How to Be a Productive Homemaker: Navigating the Line Between Busyness and Productivity

As homemakers, it’s easy to equate a packed schedule with being productive. We often fill our days with tasks, leaving us exhausted by the end of the day, yet wondering if we’ve truly accomplished anything meaningful. How to be a productive homemaker is the question that we all ask ourselves at some point if we are pursuing a homemaker’s life.

I was listening to another homemaker recently talk about procrastination and productivity and she drew a correlation between the two that I really hadn’t thought about in the format she painted. She talked about how we often choose the most enjoyable tasks that are actually quite good things, but end up leaving our homes drained because we didn’t choose the most productive tasks. The tasks that make our homes run smoothly.

Busyness can be a form of procrastination—a distraction that prevents us from focusing on what truly matters. Procrastination can also be a form of perfectionism when we put aside tasks that we need to do simply because we know we can’t do them in the perfect way we wish.

As we start our school year I know we will be transitioning from the carefree feel of the summer to a more structured format for our days. These ideas of procrastination, productivity, and perfectionism have been ruminating in my thoughts lately and I thought it would be helpful for me to think through five of my sticking points in our home routine as we go into the school year.

Let’s explore how we can shift from being merely busy to becoming more productive homemakers.

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Being a Productive Homemaker

Homemaker is a buzzword on social media right now. A popular Instagram account called Ballerina Farm, which I followed long before the recent uproar on her account, has had very harsh accusations leveled at her and her husband. Now I’m not here to discuss the validity of their lifestyle, or if the accusations have merit. However, what it’s done is bring a spotlight again toward conservative homemakers. People have taken to their accounts to discuss women’s rights, the oppression of women at home, and whether motherhood and homemaking have validity as a calling.

I certainly used to have dreams of being a world traveler, climbing the corporate ladder, being an ultimate feminist, and showing the world that I could be fulfilled as a single woman. Could I have been happy if God had called me to a different lifestyle? Yes, of course. But he didn’t and being a mother and building a home for my family is the most fulfilling and beautiful thing that I’ve ever done in my life.

Naturally, when you find joy in something you want to do it well. If you are like me and you want to be a homemaker who does it well, maybe these contemplations on how I’m going to firm up these areas of my life will help you as well. I’m asking myself where I am confusing busyness with productivity and and also if a form of perfectionism has unintentionally came into my day to day priorities.

1. Being Productive Instead of Busy with Our Time

Time management is the cornerstone of productivity. It’s tempting to fill our daily schedule with a long list of things to do, thinking that crossing off each task brings us closer to a productive day. However, not all tasks are created equal. Focusing on the most important things, rather than trying to do everything, will help us make the best use of our time.

A priority-based schedule can help you focus on what truly matters. It’s not uncommon for me to have 30 things on my to-do list a day, but as we start school, I’m pairing back and at the beginning of the day identifying my top three priorities for the day outside of work and homeschooling.

It’s also helpful to break your day into blocks of time. A block schedule allows you to dedicate specific periods to different things, such as household management, homeschooling, or personal time. If block scheduling works for you, I have blocked the scheduled time in the homemaking planner that is listed above.

Taking a little bit of quiet time each day, even if it’s just a cup of coffee at the kitchen table, can go a long way in resetting your mind and setting you up for a productive day. Remember, it’s not about filling every minute of the day but making the best use of our time.

I’ve been known to encourage slow living, but I often find myself in conflict because my life is not always slow. Actually it’s rarely slow. Most weeks I work 40-50 hours plus homesteading and homeschooling. Today my day started at 2:30 am, which is very typical for me and I’ll be managing every minute of the day to “fit it all in.” Doesn’t sound very peaceful, does it?

These are where my ‘pockets of peace come in’. I lit a candle, hung laundry out to dry, sat down, and enjoyed a picture book with my toddler. For the mom who is constantly going, consider writing these pockets of peace out at the beginning of the day. I find myself more apt to get them in when I write them down.

2. Being Productive Instead of Busy with Our Meals

Meal planning is another area where we can fall into the trap of busyness. Grocery shopping without a plan, spending a lot of time on elaborate recipes, or running to the grocery store multiple times a week can eat up a lot of your time. Instead of focusing on busy work, let’s be more productive with our meals.

One of the best ways to simplify meal planning is by eating seasonally. Seasonal produce is often fresher, more nutritious, and less expensive than out-of-season options. Planning your meals around what’s in season can make grocery shopping easier and more efficient.

I’m not someone who does a lot of prepping meals in advance beyond on work days having dinner ready to go before I leave for work. However, there is one thing that I try to do every week that sets us up for success and that’s taking the week’s meat out to thaw. This can be so helpful and really does set us up for success.

Honestly, I don’t plan my meals beyond my seasonal meal plans. Seasonal meal planning for me is having about 10 different meal ideas for dinner that are seasonally planned. For example, we’re still in the heat of summer so my rotation of summer meals includes lots of salads and grilling. I’ll put some of my list of summer dinners here just as a quick example.

Pea Salad
Chicken Salad
Salmon and Veggies
Avocado and Chickpea salad
Burritos
Sourdough Pizza
Cauliflower Mac & Cheese
Grilled meat and veggies

When I go to the grocery store, I know the staples to buy based on the season of meals I’m rotating. Just having that list helps focus my meal planning

Setting up a good breakfast routine can also set the tone for a productive morning routine. We have about 2 family breakfasts a week and then the remaining days rotate hard-boiled eggs and homemade granola.

3. Being Productive Instead of Busy with Our Cleaning and Organizing

Clutter can often be the culprit of a lack of simplicity in our home.

Keeping a clean and organized home is a real struggle, especially for homemakers with young children. It’s easy to spend your whole day cleaning, yet never feel like you’re making progress. I’m a big proponent of reducing inventory in our homes. The things in our home are inventory and as the homemaker we have to manage all that inventory.

I have a whole YouTube video on decluttering and cleaning routines. Our stuff can control us so fast. Things send us constant messages when they are out of place. It’s like that area that needs dusting and you think about it every time you go by, but you’re always too busy. It’s not always the active time that it takes to manage everything, but also the mental load of having areas that are not optimized. The truth is the less you have, the less time you’ll spend managing your belongings.

A cleaning schedule can also help you stay on top of daily chores without feeling overwhelmed. Instead of trying to clean the entire house every day, assign specific tasks to different days of the week. For example, make one day the day you vacuum all the rooms, another day for dusting, and another for laundry. This way, you can focus on small tasks each day rather than trying to tackle everything at once.

I feel pretty good about this area of our life right now, but I know as school progresses there will be more things to declutter and eliminate.

4. Being Productive Instead of Busy with Our Homeschooling

Homeschooling is a significant part of our life right now and because it’s a priority, I’ve had to learn to make it a time priority. There are days that certain parts of my work routine do not get done because homeschooling is a priority. Similarly, there are parts of homemaking that don’t get done as well as I would like because of the time investment in home-educating our boys.

I’ve really struggled with figuring out what our homeschool life will look like this year. We’re doing a homeschool co-op for the first time this year so I’m already reducing our curriculum because some of our learning will be covered in co-op.

This is the first year that West and Wyatt are not really on the same page with their grade levels. It was easy for them to do preschool together and preschool/kindergarten together. But doing 1st grade and preschool isn’t as straightforward.

There is so much material this year in the 1st-grade curriculum from My Father’s World, and I’ve become overwhelmed with it all. I finally came to the conclusion that at least at the beginning I just need to focus on the material for faith, reading, and math. If we get that done every day, it’s been a success.

Stay tuned about our homeschooling routine because I’m sure it will change as time goes on!

5. Being Productive Instead of Busy with Our Laundry

The last thing I’ve been evaluating in this season of transition is my laundry routine.

Laundry is one of those daily tasks that can feel never-ending, especially with a large family. It’s easy to let it pile up, which then requires a lot of time to catch up.

Taking the time to line dry our laundry is a time sucker. However, it’s also a pocket of peace in my day. There’s something very calming about hanging laundry out to dry and I don’t want to totally give up that pocket of peace in the name of productivity.

For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.
Romans 8:6 ESV

I have a little pet peeve with the social media trend of talking about protecting your peace. I actually use this verbiage too at times, but for the record, our peace shouldn’t come from the protection of our circumstances, but rather from our minds set on Christ.

As crazy as it sounds, I find my laundry routine a time when I can set my mind on Christ in the middle of the day. As we transition to school and eventually the colder days, I’m sure my line drying will disappear for a season, but that doesn’t mean that I can’t continue to use the mundane task of putting away and washing laundry as a time to connect with my Lord and Savior. I encourage you to do the same if laundry is a mundane task for you as well.

And PS – If you’ve got young children, teach them to help with folding and putting away their clothes—it’s a small task that can make a big difference.

Procrastination is a form of Perfectionism

Perfectionism was certainly something I dealt with a lot more before kids. Kids tend to naturally squeeze the desire for perfectionism out of you.

Procrastination is often seen as laziness, but it can actually be a form of perfectionism. When we’re striving for perfection, we might delay starting or completing tasks because we’re afraid of not doing them perfectly.

This fear of making mistakes or not meeting our high standards can paralyze us, leading to procrastination. We keep putting off tasks, waiting for the “perfect” time or the “perfect” conditions, which often never come. In reality, this perfectionism-driven procrastination hinders productivity and progress.

The Bible encourages striving for excellence, but it warns against perfectionism when it leads to anxiety, self-reliance, or a critical spirit. Verses like Philippians 4:6-7 remind us to rely on God’s peace rather than our own perfection.

do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 4:6-7 ESV

Colossians 3:23 encourages us to work heartily as for the Lord, focusing on effort and faithfulness rather than flawless results.

Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men,
Colossians 3:23 ESV

The Bible’s message is one of grace, reminding us that perfection is found in Christ, not in our own efforts.