7 Habits of Efficient Homemakers

I’ve been thinking a lot about my own homemaking journey. I began this chapter of my life woefully unprepared for marriage, caring for a home, and raising children. Everything I learned had to be learned on the fly. If you find yourself floundering in your role as a homemaker, these tips might just help you, too! Today I’m sharing 7 habits of efficient homemakers and how you can adopt these habits in your home, too!

Habits of Effective Homemakers

Cultivating habits that effectively help you excel at your profession of homemaking is the number 1 way to help you feel successful and as if you are actually accomplishing your to-do list. Here are my favorite habits to help with homemaking.

Create an Organized Agenda

You’re going to notice a theme with all of these habits. Many involve either planning or organization. I truly believe in order to be an efficient homemaker, you have to have some sort of plan and at least some level of organizational skill.

The older my children have grown, the more activities and responsibilities we seem to take on. I use my Homemaker’s Friend Daily planner to get me through each day.

I use the monthly section to write down all of our activities and appointments, and then I use highlighters to color code them based on what type of event the activity is. Every week I am able to look at all of the upcoming activities before I begin planning my week.

Then, I use the weekly section to plan out our days. I write down work things I need to get done, what I plan to clean and when, as well as a loose idea of the time I’ll spend homeschooling and what I’m making for dinner each day.

Meal planning

That leads me to my next level of planning. So much of homemaking revolves around food. Sometimes it’s honestly overwhelming to plan what the entire family is going to have for every meal of every day, but it has to be done.

I use the Clean and Organized Home Management Binder for the bulk of my meal planning. I keep track of our pantry and grocery shopping in my meal planning section, and I also keep a master list of meals in there for quick and easy planning.

One thing I always recommend when it comes to meal planning if it just seems too hard is to consider theme nights. For example, Mondays can be beef or sausage recipes, Tuesdays can be Mexican themed, Wednesdays can be Italian themed, Thursdays can be chicken night, Fridays can be pizza night, Saturdays can be leftovers, and Sundays can be roast or stew. Adapt that plan to suit your family and it can take some stress off of you.

Cleaning Routine

Another huge part of homemaking is cleaning. Whether you do the cleaning yourself, hire it out, or bring your family in with chores, the thought work of cleaning is probably going to fall on you.

That’s why I created my cleaning routines and monthly cleaning calendars. The cleaning calendars really help take the guesswork out of what to clean and when. They have been so helpful for thousands of women.

The key is to create a looping cleaning schedule. I love to use zone cleaning for this. Concentrating on one specific area and task at a time really helps me actually get the job done instead of flitting from one place to another.

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Desire for a welcoming space

I want my children to have fond memories of our home, and a big part of that for me is creating a welcoming space. I like to leave a little room in our budget for decor, so I can decorate with the seasons.

We love to use pumpkins and autumn leaves to welcome fall, and the kids definitely enjoy helping us decorate our space for the season, too!

Of course, you can decorate for Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter, and any other season you enjoy.

You can also create a welcoming space by providing favorite snacks for the family, keeping the home relatively tidy, and setting the atmosphere, which I’ll talk about in just a bit.

Check out how I create cozy corners in my small home.

Home Organization

There needs to be some level of organization in the home. When it’s difficult to find the things you need to complete the tasks you need to complete, chaos can ensue. I’m a big believer in organizing the most-used areas first, and then working on the rest. This means I try to keep our kitchen organized, and then our bathrooms.

You’ll know I’m a huge fan of decluttering, which really helps. I’ve found organizing my kids’ bedrooms can be a futile effort. They usually end up a mixed up mess just hours after an organization session. I’ve given up on organization perfection there and just try to keep them regularly decluttered.

Setting the Atmosphere

So, you’ve worked on your planning, figured out a good meal planning system, got your cleaning routines in place, started working on making your spaces cozy and welcoming, got most of your home organized, now what?

Now, you can work on the atmosphere of your home. If I had to pick one word to describe the atmosphere I want to create in my home, it would be “peaceful.” I want my home to be a place of peace.

Here are a few ways I try to make our home peaceful:

• Light candles
• Keep the home clean and nice smelling
• Set out flowers when in season
• Play quiet, soothing music
• Decorate with lovely artwork and scripture

Making time for rest

Finally, I want to encourage you to rest. The job of a homemaker is extremely full, and trust me, I understand at times it can be overwhelming. Rest is so important for our bodies and our souls. Remember to read your Bible, pray, and take some time to just rest and relax.

More Resources To Help with Homemaking

My YouTube Videos:

• 7 Habits of Effective Homemakers with Kids
• Lessons from the Hidden Art of Homemaking
• Cozy Fall Homemaking

Favorite Homemaking Books

• Habits of the Household
• The Lifegiving Home
• The Hidden Art of Homemaking
• A Mother’s Rule of Life