It’s not perfect and I am missing some things here but a first draft of my “Ideal Week” is ready for posting.
I’m not sure this is even close to what it should be, but like a financial budget, you gotta start somewhere. Tweaking will happen as I go.
(You can click on this to see a little larger version)
The blue items are those things that HAVE to happen everyday. They are set by circumstances and commitments.
The green is the stuff I want to do, the stuff that feeds me, motivates me and moves me toward what I believe God has called me to do outside of my main calling of wife and mom. It started as the stuff that helps me reach my goals but the advancement of the men in my life is a goal too and I had to separate the two.
The yellow is the best definition of “what I do.” It’s the support and encouragement of the boys, it’s the daily tasks that make our home a place where my husband is content and at peace, it’s the unseen and expected in the life of a homemaker. I was surprised at how much yellow there was on this graph, but it is as it should be for now. This is what I am called to do right now, and it SHOULD take up most of my time.
The pink is that wiggle room I love so much and the white is family time without responsibility attached.
I’m already noticing some mistakes I made in coloring the blocks inconsistently but I’m not copying and resizing that baby again right now.
And as blogging is not on my Tuesday schedule, I’d better get busy with some de-cluttering of school related items pronto.
I noticed you’ve never budgeted more than an hour for a grocery trip, and one in just half an hour. I’ve never been able to pull that off. I always find, even with a well-made list, and going to a store right down the street, that there’s the inevitable long line, dirty diaper, or some other issue. Plus… it just takes me a long time I guess.
Part of that is the time of day that I go. A) I am a morning person and make decisions much faster in the morning. B) I shop at a Publix that is 5 minutes from the boy’s school and it’s nearly empty at 8:00 a.m. during the week, which gives me freedom to move quickly. I almost NEVER have to wait in line at check out and I typically have that friendly Publix staff all to myself. They seriously do make shopping a pleasure and when I’m forced to go somewhere else I find I have been very spoiled.
Just out of curiosity…do you do all the shopping? I am wondering if being married to a chef would make shopping more difficult. Does he require more specific items or is he just amazing with whatever you buy?
Yup. This is pretty much how I get it all done. Scheduling it all out, color-coded boxes…