Time Management on the Homestead

This week in our Farm Fresh Tuesday Blog Hop, I am featuring an article full of ideas on how to get better at time management on the homestead. This is something I am sure we all struggle with, so read on for some valuable tips!

Using a Planner to Better Manage Your Time

One easy way to be more effective with your time management on the homestead, is to use a planner. I love my Day Designer Planner. It allows me to empty my brain of my plans, appointments and "to do lists" onto paper, which actually gives me time to work on things instead of fretting over what needs to get done.

A little bit about how I use my planner. Each page has a To Do List on the right side of the page, and an hourly schedule on the left side of the page. I like to color code my to do list. Gardening stuff in green, Blogging stuff in purple, Household stuff in red, etc.

Than I just carve out time blocks for those categories, in the hourly schedule. If I have a lot of blogging stuff to do that day, maybe the morning is marked Blogging in purple. After lunch, I might put an hour of Gardening in green and 2 hours of Household in red.

I love how each page has a Top 3 section at the top, to help you prioritize things that MUST get done that day. There are also slots at the top to mark down if anything is due, your dinner plan, dollars and a don’t forget area. There is also a big section at the bottom for miscellaneous notes, and a smaller section for Daily Gratitude.

This is the best laid out daily planner I have ever seen and cannot recommend it enough! There are also lots of other goodies throughout the planner, but the daily planner aspect of it is where I needed the most help.

Make Monthly To Do Lists to Stay On Track

I am a list girl through and through. I have lists going all the time. Too many lists in fact! But lists to help me stay on track.

Using the planner lets me pick what the highest priority items are on each list, and get them scheduled so that things actually get done.

I even have Homestead To Do Lists for the busiest months around here, and I will try and add a couple more to the blog this year. Of course every homestead is different, so you will need to make your own! Put them in a binder for reference each year to stay on track.

Feel free to use ours as a starting point and edit as you need to!

Check out our homestead to do lists here:

March Homestead To Do List

April Homestead To Do List

May Homestead To Do List

June Homestead To Do List

Fall Homestead To Do List

Include Self Care in Your Routine

This is something I am still working on, but I had a big wake up call the last few months. In October, I started a part time job working retail. The shifts are 8 hrs long, and by November, it was full time through Christmas. The week before Thanksgiving, I threw my back out lugging feed bags around.

Yeah. Not good. Working 8 hr days doing retail, when your back is in full spasm mode for about 8 weeks, was not fun. Lets just say, its been a long road, but I'm finally on the mend.

I also turned 50 in December. So I am determined to get healthy this year. Eating right, more movement, yoga.....it is so important.

You know that old saying, you can't take care of others until you take care of yourself. It is so true. And a homestead is a lot to take care of, no matter how big or small your homestead is, so be sure to factor self care into your schedule!

10 Ways to Double Up on Your Productivity

Be smart about your time, and do more with it! Try to think about how to do more in the same amount of time. Examples of this include:

1. Write down your plans: plan the next day out before you go to bed, you will sleep better and be more productive when you wake up.
2. Prioritize what needs doing, instead of letting your brain go in circles about what to do next: this goes hand in hand with planning out each day.
3. Use a pressure canner to create easy meals in a jar, while using up your homestead harvest.
4. If you are canning up a staple item on your homestead, run two canners at a time instead of one and end up with twice the finished product.
5. Raising chicks or planting seed for yourself? Raise or plant some extras to sell later in the spring.
6. Buy in bulk to limit the number of times you have to run to the store.
7. Instead of making one meal, double or triple the recipe and throw the extras in the freezer for easy dinners later.
8. Be organized so that you aren't wasting time looking for that tool you need.
9. Ask for help when you need it, two people or two families, can get more done than one!
10. Set attainable goals, accept that it won't all get done and be ok with that and don't compare yourself to others.

Trade Time Off with Another Homesteader

Take that down time, and trade off with a fellow homesteader. You farm sit for them when they are on vacation, and they farm sit for you when your family takes a break. This is more cost effective than hiring a farm sitter, and both of you benefit from it, both financially and from that well deserved break!

If you don't belong to a homesteading community, try looking up a homesteading group near you on Facebook. We have a couple of them near us, and it is a great place to network, barter, make friends, etc!

Our Featured Post this Week:

Time Management – Organizing the Homestead Series

 

Time Management- Organizing the Homestead Series from Susan at It's My Sustainable Life

Want to Remember This?

I hope these tips and strategies have given you some great ideas on how to manage your time better on the homestead!

Please pin "Time Management On The Homestead" to your favorite Homesteading board on Pinterest to remember for later!