us of the enjoyment of life.

Enjoying life by keeping things simple

I don’t want machines to do all of my housework. I would rather feel the solid wooden broomstick and hear the swish of the broom straws against the kitchen floor.

I would rather light a candle and watch the flame dance while it melts the sweet-smelling wax, instead of living under the constant glare of bright incandescent lights.

The true secret of happiness lies in taking a genuine interest in all the details of daily life.

William Morris

There is a lot of truth in this simple statement. Paying attention to the small details can turn an irksome task into a creative, or at least loving, endeavor.

Utilitarianism has reduced many actions to the standard of productivity. In a world of mere utilitarian production and consumption, there is no room to appreciate the beautiful, the solemn, the heart-wrenching.

By embracing a slower way of life at home, we can infuse more meaning into our days.

Ways to embrace a slow rhythm of life at home

Here are some ways to make your life at home more meaningful, which will help you to overcome boredom and appreciate the slower pace:

1. Structure your days

What makes you feel bored or aimless quicker than a day with no plans?

The solution is to manage your time so that you always have something to look forward to, instead of an endless afternoon stretching out before you with no plans. This will help you to appreciate your time more, and use it wisely.

One simple thing you can do is to set up a housekeeping schedule. Even if you don’t need a schedule to get all the housework done, sometimes just having one or two tasks penciled in for the day is enough to get you motivated!

This is also a solution to the problem of frustration of feeling like you’re not getting anything done during the day. Just by writing out a simple schedule, you can plan time for hobbies or meeting a friend, instead of feeling like you don’t have time for anything fun.

2. Observe tea time

If you will be staying home most of the day, why not set aside some time in the afternoon to take tea?

You can invite a friend over and pop a batch of scones in the oven, or just sit down with a pretty teacup and gaze out the window for ten minutes. It doesn’t have to be an hour.

A short break in the afternoon lends structure to your day and grants a reprieve from whatever task you have been working at.

3. Walk daily

Getting outside every day is important, especially for homemakers. If not for my daily walks, there would be many days wherein I did not set foot outside my door!

Somehow, we always remember that fresh air is good for children, but it’s good for us grown ladies as well! Spending some time outside each day will help to clear your mind and sweeten your temper.

Moderate exercise is also beneficial for calming scattered nerves and helping you sleep better.

Brisk walks have been my remedy for stress and anxiety for years now. They help me breathe deeply and focus on something besides my problems.

4. Start with a morning routine

Slow, cozy mornings are my favorites. But if I’m not careful, time can slip away from me, and I look up to find the morning half gone and the breakfast dishes still not done!

To prevent this (and the accompanying feelings of guilt and desperation), try making a morning routine.

It can be a simple list of the tasks you need to complete by noon on a particular day, or a shorter, more generic schedule for every morning.

If you don’t know what to put down, read Samantha’s article about morning routines for some inspiration!

Just having a little something to get me started on the day’s work is helpful when I’m moving slowly!

Add structure for a purposeful life at home

You may have noticed that all of these ideas involve adding some sort of structure to your daily life. I think this can be a problem area for many homemakers, whether they find themselves with too much or too little to do during the day.

As homemakers, we set our own schedules.

Did you hear that? WE SET OUR OWN SCHEDULES. That means there is no schedule unless we make one!

It’s hard to really embrace the rhythm of life at home if there is no rhythm or pattern to your days. Setting a simple plan, even if it’s not an outright schedule, can help you feel much more settled and purposeful in home life.

I hope these ideas help you to find your rhythm of slow, simple living at home.

If you would like to read more about finding joy and purpose in simple, intentional homemaking, check out my Guide to Intentional Homemaking!

Happy homemaking!

~ Kimberly