Household Management & Organization
This page of resources belongs to the Homemaking Resource Library.
As an E/ISTJ, Type 6 person (see personality posts for explanation) good management is how I approach problems. Both solving them and ideally, avoiding them in the first place. (No, it doesn't always work.)
I like to manage people, resources, time, and spaces. But all the schedules, well thought plans and organized cupboards in the world do not ameliorate or pre-empt heartache and difficulty. Learning how to live, love, and lead with open hands, head and heart and letting go of expectations and my desire to control, while still bringing my skills and managing mindset to situations has been a chief area of growth in my adult life, especially through my thirties.
As our home manager I make lots of the final decisions on matters of space, schedules, plans, and finances. But I have to be careful that the motivation behind these decisions is the overall well-being of my family and the nurturing of relationships, not simply the desire to exert my will over others. Such a great journey of growth around this!
These posts are some of the nitty gritty, both practical tools and mindset, of how I manage our family life and home. They are also a fun flashback at what life looked like when my kids were much younger.
See also this related resource library, Organizations & Schedules for Homeschooling
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An early September update
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After our return home from our 9 week road trip we re-organize our work spaces and establish some new routines.
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Showing up and Better Than Before, a short book review
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In a lot of areas of my life, I'm noticing it's more helpful to focus on showing up vs. doing something right or good or even making progress.
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Messy Weekends ~ Gift Yourself the Freedom
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Sometimes the only way to lose our controlling tendencies is to step outside our comfort zone. And then do it again. And again. And again.
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A Winter Schedule for Life & Learning
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I love the direction and discipline a schedule provides to actually implement ideas - homeschooling, earning an income, healthy eating, exercise, outdoors, reading, play, projects, etc. - they all have a place in our days and on the schedule.
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Your values are more important than your schedule
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Schedules are built on values, and when your schedule fails you, your values still remain intact and provide solid footing.
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The Green Living Update ~ closing the chapter
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Spilling the beans on what I still do and don’t still do in terms of homemade soap, garbage, recycling and compost (yes, I’ve written about all of these at FIMBY), gardening and homesteading type activities and other DIY and "sustainable" living practices.
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Usually, Not Always (I Join the Organizing Party)
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We're not machines and we need to stop thinking that we can produce a steady and unfailing output.
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Breathe In ~ Breathe Out
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Outward activities alternated with inward activities for peace of mind and peace of home.
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Building a Small Space Homeschool Library
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Why we want a small library and what we use to actually build those bookshelves.
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Craft Storage in a Small Space
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A video tour of how we organize crafts for small space living. VIDEO.
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Finding More Time. For Real.
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Three life changing ideas that have really helped me find more time in my days.
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My Five Favorite Time Management Strategies
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Organizing strategies I've used, and tweaked, through many different life stages with homemaking and homeschooling.
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Three Kids One Bedroom (not littles either) ~ How We Do It
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How our three kids share one bedroom while living with my parents in Nova Scotia.
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Resources to Help You Get Organized
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Need some help organizing your days and your home? Check out these resources.
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The Gallery ~ Saving Children's Creative Projects
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What do we do with all this art?
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Weekly Blocks ~ A Planning Tool
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The challenge I'm facing in making a weekly schedule is that our family's current life season requires flexibility.
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Homemaking and Homeschooling
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The homemaking/homeschool rhythm from our elementary years.
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Our Winter Schedule
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Home ~ A place of Welcoming
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My desire to create a welcoming home for my family.
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Defining Priorities to Make a Family Schedule
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The guiding principles I use when planning our family's weekly schedule.
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How our family of five lives (happily) ever after with no dryer
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The routine, tools, and reasons for why we do without a clothes dryer.