Stay at Home Mom Schedule

When creating your own stay at home mom schedule, it’s important to first think of what the musts are for you on a daily basis. Generally speaking, you probably have certain tasks in a few different categories that must get done daily.

Housework

The daily must-dos in the housework category for me are what I like to call the DLT, kind of like the sandwich except no bacon!

DLT stands for: dishes, laundry, and trash. For me, this is the bare minimum that I hope to get done as far as housework on any given day. I’m not perfect at this when things get busy, but having the acronym helps. It makes it easy for me to remember the main things if I find myself trying to figure out what to do next.

For housework, make sure to do the DLT daily:

D= Dishes
L= Laundry
T= Trash

A great resource for more in-depth direction when it comes to daily routines is flylady.net. My sister told me about the fly lady years ago and I love going back to her routines when I need guidance and encouragement for cleaning and home management. She also has an app which allows you to check off the tasks as you get them done. It is so helpful when you feel overwhelmed and just don’t know what to do next. You can just follow the lists. Those are great when you can handle more, but on a very basic level, just make sure you at least handle the DLT every day.

Homeschool

The very basic must-dos for homeschool are the 3 Rs: Reading, wRiting, aRithmetic. Of course you need the other subjects as well, but as a must do daily- these 3 are the most important.

For Homeschool- your foundation is in the 3 Rs:

1. Reading
2. wRiting
3. aRithmetic (Math)

Meals

The other must is of course to feed everyone. You should have a basic plan or stocked pantry and fridge to be sure that your family has food for each meal and any snacks you want to provide. Routines for the family with preparing breakfast and snacks for themselves can really help lighten your load if your kids are old enough to do that. If your husband or kids are outside of the home, you’ll need to prepare a lunch or meal for them to take on the go. Having a routine for meals, like a typical time of day you eat can help you to get into a rhythm with the cooking and cleaning up from the meals.

Personal Goals

The other part of the schedule for you will include whatever your personal goals are. You can create a list, or several of them actually, where you write out your goals/to-dos. Consider choosing one main thing from these lists to prioritize each day in addition to your regular daily tasks. Choosing too many things will cause overwhelm and can hinder you from doing anything at all, so that’s why starting with one main thing is a good way to stay focused.

Have Fun

Find some way to spend quality time doing something you enjoy with your kids and husband. Don’t let every day just be about the chores and the stuff getting done. Make sure to take time each day to sit down and connect with your kids. Play with them on the floor, play a board game, build something with them, do art, play outside. Whatever you guys enjoy, make time for fun. The same goes for your husband, don’t forget to ask how he’s doing and find time to do what you two enjoy as well.

Rest

Make sure to take time for rest. Sabbath rest one day per week will help you to refresh yourself and be sure that you are not overdoing it. Also, try to make sure you have unwinding time at some point in the day. With young children, it can feel like that time is hard to get. You may be able to get it in the morning or late evening, or maybe during nap time, but find that time where you can. You cannot pour from an empty cup.

Time with the Lord

Make sure to make a priority of spending time in prayer, worship, and the Word. There is no substitute for one on one time with God. Putting this at the start of the day is a great way to start off the day right and be encouraged the first thing in the morning, but whatever time you find best is great. During this time you may enjoy taking notes as you read the Bible, listening to worship music, and really pouring your heart out to God. These are just suggestions, but this is a very personal time between you and God, so make it yours.

Put it all Together

Now that we’ve talked through some of the main categories and ideas for what to include in your daily schedule, it’s time to put it together. You can set up an example week and think of it as your ideal week.

Fill in the waking hours of the day and create time blocks for each day. You can begin by filling in blocks for these basic categories listed above that you’d like to include. If there are any things I’ve left off that you need, include them where you see fit.

You may enjoy using calendars to plan ahead or to track habits, etc. Check printabulls.com for free printable calendars.

Although every week will not be the same, having an example of an ideal week gives you a default setting for each day and then you can make adjustments as needed when things come up. Hopefully this has given you some ideas to help you set up your stay at home mom schedule.