Daily Routine: A Simple Daily Schedule for Homemakers

Structuring your days as a homemaker can really help you be productive. There’s so much to do and having a flexible daily routine cuts down on the stress, too. My daily routine is like a template that makes time for all my duties and some hobby time, but it’s still flexible enough to stand up to all the chaos that children can bring.

I always enjoy seeing how other homemakers structure their time, so I thought I would share my daily routine with you.

Morning Routine

Ideally, my day starts at 7. After waking up, I get dressed, and do a few things around the house, like open curtains, start breakfast, and also start a load of laundry.

Breakfast

After breakfast is made, and on the table, I wake my children up, and get them dressed, and we sit down to eat. Afterwards, I clear the table, and rinse the dishes, so that they will be easier to wash later. We do not make very many dishes for breakfast, so I tend to wait to wash the dishes later.

Reflection/Devotion Time

After breakfast, and while the children are content, I have some quiet time to devote my heart and home towards the Creator.

I believe that one of the biggest secrets of old fashioned homemakers is that they were virtuous. They made their homes and lived their lives for the glory of God, and not just for themselves.

They were good homemakers, because they practiced the daily habit of directing their hearts towards goodness, beauty, and truth all of which comes from God.

It is very important if we are going to create a place to flourish, that we intentionally devote ourselves and our homes to God on a daily basis. It is also very hard to always carve out adequate time to do this every day, but what time I do get is always so sweet and prepares my heart for the day.

Plan the Day

After taking some quiet time, I pull out my notebook and write my to do list for the day. Making a plan for the day even just a simple list of things that I want to do is very effective in helping me have a productive day as a homemaker.

On the days that I do not make a plan, these days are almost always more chaotic, and not very productive at all.

I also make sure during this time that I settle what we are having for lunch and dinner that day if I have failed to make a meal plan for the week. This also assures that I will have plenty of time in case I want to try to make something new.

Hey Friend!

Does housework overwhelm you to the point of discouragement? Do you wish you could finally get on top of it all? Do you have the homemaking dream of keeping your home in order, but struggle to actually do so on a day-to-day basis?

Are you struggling to manage your time at home?

Check out my new eBook Systems & Routines: Simple Time Management for Homemakers! It includes all that I have learned about systems and routines and how they have helped me manage my time and home well!

Business of the Day

The next section of time is given to the business of the day. I’ve fallen in love with the old fashioned idea of themed days. It really helps to break down my week with specific themes like cleaning day, shopping day, Sabbath, etc.

These things are done during the allotted time for the business of the day, which is from my quiet and planning time to around 11 o’clock in the morning when I start lunch. This gives me typically about an hour to a hour and a half to work on stuff with plenty of time for interruptions.

Lunch

Next comes a delicious from scratch lunch, which we typically eat around 11:30. I often take a few moments after eating to sit and watch a YouTube video or two about some thing I’m trying to learn, like lacemaking, bookbinding, or even some other area of homemaking. It’s a nice little productive reprieve in the middle of the day.

Dishes

At 12:30, I washed both breakfast and lunch dishes. We don’t make many dirty dishes for breakfast, so it works well to wait and wash them after lunch. I intentionally set a time to do dishes, or else I will put it off, and then it becomes a burden to do at some inopportune time later on in the day

Hobby Time

After dishes are done, the next bit of time up until 1:30 is my hobby time. I am a very creative person and I have learned that I do not flourish if I do not purposely take time to create things.

This also gives me a chance to do things that I might’ve enjoyed before the children came along, but now I struggle to find time to do. It’s very important as moms to take time to sharpen what skills we have, and to do things that bring us joy.

Currently, I’m working on sewing my own dresses, so this is when I pull out my machine and try to make some progress on a dress.

Sometimes the children do interrupt, but I have learned that they are actually really good at entertaining themselves. If I let them entertain themselves, this gives me some time to do something I really enjoy. Even when they do interrupt, I am usually still able to make some progress.

Nap Time

At 1:30, my children go down for a nap, and I get to do whatever my heart desires. Sometimes I bake some cookies or do more research on a homemaking skill, but mostly I work on my blog.

There is one thing, though, that is absolutely forbidden during this time and that is house work. It might seem like the most opportune time to do some extra cleaning organizing, but I refuse to use the most quiet time of the day to do chores. Protecting this personal time, keeps me sane and happy as a homemaker.

Snack Time

Nap time is followed by the most important time of the day: SNACK TIME! Perhaps this is a little dramatic, but who doesn’t enjoy a good snack?! Maybe I just like food too much, but we really enjoy snacktime where we literally just enjoy a snack and each other’s company.

Sometimes I take some extra time to play with my children afterwards and simply make them laugh. It will never hurt us grown-ups to be a child again and enjoy the simple things that entertain children.

Tidy Routine

At 4, I start my tidy routine, where I fold laundry I start supper, and tidy up the house before my man comes home. We don’t eat till 5:30 or 6 but starting meal prep this early allows plenty of time to cook from scratch without rushing it.

While the food is cooking. The house gets organized, swept, the bathrooms touched up, and if there’s any time left over, I put a dent in the dishes.

Evening Routine

For me, the evening begins with setting the table and sitting down to enjoy a meal together as a family. This is followed by a kitchen reset and then enjoying whatever downtime we have together.

Often, I pull out some crochet when my husband reads or plays with the children.

Then we put the children to bed around 8:30 and go to sleep ourselves. We have found that sleep really does help us flourish so we prioritize going to bed at a decent time although we are often tempted to stay up and read. There is usually very little time in the day to enjoy a good book.

Final Thoughts!

There can be so much chaos in homemaking especially with children, but be encouraged that homemaking is manageable. You can do what you need to do and still have time to spend on something you enjoy.

For the longest time, I thought it was impossible to give time to hobbies and things I enjoyed. It was just so hard to carve out time and be disciplined about it. My husband encouraged me to create a system to give order to things and creating this daily routine has truly changed my life and made homemaking so much easier.

I truly hope you were encouraged and inspired in some way. If you were, please, PIN IT! so that someone else can find it and be encouraged or inspired by it, too!