Managing Time on a Farm

There is always so much to do on a farm. There are outside chores, livestock duties, and a never ending list of projects. Managing a farm is taxing on your sanity and your body. Muscles get tired and weary and shortly following your mind gets weary. One of the best ways that I have found to keep myself going and not experience complete burnout is to manage my time. There are several ways to do this:

1. Work your daily schedule to your body's schedule. Some people are not morning people so don't put your most demanding chores when you are not at your best during the day. I am a morning person. So, in the mornings I update my blog, hang out a load of laundry, fix breakfast, run another load of laundry, and sweep and mop the kitchen, and feed the animals, all before 7 am. Then I can take a little break and write another post on my blog. All of my household chores are usually finished by noon and homeschooling is finished by 1 pm. I try to spend the afternoon doing less demanding work because I am usually fading by that time and by the evening is when I do my reading research and answer emails. Schedule yourself around your body's schedule and you will find that you have a much more productive day.

2. Schedule around the seasons. Big outdoor chores are done when the weather is nice, in the spring and fall. We save the hot summer for what absolutely has to be done and small chores that can be done in the mornings. In the summer time my blog will be updated and the news read in the heat of the day when it is too hot to be outside. So mornings and evenings are relegated to outside projects and then we reserve pretty easy projects that don't consume too much time.

3. Stop trying to be Martha Stewart. When we girls are at home managing the farm it is easy to get frustrated because there simply is not enough time in the day to keep the perfect house, cook the perfect meal, do the farm chores, and everything else. So we cannot be Martha Stewart. Remember Martha has people that do a lot of things around her farm for her. She does not do it all by herself and neither can you. Be who you are and do the best that you can.

4. Don't get so bogged down in working the farm that you forget to get off the farm and have friends. Friends are important and a social life is important. Make time to get away from the chores and spend time with other people. If you don't do this you will eventually get burned out on being stuck at home working on a constant basis. Everybody needs to get off the farm on occasion.

I know some people are not fond of schedule and some people like me are too fond of schedules. They are necessary to the smooth running of a farm even a small one, but they can be adjusted and maneuvered to suit each individual best. Remember these tips and adjust your schedule to suit you best and your farm will run smoothly, most of the time.