Hello friends. I am going to start a series of posts on time management. There has been a huge difference in time management and organization in my life between the before-Logan (BL) era and the after-Logan era (AL). Now that my son is 14 months old, and I am (finally) feeling pretty much 100% where I was in the BL era, I decided it was time to take back my time! Where do the days go? HOW does nothing get done? I am a stay-at-home mom of one active boy and I needed to come up with a plan. Now, before all of you moms of multiples laugh at me and sit back and say, “Just wait,” please know that I already know how good I have it. But, every stage has its battles and hardships. I talk about that more in my post “Grace for Each Stage.” So, it’s time for me to take back my time in THIS stage of my life!

I am planning on covering cleaning, reading my Bible, exercising (ah!), meal planning, and “me” time. Not necessarily in that order. The tagline to this “series” is “For His Glory.” I chose that theme based on Colossians 3:17.

“And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”

Whatever I use my time for these days, I want to focus on doing it for HIS glory. Whether I clean, cook, or rest, I want to do it all for Him.

My first post is on the subject of cleaning. So in the “BL” era (remember, that is “before Logan”), I was pretty stinkin’ neat and clean. My carpet had vacuum lines for goodness sake. My house was neat and tidy with not much out of place. I was a working woman back then too. I don’t know why it was easier, but it just was.

It is ridiculously easy to get behind now. I feel like on a Friday, my house is in somewhat good shape, and come Monday morning, I look over my house with my jaw dropping and wondering when the tornado hit! The laundry gets backed up, the floors are a mess and I don’t feel like doing any of it by that point!

I do well with systems or plans. That may not be you, so this may not work for you. Let me stress that you have to find what works for YOU. Don’t try to fit yourself into a mold that doesn’t comply with YOUR personality.

I haven’t been using this system for long, so I am not sure how well it is going to work yet, but I promise I will post an update.

So here you go! (I got this general idea from Pinterest by the way.)

Every morning:

Put in a load of laundry.

Empty the dishwasher.

(Try) to make the bed. 😉

Every afternoon or evening:

Put away the laundry.

*Do chore of the day.

Sweep the kitchen floor.

Start dishwasher.

*Here is my chart for my personal chores of the day. Again, you have to do what works for you.

Disclaimer: I do use a cleaning lady once a month. If you can fit this in your budget, I think it is a marvelous thing to do. I have a break one week a month in doing all of the “dirty” work and also I don’t have to worry about things like blinds and baseboards because I know they get done once a month. So, you will see in my alternating chores, I have “clean the shower” and “dust” just once. Those things both happen twice a month because they will be done again when the cleaning lady comes. Hope that makes sense?

A few tips:

1. The dishwasher must be emptied while Logan eats breakfast. Otherwise, I will be behind on dishes all day long. This way, I just keep up with it throughout the day.

2. I only focus on what needs to be done for the day I am on. I do not start another activity if my “jobs” for the day aren’t finished. I am ADD when it comes to this and I have to be disciplined in this area or I end up with a lot of things done not so well rather than a few things done well. When all laundry is put away for the day and my chore is done, then I can tackle something else. I usually don’t want to though! 😉

Hope this helps give some of you some ideas! I also hope it helps ME keep myself more organized when it comes to cleaning. But also remember, sometimes, the best thing you can do for you family is put away the cleaning tools and sit and just BE with your family. Moderation is key. Guilt is just unnecessary in this area.

For HIS glory!