Ok, so maybe that title implies I’ve been watching a bit too much Hannah Montana with Jacob….oh well.:)  We are back on track here at MamaBuzz, busy as ever.  So, this week I thought I’d share a few tips with all of you busy mamas on scheduling your week.  It’s a daunting task, but somebody’s gotta do it, huh?  And that somebody is you….if you don’t, you’ll end up feeling haggard and run down and like you can never possibly catch up by the time Wednesday comes.  In my own life, I’ve found that if I sit down on Saturday or Sunday evening (or morning, whichever works best that particular weekend), and take the time to schedule out what I need to do that week, at least I have a blueprint to work from, and I know for a fact what absolutely must be done that week.  If I don’t have that schedule, then I’m already behind, running in circles by the time Monday morning comes.  Here are a few tips, just from my own personal experience….feel free to personalize this to your family, your time, and your personality.

First of all, I have a planner.  Before I was printing out all of my planner pages using sites like Donna Young, The Household Planner, parts of the TOS Homeschool Planner, and other websites online….but I found that I was scattered every week doing this, so I went out and bought a planner….not that these sites aren’t awesome resources and have wonderful planner pages, but buying a ready-made planner just fit my work better, and it was a worthy investment for me.  Now another online, printable planner that I highly recommend is the If Mama Ain’t Planning Daily Agenda and Devotional written by one of our own busy bees, Anitra.  I cannot say enough good things about this planner.  I had already purchased a Family Time DotMine planner, which I also highly recommend, before I knew about the If Mama planner, but I still plan to incorporate the devotional parts of Anitra’s planner into my new planner.  Either way, you have to have a planner/calendar of sorts that you can schedule your time in.

Next, I have a household binder, most of which is derived, or made to suit our family, from Flylady’s website….I also use a monthly menu form, so that I can plan out our menu week by week.  My household binder gives me a rough outline of certain zones I need to focus on each week, and I’ve also got a basic weekly plan that I need to follow in order to keep the house running smoothly.  For example, on Mondays I always clean house (dust, vacuum, mop); on Tuesdays, I wash sheets; on Wednesdays I plan our menu/grocery list for the next week; on Thursdays I get groceries, and so on; you get the picture.  Laundry, for me, is an every day task; I’ve found if I break it up and do a couple loads every day, it is not such a big, hard job, and it helps knowing that one of us isn’t going to run out of underwear or socks (ew).:)  Now keep in mind that this schedule is a rough schedule, meaning that it’s flexible….there may be days when I can’t do what’s written down for that day.  Life happens, and that’s ok.  The single, most important thing you can do in your life, especially in your family life, is to be flexible.  Be willing to forego folding laundry to sit and read to your kids.  Just be flexible.  Ok, another key thing I do in my household binder is to sketch out my morning and evening routines.  I know that when I go to get dressed in the mornings, I have to grab that laundry basket before I ever head to the kitchen.  If I keep a sort of routine, I have more time for other things….this is what has worked in my own life.  No, my house isn’t perfect, but it’s, for the most part, clean and “lived in.”

Now for the scheduling part.  When I sit down to schedule out my week, I have about 4 calendars on my wall around my desk.  One is for outside commitments we have, as a family.  One is just so I can keep track of the dates/birthdays.  One is for my work due dates for writing, blogging, and such.  I can look up, and at a glance, see what I have to do for that week.  You might also have to check online calendars for new due dates….but plan to sit down and check all of these things one night out of every week, preferably the same time set aside every week.  Once I see what all is going on that week, I plan out each day, with projects that need done, places we have to be, etc.  I even put our dinner plans at the  top of each day, so I can see if I need to get meat out or what I have to fix that night.  For me, my weekly schedule is set aside to write my work schedule out, and then I plan my household To Do list over to the side for each day.  Here’s a picture of my planner for this week; keep in mind I haven’t added in my devotional agenda from Anitra’s planner yet….but I plan to do that. Also remember, again, that this is flexible, meaning I write everything in pencil because I may have to add or subtract something….pencil makes it easy to do.

That’s just a sneak peek (well, kind of a long sneak peek) into my household/work scheduling habits.  This doesn’t even include my homeschool schedule for the kids; that’s a whole other post, which I will plan to do in the near future, as well, maybe even next Monday.:)  I’d love to hear your ideas and thoughts of how you schedule your week, and I hope that this encourages you, as a mama, to not be afraid to plan your week out, especially if you’re a busy mama running the kids here and there, trying to fit your work life into your family life.  Have a great week, Mamas!

To read more from Mel, visit her personal blog at Real Heart Prints.