Lots of people ask me how I manage to do a lot despite caring, managing, cooking etc for a household of 10 (well almost 11 😃. Yes, we are expecting baby #9 next month!) While the truth of the matter is that I don’t manage to do all the things on my to do list, I can yet say with confidence that I do have methods that keeps me as efficient as I can.
Well, talking about efficiency, I do have to mention how I fail also. Just this week, I overlooked the start date for the dual credit community college classes my oldest 2 take at campus. I had the week of Jan 26th marked down on my calendar, and was happily going about with ‘regular life’ which also meant a homeschool science class at a ranch in the morning, and art class and scouts in the evening for that day (not to mention a bonus post office trip on the side.) That’s when my kids (who also apparently overlooked the start date, as it wasn’t very obvious on the website, and just got the syllabi the previous day; and my daughter usually being very much on top of such things) said that classes start that day! We started panic mode, rushed out of the house after getting everyone ready, within 7 minutes, and I managed to drop them off at campus, which is 25 minutes away, just in time for their second class they had enrolled for the semester. They completely missed the first class, but at least they got to attend the 2nd and 3rd classes. We could see God’s hand all along the way, which I’ll just leave it at that as I don’t want to drag on the story.
So yes, I do have my days, and times when my methods fail me. I am not a fool proof efficiency machine, by any means, but I would love to share some tips that I find useful in my own life.
1)My first and foremost productivity booster is spending time with God and understanding what He wants me to do that day. If your actions are in sync with God’s plan, then you are off to a great start. My less achieved days are the ones I started off with my to do list without consulting God. When you let Him direct your path, you are actually achieving much more than you think you would have achieved on your own.
Throughout the years, I have felt God nudging me to do something that was very relevant at that time, by giving me a certain passion to do it that time. For example, at the time I was thinking of starting this blog, I spent hours and hours into trying to learn from scratch how to set up a blog, as I had no background whatsoever about anything web designing related. Also the time before I started homeschooling high-school, I had the passion to try to learn all the ins and outs, challenges, about dual credit, college applications and all. There was also a time I was invested in trying to use and do projects on the Cricut machine. And many other instances like that.
There are several times I felt my ‘productivity’ was hindered when I had to do something extra like console a crying baby or attend to another who is more clingy than usual or dealing with some character issue. Though it may seem frustrating at the moment, those are the moments God wants you to be addressing that instead of focusing on the other numerous things we have to do. He calls us at that moment to attend to the matter with our full attention as this is what He wants us to see as most important at that time. And we shouldn’t feel that we are wasting our time in doing so. We do actually have to ‘waste’ our time with our precious family. When we are able to give our full attention to our family when they need us the most, we are actually very productive! We have achieved way more than what we would have achieved, doing our routine, mundane things. At least we will be one more step closer to holiness.
2) I stay away from social media. The only ‘social media’ I use is WhatsApp group chat which I don’t even open 80% of videos or forwarded text. 🤫😌I do use Pinterest for finding recipes and organization tips, occasionally. I am however, on top of texts. So I am reachable for the most part.
I think in today’s culture, social media is the number one time killer as well as productivity decliner. Though I am an introvert at heart, I do love the company of others and enjoy the fellowship of those around me. But by not engaging in social media, I have all that extra time to channel into other positive things.
3) I always make it a point to keep the kitchen counters clean and the house reasonably organized. This itself is a great productivity booster. For me, I find it hard to function when there are stuff all over the house where it doesn’t belong. For me, a cluttered house leads to a cluttered mind. I utilize all my kids help to keep the house clean. My oldest 2 ‘get it’. They initiate the cleanup process when they see things looking out of control. But my younger crew, still need to learn this, unfortunately.
4) I utilize gaps of time. I fill it up with things on my wish list or maintenance list. The gaps of time is when I am actually able to do the most. (You can read more about this here). But if I feel I need to rest during that gap of time, I gladly do so without feeling guilty, as rest is also very important.
5) I check email only once or twice a day. I have turned off push notifications on my phone. However, when I am expecting an important email, I check more frequently.
6) Sometimes when I have the extra motivation and energy, I go into a 1 hour decluttering or cleaning frenzy . I set a timer and work really fast. I am able to achieve a considerable amount of work this way.
7) By nature, I am a very fast-talking, fast-walking person. I used to be nicknamed ‘super-express’ in school. Even now, I think people start getting scared when they see me move so fast, especially when I am pregnant! 😂. On top of that, I usually deliberately work on routine things at fast pace – when you move around fast, it’s good exercise too, so you can kill 2 birds with 1 stone.
8) I love to enter every small thing to do on an app and then check off, the mental satisfaction from checking off actually motivates me to do more work efficiently.
9) I always have a reading booklist handy, so when I’m not doing anything physically, I’ll be reading something during my resting time, which is also probably something I had wanted to do on my to do list, anyway.
10) I do utilize appliances and gear that help me save time. You can read my kitchen hacks here. I also have a list of appliances I use in the kitchen that I find very useful, in my recommendations page.
By adopting ways to save time and understanding what the number one time killers are as well as trying to avoid that, it is not that hard to achieve more in a day. One thing to remember however is that we should never compare ourselves to others, or even to our own past. I have been super productive at different seasons of my life; and other seasons, not so much. We just have to understand the season of life we are in, fully embrace it, and live in the moment. For those who feel that the only thing they ever do each day is taking care of very basic household necessities, or even taking care of little ones, just remember that one day “this too shall pass”. I need this reminder myself!