Practical tips on how to be a better homemaker

How to be Efficient in Homemaking

How is your homemaking journey? Are you stressed about getting things done? Are you procrastinating on your housework? Do you want to spend less time doing chores? You are not alone. We are all there with you. No one is perfect, and no one can keep up with everything all the time.

Let me share with you what I have learned in my own homemaking.

Your mood affects more than you realize.

It can be so hard to be cheerful and want to do the dishes again. You just did them yesterday, but here you are doing them again. Our daily lives can become really monotonous, and wear our spirits down. The last thing you want to hear right now is “Just be happy” so I’m not going to tell you to be happy. Instead, I’m going to say “What will help you want to do this task that you are struggling with?” Music? Then put on your favorite album. Chocolate? Then eat a piece or two.

The point is find something small that brings you joy and choose to do that every time you do that chore. I used dishes as the example because I struggle with this simple task. To help with that, I watch YouTube videos while I wash them. I forget to be grumpy about doing them again because I get to watch another video from one of my favorite channels, The Minimal Mom. It is such a helpful distraction! I am not a complete minimalist, but minimalism has some homemaking tips that I haven’t thought about before and are super helpful.

Sometimes what you need to do is find something to be grateful for about that troublesome task. Happiness does bring gratitude, but did you know that gratitude can bring happiness, too? When you choose to be thankful, it can make you happy. It doesn’t have to be super spiritual either. Sometimes it looks like this, “I’m thankful for this fork (as I put it in the dishwasher). I’m thankful for this plate (put it in the dishwasher). “I’m thankful for this cup.” It seems like a silly thing to do, but it helps. Try it. It will help you more efficient.

RELATED POST: How Can I Be a Happy Homemaker?

Uncomplicate the complicated.

If it is too hard to do well, maybe it is too complicated. Break it down. For example, I typically find it rather hard to wash, dry, and put all the laundry away in one day. Break tasks down in your mind and do one step at a time. It is a whole lot simpler and easier to do one step instead of three. If you only got one load washed and dried today and don’t have time to fold it, no worries! Put the clean clothes in a basket and worry about it tomorrow. Just keep at it.

Simplify until it is manageable. If a load of laundry is too hard to do, consider a minimalistic approach. Simplify your family members wardrobes by keeping out only what you need for a week or even less time if you do laundry more often. Store your extra clothes and see if having less things to wash will help you stay on top of the task.

Other tasks that are easy to break down include:

Sweeping
Washing dishes
Cleaning the bathroom
Dusting

I recently went back to work part time and am consistently too tired to wash dishes so I started to procrastinate. It was a terrible feeling and fed my grumpiness to see a sink full of dishes first thing the next day.

Do you know what I did? I stored everything extra away. There are now less dishes being used, so I have fewer dishes to wash and I have to wash them before I can use them again. It might seem like the hard way to do it, but it works so well for me.

The most important thing to do is to keep it simple. Simple routines will make you a more efficient homemaker. Keep your daily tasks or chore lists simple. Whether you live in a big house or a small house, keep your simple.

Focus on what is necessary.

My husband told me this all the time because I stress about things not getting done. He said it so much that it is engrained in me now.

When you are overwhelmed, stop and think about what actually needs to be done today and focus on doing those things in the simplest way possible.

New things you want to learn can wait. When you are stressed, the most efficient thing to do is narrow down what has to be done for the survival of your family that day and focus and getting those things done. First things first. Find the most important things and focus on them before trying to do other household tasks.

Make a plan.

Planning helps tremendously with stress. Meal planning can organize all the chaos around meal prep. A cleaning schedule can help you make sure at least the bare minimum gets cleaned like the bathroom and living room. We are creatures of habit and planning a homemaking routine that includes a morning and an evening routine helps keep the day on track. This is a good way to feel more efficient.

Eat a snack.

No, this isn’t a typo. If you are dragging your feet or don’t have the energy to do a certain task, one of the best things to do is to eat a little snack. Cheese and fruit is my favorite snack. Pair your favorite protein with a carb. This combination does wonders for someone needing an energy boost.

Some simple energizing snack ideas are:

a cup of whole milk
a cup of juice with a little salt and some cheese
a piece of bread and cheese

To be effective homemakers, we have to feed ourselves the energy necessary to get things done.

Start now.

Good habits make a good homemaker, but they don’t happen by themselves. You have to do the work to break the bad habits and form new ones. It’s slow and tedious at times, but these daily disciplines are worth it.

Start now forming a new habit for something you need to work on even if you feel like you have very little time to devote yourself to it. The hard work will pay off. Your future self will appreciate all the small changes you made on a regular basis and it will make you a great homemaker.

Now is a great time to start cleaning the kitchen floor or even just making your bed. Whatever it is that you are struggling with, make a plan on how you are going to improve and start it.

Someday it will be second nature.

Do the little things because they make the big things. Find what works for you and just keep doing it on a daily basis, week after week. Soon that task that you struggle with so much now will become second nature. The most important thing is to keep striving towards excellence. Just keep at it. These are the best tips I can give you.

Now what are you going to work on? What is it that you are going improve? What keeps you from efficient homemaking?