Using routines in your day-to-day life sounds like it will lock you into drudgery, but in fact having key activities scheduled and programmed into some kind of routine can simplify life.
For most of us, life is busy, filled with things which bring us joy, commitments that we are passionate about, child raising, family time, time with our partner and things that inevitably pop up unexpectedly.
Creating routines around some of the things that just need to be done, like washing, shopping, home maintenance tasks and so on. Stick with me here – this is not designed to enslave you to a life of drudgery – quite the opposite! Mastering a few basic routines around the house will keep your homestead running more smoothly.
1. Set specific washing days
In the Simple Homesteading farmhouse, we wash clothes on Monday and Friday – this keeps our weekends free – that is the time for fun – and as we both work from home, we can juggle the washing during the day when the solar system is running at its peak. (This is important as we are off-grid).
Sheets and towels get washed on Tuesday or Wednesday, really depending on the weather and what else we have going on. A little bit of flexibility in the routine doesn’t hurt to help you stay the course.
Washing like this also means we don’t spend all day doing washing – I would find that a bit of a drag! So, I do one or two loads in the morning while I’m working and then it’s done. Most days I can get it in from the clothes line at the end of the day and it’s dry. And on the non-washing days I don’t have to worry about it!
2. Create routines for your daily tasks
Things which need to be done every day like packing school lunches, unpacking the dishwasher or watering the garden in summer work much more smoothly if you have a routine. If those tasks are undertaken at around the same time, or in the same order every day then you don’t need to think about doing them – they become automated in your mind.
For example, if you always prepare school lunches after dinner before the final clean up is done in the kitchen, then you will only have to clean up once from both dinner preparation and school lunch prep. Similarly if you are a morning lunch prep person then doing them before or after breakfast consolidates time in the kitchen and streamlines the clean up process.
While you are thinking about prep, look for recipes like my 5-minute Basil and Almond Pesto which really does only take five minutes and will lift whatever you put it with. Add it to pasta for a quick mid-week meal or easy lunchbox solution.
We always water our vegetable garden in the evening during summer – it is part of the routine in later afternoon. All the beds are on drippers, but someone has to go and switch on the timer tap for each watering section. It becomes part of our after-dinner routine in summer when the days are light for much longer. Come winter and the shorter days we don’t need to water as we get plenty of rainfall.
3. Distribute weekly tasks across the whole week
Activities which need to be done on a weekly basis, like watering the indoor plants or refreshing the bedding in the chook house can be scheduled for a particular day. This means you don’t spend all day doing chores (what a drag!), but rather you do a little bit each day.
Choose a day and stick to it. But don’t let it run your life either – if a friend rings and wants to catch up then do it the next day or the day before if you have enough forward notice. Use it as a guide, not a rule!
4. Use the seasons as a guide for what needs to be done
There are some tasks, like pruning and mulching which need to be done on a seasonal basis. I always plan to prune my roses in July. Some years it’s early July and some years it’s late July but I do try to stick to July.
That’s the time in the southern hemisphere when the roses are dormant and the weather is cool so they are not going to be stressed by the pruning. I don’t necessarily allocate it a day, but I do remember that it is to be done in July so when I get time and the weather is favourable I head outdoors and do that.
Similarly, we mulch in late spring in preparation for our hot summers. So the cooler days of November are earmarked for mulching the gardens.
Planting out winter or summer crops is generally scheduled for a one month window, in part because the seasons can vary a little and in part because it often takes a few sessions in the garden to get everything in. And if I’m growing from seed, not all the seedlings will be ready at the same time.
Some house jobs get scheduled like this too – the summer blinds go back up in October when the sun is still low enough in the sky to cause the house to get hot on warm days.
5. Remove and declutter the things you no longer need
Having less possessions and stuff to worry about means you have less to manage and maintain. A friend of mine recently started a challenge to remove something every day for a month – one thing that they no longer need, use or want went off to recycling, was gifted to someone else or donated to the local op shop every day.
That seems quite challenging to me! When we moved into our house we got to a point where we had a pile of ‘stuff’ that hadn’t yet been sorted and unpacked. I set myself the task that each day I went to the pile, chose one thing, no matter how large or small, and dealt with it. Donated, recycled, re-gifted, re-used or put into service. Just one thing a day. That was easy and achievable and helped with the feelings of overwhelm which can arise when faced with a seemingly impossible task.
These are five simple ways to help you get some sense of order and simplicity back in your life. If it all seems too much just start with one and do that. See how it feels, discover what works best for you and make it a habit.
Soon enough it will be an entrenched part of your life without even having to think about it. And then you can spend your time dreaming about what you will do with your spare time and planning your next foraging expedition or baking day.
