Homemaking can feel very overwhelming at times! These are 7 homemaking tips that will help you become a better homemaker today!
Homemaking is simply the management of a home. A homemaker is not necessarily a wife or a mother with small children. A homemaker can be someone who is hired to take care of all the housework for you (imagine that!) However, reality is that you are not solely a homemaker but also a wife, mother, employee, roommate, etc. You wear many hats and homemaking is one of them. How can you do this better along with all the other things you do? Keep reading for some motivating homemaking tips!
This post is all about homemaking tips that will motivate you to do it better.
Motivating Homemaking Tips
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Plan Ahead
One of the very important tasks of a homemaker is to oversee all the events of the household because outside events will affect the management of the home. Holidays, weddings, vacations and hosting guests all affect the routines of the home. If you don’t plan ahead and have a birds eye view of all the events and plans it will be difficult to continue managing everything inside the home. Here are the types of plans you should create:
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Yearly Plan: The days between Christmas and New Year’s is a great time to open up a one year calendar and start plotting out different events. First, write out things that are already scheduled (work trips, vacations, weddings, birthdays, etc.) Then, draft out things that are not concrete yet but that you would like to plan (possible party dates, getaways, extracurriculars, etc.). As you start getting an overview of the year you can anticipate what months and weeks will be busier than others and then modify your home management accordingly.
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Monthly Plan: At the beginning of every month, look over the calendar for that month and keep in mind all of the events happening that month.
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Weekly plan: At the beginning of every week, get together with your spouse or the people that you live with and talk about each days events with them and write out a schedule. Evening events, extra early mornings, weekend plans – all the nitty gritty details of the week. This will help you plan meals and your homes daily routine more effectively.
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Have a cleaning routine.
A cleaning routine is a must for a homemaker. It is more efficient to have a schedule for your cleaning than to binge clean every time things get too dirty and you just can’t see it like that any longer. Create a daily, weekly, monthly and seasonal cleaning routine and you won’t have to spend large amounts of time cleaning any longer.
Here’s my easy weekly cleaning schedule:
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Plan your meals
Planning your meals is a great homemaking skill. When you plan your meals, it saves you a ton of time! You don’t waste any time thinking about what to cook in the evening or taking extra trips to the grocery store because you don’t have a certain ingredient or not enough meat for a full meal. Note I am not necessarily talking about meal prepping here because meal prepping is when you take a few hours a week to prepare and cook foods for the week. I do like to meal prep breakfast (the hardest meal of the day for me) but I don’t necessarily do it for all other meals.
Plan all your meals at the start of the week and make a grocery list with ALL the ingredients for ALL the meals. (Meal prepping your breakfasts is also a wonderful thing especially if you have early mornings or a lot of little mouths to feed.) Be smart about your meals and use the same ingredients for multiple meals so that you do not waste food. Also, make large meals to have left overs for lunches or late nights that you are not able to cook. I only cook 4 meals a week and make plenty of left overs for healthy lunches and dinners for nights I work late.
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Create systems
Systems help your home run so much more smoothly! A system is a method to get something done. It’s a ritual that you create to do things most efficiently and effectively. You already have systems in place. You do things a certain way each time you do it. However, not all systems are good systems. There are bad systems like piling all your laundry on the chair in your room but never folding it or collecting the mail on the kitchen counter and never sorting it. Create good systems. Systems that work for you and your family and that are simple enough for everyone to be able to follow it. Create a system for picking up after every meal, what to do when clothes leaves the dryer, where to place mail when it is brought in the house, etc. Take a survey of the pain points in your home (maybe you have a paper monster like we do) and create and implement a simple system that can eliminate the problem. Small baby steps can make huge differences in the home!
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Declutter and decorate
Part of homemaking is making the home a pleasant place for the people that live in it. Decluttering and decorating are two major factors that contribute to a home that is pleasant to the eye. To some people these things come naturally, to others they do not. Sometimes even the busyness of life makes you put off hanging a picture frame on a wall or adding some fresh flowers to a table. Decluttering is also a big one. Do you hold on to too many things? Are the surfaces in your house full of things? I am not talking about minimalism here and clearing your home of everything but the essentials. However, sometimes completely clearing off a surface and then placing back only the things that belong there or that you would like to see make a big difference. When things are decluttered it is more peaceful to the eyes and allows the soul and body to rest and relax better. Spend some time thinking about where to hang that family photo you’ve had in storage or attack that corner coffee table that you keep ignoring – your home will thank you!
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Manage your attitude
The most important homemaking skill – a good homemaker manages her attitude before her home. If you have a bad attitude about homemaking it will infiltrate every part of your home and affect everyone in it. You must embrace your role as a homemaker to be a good one. This does not mean you need to let go of every other role you have but you must accept that it is a responsibility and a privilege God has given you. If you are always grumbling about all the work you are constantly doing in the home or you are always expecting praise or recognition from those around you, homemaking will be very difficult. You must come to it with humility and thankfulness knowing that it is a very key opportunity in which you are able to create an atmosphere and environment for your family that can help them flourish and grow as individuals and shape them in positive ways for the rest of their lives. Do not miss the opportunity of homemaking because you lack perspective but pray that you can take full advantage of it!
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Don’t let housework keep you from enjoying those who live in your home
Good homemaking does not keep you from those in your home but helps you be with those in your home and enjoy them more. Don’t let the dishes keep you from cuddling with your kids after dinner and watching a movie. Don’t let the laundry system keep you from a spontaneous outing with a friend. You won’t be able to do it all and that’s okay. Let that free you to continually build up your homemaking skills but also have the flexibility to let some things go. Not every week will have perfect systems. Your kitchen floor will not always be crumbless. You will always feel like you have another organization project. Every season brings it’s strengths and weaknesses. Don’t beat yourself up when you can’t get much done and don’t get too proud when you can. Stay humble and balanced and you will enjoy homemaking more than you ever have before!
This post was all about homemaking tips that will motivate you!
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