It may seem like a waste of time to organize and schedule and plan. Wouldn’t it be better to spend that time actually taking care of one’s home? While we sit researching new methods and strategizing new agendas the laundry is neglected, the dishes pile up, and the kids run wild. On the other hand, all too often it seems like we come up with a routine only to see it get thrown out the window. We spend the weekend planning to get up earlier and get more done and then sickness strikes on Monday. Or we decide that now is the time to attack the garage, but just when we get everything pulled out and sorted we run out of time and it all has to be put back in more of a jumble than it was in the first place. Why bother???
But making a plan and getting organized is an investment in your future. Having a flow for the day when you head into it frees you from having to make decisions as you go. Random piles of stuff take extra time to dig through and it all clutters up your mind just as it clutters up your home. It might take a while to incorporate the new schedule. Maybe it would be better to tackle the garage one shelf at a time. The (eventual) results will be worth the (perhaps tremendous) effort.
Of course there are different kinds of strategies for taking dominion of your home. You might want to clean out every nook and cranny getting rid piles of unused possessions. You might want your day divided into half hour segments, each one deliberately delegated. Or maybe you like your stuff and you just need to organize the attic so you can find things when you want them. Maybe the word “schedule” just makes you cringe and you prefer to map out a loose “flow” for how you hope the day should proceed—hope being the key word.
Whatever your vision is for your home, making a plan, getting organized, heading into each day with a defined purpose will do nothing but bring peace to your mind and help you achieve more with your life.
In all of our schemes we should never forget that a man’s heart may plan his way, but it is the Lord who directs his steps. (Prov. 16:9) We may think that we know exactly what the perfect day, the perfect pantry, or the perfect life looks like, but God’s idea is better. He sees our life from the perspective of eternity. Our perspective is rather limited and there just might be a little pride and selfishness mixed in with our motives. Much as those interruptions and distractions—little or big—get in the way of our Grand Plans, we should remember that (as C. S. Lewis says) they are in fact our “real life,” the one that God is sending us day by day. And His motives are pure.
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