Schedules, routines, and more

by Crystal Paine

I posted this as a comment, but wanted to post it as a separate post:

I thought you might have recently mentioned changing your daily schedule? Care to share? I really like the way you mentioned before that you keep your evenings free. I find it very hard to keep such a detailed schedule all day long. Any advice? -Lyn

Here's my basic schedule:

4:00 am Get up, shower, dress, makeup, hair
4:45 am Devotions
5:15 am Computer Time
6:15 am Make breakfast
6:30 am Start laundry/clean kitchen
6:45 am Daily cleaning jobs/make bed
7:00 am Kathrynne up, nurse, Family worship
7:30 am Cleaning/switch laundry
7:45 am K bath/dressed - clean bathroom
8:00 am Morning walk, Leave with K - errands/shopping/post office/field trips
11:30 am Home, make lunch
12:00 pm Lunch/Reading
12:30 pm Clean up kitchen
12:45 pm School with Kathrynne
1:00 pm Sing, rock, pray with K
1:15 pm Exercise
1:30 pm Email, business work, writing, blogging, work on website
2:30 pm Packages ready
3:15 pm Laundry, ironing
4:00 pm K up - Make Dinner
5:00 pm Get mail - Outside time
5:30 pm Quick pick up, set table, dinner ready
6:30 pm Dinner
7:00 pm Clean up kitchen - Scripture memory
7:30 pm Play with Kathrynne, jammies, nurse read to her, sing, pray
8:00 pm K to bed

I haven't done as good at getting up at 4 am this past week because of staying up late with Jesse while he studies. So, on the mornings I get up later, I usually spend less time on the computer and skip a few of the nonessential items and just follow the basic plan. This is my schedule for when Jesse is studying (especially leaving in the morning to give him a quiet home to study in - I usually wouldn't leave every morning for two hours.) So, I'll be putting together a new schedule when Jesse is finished - I guess that would be this next week! Yay!

As far as how to stick with a schedule, this is something I have struggled with quite a bit myself, as I've alluded to in previous posts. I recommend you get a copy of Twenty-Four Hours is All You Get by Susan Bradrick and also check out Candy's site and ebooks - she's been a real motivation to me in this area. Mrs. Wilt has some great and helpful printable here. I used her basic schedule and printables and tailored them to our home.

Don't bite off more than you can chew - DON'T start by trying to have a 15-minute-increment schedule if you've never followed a schedule before! Just try to make out a basic routine at first - maybe five things you want to make sure to do in a day in a certain order and try to stick with that for two-three weeks. Once you've done that, try adding in a few more things. If you can't handle that, go back to the five things. Keep it simple and slowly train yourself to be more disciplined. For me, having a detailed schedule helps keep me on track, for you, it might be better to have a basic routine. Do what works for you.

I don't follow this schedule exactly everyday. Sometimes things come up which are more important. Sometimes things take longer to do. Some days I get done early (not usually, but it does happen!). I just try to use the schedule as a guideline. Having it written down to refer to every so often throughout the day really helps. I also put mine in clear plastic protectors and use a dry erase marker to mark off each item when it is done. Somehow, checking things off helps to keep me on track.

You may wonder why I schedule to get up so early in the morning. Good question. I've tried a lot of different things over the past two years and at this season of my life, I seem to be the most productive early in the morning. It also helps me to go to bed earlier if I know I've planned to get up so early! If I've been up a lot in the night with Kathrynne and I wake up at 4 am still very tired, I usually go back to sleep for a few hours and then adjust my schedule accordingly. Like I said, it's a guideline, not a rigid taskmaster!

Crystal Paine is a 24-year-old homeschool graduate from Topeka, Kansas. She is the blessed wife of Jesse and joyful mother of Kathrynne. Visit her site, Biblical Womanhood, for books, articles, encouragement, and inspiration!

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