4 Habits of Productive Homemakers

Do you feel like you don’t get anything done and that tasks are piling up? You aren’t the only one, especially if you have kids! But the most productive homemakers have established habits to get their work done as efficiently as possible.

Have you ever gone to bed feeling exhausted but also like you haven’t gotten anything done that day? That can happen if you don’t have good habits, because not having good habits can lead to an unproductive day.

I think it’s easier to get distracted today than in the past because we have the internet at our fingertips. If you find yourself mindlessly scrolling through social media, you might already know where to find extra time in your day!

But that’s probably not where most of your time is going. It’s more likely that you just aren’t going about your tasks as efficiently as you could. Changing a few key habits can help you get more done in less time.

1. They Stay on Top of Clutter

Even if you don’t think a cluttered home is bothering you, it can make you unproductive in a lot of different ways! These can include:

• Harder to keep track of important things like notes, resulting in wasted time spent looking for them.
• More time spent cleaning because you have to move the clutter out of your way.
• Less space in your home, which can result in less breathing room and more stress.
• More discontent with the state of your home, which can lead to stress when it’s time to host guests.

Some homemakers find it easier to declutter at the end of each day, and for others, weekly decluttering is more realistic. Whatever works best for you, put regular decluttering into a routine to stay on top of things.

If it’s been a while and stuff is piling up, you might want to devote a couple of days to tackle it and give yourself a clean slate to work with. Make sure everything has a place, and if you can't find a space for it, consider getting rid of it. Decluttering is much faster when you can mindlessly put items back where they belong instead of having to think about where each item goes!

2. They Create a Schedule

You don’t have to block off every task throughout your day unless you feel this level of detail will help you. It’s really about what works best for you. Some people need a lot of structure in their day, but others do better with more flexibility.

Wherever you fall in that range, a schedule can still help you see what you need to do that day, and it lets you loosely plan out the day. Some people like to divide out the day by morning, afternoon, and evening tasks, while others prefer to have a morning and evening schedule and let the rest of the day fall into place.

For myself, I have a fairly regular schedule because I work regular hours and I let my other tasks fall into place around that.

Besides a daily schedule, you can also create a weekly, monthly, and annual schedule of homemaking tasks that don’t have to be done every day.

For instance, I like to vacuum the kitchen every evening when I cook dinner, but I leave the rest of the vacuuming on my weekly to-do list. And reorganizing the pantry or closets is more of a biannual task. Having different schedules for different timeframes ensures you are staying on top of those other tasks that are easy to forget about.

3. They Write Everything Down

Even the most productive homemaker can’t keep their entire to-do list in their head, and if you are balancing homemaking with anything else, it’s especially important to write stuff down. While you can set alerts on your phone, this keeps you somewhat tied to your phone, and you may or may not remember to check it.

One way to make yourself less likely to forget about various tasks is by writing them on a whiteboard or chalkboard in a central place, like the fridge. Every time you finish something, you can cross it off the list when you walk by!

4. They Have a Joyful Spirit

Even when things don’t go their way, productive homemakers resist complaining and instead show joy and grace in their homes. This doesn’t mean they never have bad days, but even when nothing seems to go according to plan, productive homemakers still try to show love to others in the home.

Resist the urge to stress over the dishes in the sink or the laundry piling up. When you must choose, the atmosphere in your home is the most important thing to focus on. A messy home filled with love is far preferable to a spotless home filled with complaining.

Do you consider yourself a productive homemaker? What are some ways you try to be more efficient with your work?