I’ve had this blog post in the back of my mind for a week now. “I’ll write about productivity and things I do to get all the housework and cooking and homeschooling done etc on Monday, ” I thought.
Monday came, and around 9 am the batteries ran out of power. We are fully off grid here, so if we want electricity we either need our batteries charged up with power from the solar panels, or start the generator. I got the generator started, but the engine kept coughing and dying within a few minutes.
Andy had already left for work, and the 4 oldest children were all working on school at the table and needed my help, so I turned on a few battery powered lights for the present. The sun was rising over the mountains, so I knew we’d have solar power soon.
Except we didn’t. The sun was shining brightly into the windows, but the batteries were showing zero charge coming in from the solar panels, and we still had no power. After a call to Andy at work where he tried to walk me through jiggling something on the generator (didn’t work) and restarting the power lines coming in from the solar panels (also didn’t work) and checking the charge controllers outside to see if they registered any power coming in from the solar panels (they did not), we were no better off than before, and quickly running out of drinking water.
It was late morning by this time. School had been finished, but dishes leftover from guests the night before plus dishes from breakfast haunted the countertop. Sheets and bedding from an accident in the night waited in a pile by the washer, but we had no water to get anything done. I tried to call Andy again, but my phone died. Finally I started the van and plugged my phone in there.
Andy finally ended up coming home from work, rebooting the entire system so the batteries could receive power from the solar panels, taking the carburetor off the generator because it had ice in it, and getting some electricity flowing once again.
What a morning.
I looked at my pile of dishes and laundry that still hadn’t been started at 1 pm and laughed to myself. And I was going to write a blog post on how to run a house smoothly! But I guess many of you do not have the complication of off grid living and providing your own power thrown into the mix of daily life, so maybe some of the things that help me stay organized and on top of things (when I can keep the electricity running) will also help you. 😉
Tip #1
Use a planner or calendar to plan farther than just today.
This is multi-faceted. A planner or calendar is not only an excellent way to keep track of appointments or things that need done that you thought of in the shower, it’s also a way to spread your work out over a span of a few days so that everything gets done, but no single day is overwhelmingly full.
I use a basic planner from Walmart. There are much more fancy versions available, but a simple one works just as well. A calendar does too. I can’t tell you how helpful it is to not always be worrying if I’ve forgotten an appointment, or that I told someone I’d babysit for them a certain day, or that we invited guests over for supper one evening.
I just write everything down in my planner, even months in advance. For example, I recently saw a video on when to start onions from seed in your house so they will be ready to plant in the garden after the last frost. You’d better believe I made a note to start onions in late March, and I marked in there to look into grow lights around that time of year to boot. Keeping a calendar of reminders for myself frees up a lot of brain space for other things.
Tip #2
Make menus!
I don’t really enjoy making menus, but it takes so much stress out of daily life that it’s worth it. Sure, life happens, and if I change my mind and don’t feel like having fried rice, I can easily make something else instead. But having a plan in place is huge when you have a busy household and mealtimes creep up on you before you know it.
We rarely go out to eat – once every 2-3 months – so since I do the cooking all week long I make sure I plan some very simple meals a few times a week. Breakfast for supper, or one pot meals I can put in the oven or crockpot and forget about for the afternoon.
I also sometimes double things that I am making anyway. If I’m browning 1 pound of burger, I’ll go ahead and cook an extra pound or two to freeze for later. This creates a freezer stash to make cooking simpler on busy days.
Tip #3
If you have a large household, be proactive about delegating tasks so it’s not all on you.
A family can make a beautiful team. It takes some effort on your part to teach your little ones to be helpful, but the older they get the more help they can be. Even if you have a lot of people to cook and clean and do laundry for, if you work as a team the burden isn’t all on you.
My oldest is 7, but I’m already reaping the rewards of teaching them to help out. I don’t have to take out the trash, or set the table, or pick up the toys, or feed the chickens etc etc.
Tip #4
Declutter frequently
If you’re spending a lot of time cleaning a certain area of your house, it may be time to cut down on the items in that space. Less things = less time spent picking up and cleaning.
Tip #5
If you constantly feel like you’re running behind, make it a point to get up before your children a few days a week.
I know how hard it can be to get up early, especially if you’ve been up during the night with little ones. But if I constantly feel behind, a big way to change that is to pick at least a few mornings per week to get up a little earlier so I don’t feel as though I start off the day behind.
With all these productivity tips, keep in mind that life goes in seasons. The amount of things I am able to accomplish this year is vastly different than last year when I had a newborn. If you’re going through a difficult season there is no need to worry about all the work not getting done. Pregnancy, postpartum, illness, this too shall pass, Lord willing, but it’s important to do our best to create a home that is filled with love and good attitudes most importantly.
These practical things only set the stage for quality family life. What tips would you add? How do you keep your home running smoothly?
Such good tips, Tabitha. I’m a firm believer of cooking more than one meal’s worth of meat. It’s what usually takes the longest in meal prep, so whether it is sausage, burger, de-boning chicken, etc. I try to do enough extra to freeze flat in ziplocs and pull out when needed. I try to freeze a portion or 2 of soup which works well for empty nesters and tend to split my casseroles into 2 pans so I can freeze one.
I have been on the fence for several years with my scheduling/calendar — using Google Calendar for when on the road and my paper version / weekly planner when at my desk/home. I’ve finally made the switch really getting the hang of the Google platform with gmail/tasks/calendar. I love the fact that I can easily include an email to a task or calendar and then check it off when completed. If I don’t get it checked off, it populates to the next day and so on. I think it has been great — maybe too techie for some.
Cleanup — you are so RIGHT on if there is too much in an area it constantly needs cleaned or straightened. I’m working on the purging for our household which after 40 years in the same house is a challenge.
Love reading your blog — blessings to you all.
Ideally we’d have the freezer outside and not even have to run it these cold winter months, but we just have it in the back room where it’s cooler. We don’t run our freezer all the time. The bulk of frozen food keeps things frozen for quite a while. We just try to make sure it runs some every day.
Even as empty nesters, I appreciate having meals in the freezer. I just double whatever I’m making and put 1/2 in the freezer for a later date. Question about your off grid life: how do you keep your freezer running on days like you had?