Featured in this photo is my RocketBook planner, which works great for tracking daily tasks.
It might feel liberating to have no schedule at all. Living life floating from one random thing to another.
Yet enough time goes by and all of a sudden you feel like you have done nothing. There is no tangible course laid out behind you. No record of your efforts exists.
Or let’s try a rigorous schedule. Mapping where you will be and what you are doing down to the minute. Welcome back to boot camp for those of us with a military background.
A schedule that is so tight, you sneeze and fall off of it. Sounds like tons of fun. Only it’s not.
Most of us wanted to start a homestead so we could become the masters of our domain. The reality is in both of the above scenarios, your schedule or your homestead has become your master. In both cases, they are telling you what to do and when.
From some of us, the whole schedule and not schedule thing comes easy. For years, while our family owned a shop on the coast, it was really easy to have a basic schedule. We had to be open the hours we put on the door. Plain and simple.
However, as the years have crept past, it’s been harder and harder to strike that balance that leaves us in the driver’s seat. With no direct ties to force a schedule, we drift around from time to time.
I took a chunk of time in December and came up with a pretty slick four week routine for our family. Slick on paper at least. Now that we are in week three, I have found some pretty huge holes in my lofty planning.
It’s not that I did not try and account for the unexpected. I even dedicated an entire day each week to flexible catching up. But in practice the schedule has not flowed smoothly and instead cause anxiety over when tasks would be done.
The schedule again becomes the master.
So, this whole week I have been prayerfully looking at the schedule and what is important. What moves the needle, what makes us feel accomplished, and most importantly what can work for our family.
Choosing the biggest priority needs to come first. And there should only be one priority thing in a day. Everything else needs to flow around this, like water flows around a large stone in a stream.
If you add in 2 big rocks, 8 small ones, and 50 random bumps, soon the water is overflowing the banks of life’s stream. Believe me, homestead and family life can quickly add way too many rocks.
Next week is a new week, with a new focus and plan towards our schedule. Piece by piece this plan will come together, with careful listening to what works.
Holding to a schedule can feel great. Having no schedule can also feel very free. A balance of the two is often needed to keep things running smooth. And save your sanity.
When you are the master of your domain, it’s up to you to keep on course and not overflow the banks.
I’d love to hear how you manage your schedule and all of your life priorities. Simply reply to this email, and let’s talk about how you handle your daily schedule.