Method to the Madness

Here's the thing. This "focus of the day" system came about very slowly, but there's a purpose and reason for each day being set up the way it is.

First, there's Monday. Monday is the cleaning day because we're coming off the relaxing weekend or the busy weekend, whatever the case may be. Monday is just cleaning, at least as much as possible.

Tuesday's focus is paperwork and computer work because we are taking care of all the things that we saw, thought of, or need to find time to do while we were cleaning. If we had stopped during cleaning day to take care of these things, we would have been distracted and it would have taken up too much time. 

If we use Tuesday correctly, we have planned a menu for the week and made a grocery list. We have also done research on items we want to purchase, or we have looked at the rest of the week and the calendar and remember the other errands we need to take care of this week. Naturally we can then go out and head to the grocery store and take care of those other errands on Wednesday. Wednesday is errand day. 

Thursday is a mini version of Monday - this should only take about an hour. We are making sure things are picked up and cleaned up and put away for the weekend. I literally have a task on my app that says to "put groceries" away. Almost always I just check this off because I have put away the groceries and items I purchased on Wednesday, however, I have this food storage room that sometimes allows me to not put away things correctly and forget about it. Until I ask a child to go get something from that room and they step on things. Spend some time tidying up this day. I usually run 2-3 loads of laundry to be ready for the weekend. 
This is the day I will fill up the snack bucket, divide food for school lunches, and do some baking. 

Friday is my personal chill day. But that doesn't mean I don't do anything. It just means that I try to control more what I do this day. I treat it like an appointment with myself and I make sure I have some time for me. 
This past Friday I took my time getting ready for the day and I played with my youngest. I picked up a pizza and took it to the school to eat with my oldest. Sometimes we need a fun and different kind of day - even as a kid. I had left my girls with a friend, so I dropped a pizza off with them also and I got to finish eating with them when I got back. I took my girls to library story time with some friends because it sounded fun to do so. We ended up not going to the scheduled soccer game that night because of an injury, so I spent the rest of the day and evening playing with my family and reading a book. It's not all about me (how can any mother truly do that?) but I do take more time for myself than through the rest of the week. 

Saturdays are generally full of yard work, family play time and often, sports. We like to go on bike rides, hike, stay home and play games together, go see new places and play sports together. We have a big garden and several fruit trees. We have a lot of grass and these things take time and lots of it to keep up. If we spent 3-4 hours outside working and then another 3-4 cleaning the house, we would not like our Saturdays very much and we would not have time for the fun family things we like doing together. It means a little more cleaning and determination on my part during the week, but we have more fun and way more down time together as a family.

Sundays we save for family and time with God. Our family goes to church and our activities are different this day as we try to focus on family and what God wants us to do.

In my mind, things flow easily in this pattern. While these are the focuses of the day, they are not all that I do. Things are packed into some days and not so much others, but in between everything, I am a mom and a wife and a sister and a friend and a daughter and a woman and, and, and. There are always things that come up and things that need my attention, but this schedule allows me to plug things into when I am most likely able to get to them and still have time for the things that matter most. If I discover I need to call the dentist on a Thursday, I don't add that to my Friday tasks (unless it's an emergency). I add it to my list for my desk day, Tuesday, and know that I will be reminded on Tuesday to take care of that task. Being able to separate things in my mind from what I need to get done today to what is truly able to wait helps me not feel as though everything has the same level of importance. 

How do you sort your days?