Use Simple Routines to Gain Free Time

Upon first consideration it may seem routines would lead to the mundane but used well they give you more free time for what you’d like to do. You may have stumbled across this while raising small children, but it works for us adults too! (For the record I’m not one who loves strict schedules in case you haven’t guessed!)

Fall- the season for hectic schedules

This is the time of year it often stands out if I haven’t been following a schedule for a while. Things tend to get a bit relaxed through the summer, especially if you have kids. No one really wants to be constantly supervising others ALL the time. Even if you want to be with them constantly, I’d be willing to bet you don’t particularly want to spend all of your time telling or asking your children what needs to be done. I also suspect you feel better when you know what you need to do each day too.

There are some jobs you will never really finish…

I personally love my free time. I’ve found I’m far more successful enjoying it if I don’t have to worry about what isn’t done. As a stay at home mom I have many jobs that are just never finished. They never will be. Things like dishes, and laundry will never really be finished, and there’s always going to be another meal on the horizon.

There’s a vast variety in types of jobs too. If I get stuck for too long on one, I wind up behind on others. It’s far easier to enjoy the little time we get to ourselves if we know we have gotten a reasonable amount of what we had planned to get done. It’s also easier to focus on some jobs if we know the others either have been done, or you have time set aside for it already. For example, in our family I keep track of most of the finances. It’s really hard to sit and focus on that if I also have 10 other pressing needs on my mind.

Important jobs need time set aside, not always as much as you think

I solved this by setting aside specific days for working on finances. I don’t generally work on them for long, but I do it regularly. We’ve reached a point financially where I don’t have to jump on it each payday. I do generally want to check deposits on those days though, so I set aside time on that day of the week each week for finances, and/ or planning. I only pay bills regularly every other paycheck.

That sets the framework

That single task was a big part of the basis of my weekly routine. Obviously my girls regular needs lay out a big portion of my routine- even now that they are older and I expect them to do at least a minimum of cleaning up after themselves. I expect them to do their own laundry for one. When I did it for them, I did my best to get one load of laundry done each day. Now, I really don’t do too much oversite on laundry. Each of them is perfectly capable of doing a load of laundry.

I did reserve one day a week to do my husbands and my laundry. One day a week for our laundry keeps it reasonable. Three girls have 6 other days to work with for themselves- maybe someday they will listen to my advice to pick specific days for themselves, but for now it’s not a battle I’m going to fight that hard.  You know, except that Tuesdays are my day, and if 6 other days a week wasn’t enough to get that “emergency load” done I’m likely to be cranky!

Mostly set a rhythm

Most of my routine is daily, or weekly, and really came pretty naturally. It’s more of a rhythm than a strict schedule. Because I can, I have taken to not even using an alarm to wake up. Honestly that is because 90% of the time (especially recently) I don’t have to be anywhere at any specific time. I do however, feel pretty strongly about needing to be awake at a reasonable time during most days. Unless someone is actually working nights then most of the stuff they need to get done will go smoother done during the day.

This way I don’t get stuck doing all my housework at night. Then I can sit and relax at night. I personally appreciate having the ability to sit on my butt doing nothing after dinner and not feel guilty. Beyond my personal preferences, for a long time in our household my husband did work nights, but eldest attended public school. She had to be up and get on the bus early in the am, while her dad would just be getting home and going to bed.

Now that, made for a bit of a complex routine for the rest of us. I mentioned I don’t like doing my housework at night. I couldn’t realistically do anything loud (like vacuuming) while either of them slept, so that meant I had a window of just a couple hours when it could get done each day. That lead to planning those activities around everyone else’s schedule quite purposely or nothing getting done!

My husband’s odd schedule also led to my planning of downtime being pretty natural so we could both have down time together.

Time changes all things

Now he works days, and Eldest’s schedule doesn’t require me at all. My routine can really be whatever I want it to be so I keep it simple. I wake in the morning fairly naturally around 8 or 9 most of the time. I’ve been trying to be a bit healthier, and adding water to my diet has been part of that. I finish a cup of water while I get dressed and basically ready for the day. Then I make my morning coffee and let Middle Girl and Youngest know it’s time to get up. (This is the thing that often gets to me since if I sleep in they will not have gotten up… But obviously It hasn’t bothered me enough to set an alarm for right now)

This method leaves me time to drink my coffee in peace, step out on the porch and have a minute of activity and fresh air. I can even get started doing some writing without anyone interrupting my thoughts! Obviously, it took a lot of time and practice to manage that kind of morning routine and going outside on my porch is not nearly as appealing in the winter!

Use your routine to instill good habits

When the girls were younger I always set a time for us all to be up, and ready for the day. We also tended to have more days where we actually had places to be though. To a degree though, for a long time I’ve made a point of expecting them to get themselves ready for the day. Eldest was always good at this- the younger two have each missed out on one their fun activities due to wasting too much time getting ready. I didn’t do it often, but it reminded them that it wasn’t just my responsibility to make it happen. It’s their responsibility to control what they can control.

A routine gives you control over your own time, and time management. Time management is a skill that takes practice. It is also something that will change over time as life changes. I’m able to enjoy a pretty relaxed routine right now. That may not be true in the future. It’s also only possible now because I put in those crazy busy hectic morning routines before. I used those moments to teach my young children how to care for themselves, and manage their time. I also learned better how to design a routine that works through experiencing what really didn’t work!

Start with one small thing

I encourage you to give your current routines some thought. What works well, and not so well for certain parts of your day, or week. Is there something you never seem to have enough time to do? Set a specific time for that in your schedule. Make it a priority, until it becomes a habitual part of your day or week.

If it’s laundry, one thing that worked for me in the past was to do it when I first woke up, after I got dressed, before coffee. Then I had it started with minimal effort and the machine did the work. Then I enjoyed my coffee and woke everyone else. If it’s a chance to drink your coffee in peace work toward arranging other aspects of your day to create a more peaceful morning. Wait until kids have left for the day, get them busy doing something else, or reserve time for yourself before they wake up.

That said, when they are very young we have all had countless cups of coffee go cold on us. We’ve all been there. You’ll make it through. Enjoy them when they are little, and remind yourself to appreciate those little moments to yourself later!

If you enjoyed this post you may enjoy this one about taking charge of your finances!