Being a homemaker while raising children and/or working a full-time job, typically during the hours of nine to five, is no easy task. But balancing homemaking with a full-time job is possible.
I’ve been a mother for over two years and a wife for five and by God’s grace and love, I’ve found myself being more of a homemaker. I thought that as a mother, it was my job to cook the best meals and maintain a perfectly clean home and tend to my child’s every beck and call every minute of every day, all while being a perfect, hardworking employee; I was overwhelmed by the unrealistic expectation of perfection.
I had the notion that I needed to be the perfect mother, perfect wife, perfect employee and clean the house perfectly, cook perfectly and not complain about one second of it. *Cue the doom music.* It probably doesn’t come as a shocker to you that I experienced constant burnout.
The matter of the fact is: we aren’t meant to do it all.
“The Lord is my strength and shield. I trust him with all my heart. He helps me, and my heart is filled with joy.” Psalms 28:7
Our God is so gracious and loving. We are weak, so we can be made strong in him. This is especially true for the modern homemaker who is most likely juggling a dozen things, ranging from the never-ending to-do list to making dinner to scheduling those appointments.
What qualifies as a homemaker?
Being a homemaker requires one thing: a home. If you use your hands to clean and make delicious food, you’re a homemaker! You don’t need to already have a family or own a house to start being a homemaker or start completing homemaking responsibilities. Start now with what you have and learn as you go.
Can I be a homemaker and still work?
Yes! While we often see a romanticized version of homemaking online, it’s not the reality for everyone. Whether you’re a stay at home mom or working full-time, homemaking requires organization and routines or schedules. It also take being intentional. There are so many ways we’re able to be distracted, that it takes a conscious effort to be present and intentional in the way we live out our daily lives.
How can I be a good wife while working full-time?
Being a good wife is more than being a good homemaker. Being a good wife is to love your husband well and to be faithful to him. Loving well requires that we learn and make the effort to love selflessly.
” Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.” 1 Corinthians 13:4-7
How can I be a working mom and wife and a good homemaker?
Being a working mom and wife is not easy. I’ve been privileged to be a wife, mother and nine-to-five employee for over two years and it’s been the toughest couple of years. When you try to do it all in your own strength, you will face constant burn out and overwhelm. When you try to give everything and everyone 100% of your effort, something will end up falling through the cracks and no one/nothing will get the best of you.
Read below for practical tips to balance being a homemaker with a full-time job.
1. Spend Time With Jesus, Daily
There are many conflicting opinions on when the best time is to whip out your bible and how much time to take to read it. Frankly, Jesus doesn’t care when you spend time with him. He cares to have an intimate relationship with you, no matter the amount of time you have in your day.
If you never seem to have time in your day, the best way to spend time with Jesus on a daily basis is to never leave his presence. Find pockets in your day to enter and stay in the secret place. Start your day thanking him and expressing your gratitude. Listen to worship music on your commute to work. As you’re getting ready for your day listen to an audio bible. While you shower, say a prayer. While you cook or order lunch, say another prayer.
“I don’t want to be covered in morning dew, I want to drenched like a waterfall.”
Nava Esther, talking about the presence of God
2. Get a Planner
Finding balance and time to do what you need to do requires organization. No matter how good of a planner you may be or how great your memory is, you need to write it down. A planner is also a great tool to start meal planning, which is another great way to maximize your time and energy!
If you prefer a digital planner, Create Heart Work has affordable planners and journals that are beautifully designed. You can also find to-do lists and meal planners!
If you prefer a paper planner, Passionate Penny Pincher has uniquely detailed planners with everything you could need and want, including scriptures and home maintenance checklists.
3. Create Routines
Create a routine, whether it’s for your nine-to-five day, before work in the morning, or to unwind at night. A routine will help with providing structure in your day-to-day. There are many routines to choose from or create, but you don’t need to create all of them at once. Start with a routine for a part of your day that needs the most structure and build from there.
Example of a nine-to-five day and after work schedule:
9AM: catch up on emails and set the top three tasks for the day
9:30AM-12PM: start and finish working on big task #1, start big task #2
12PM-1PM: enjoy lunch, call husband or send him an I love you text
1PM-2PM: complete big task #2
2PM-2:15PM: water break
2:15PM-3:45PM: work on big task #3
4PM-5PM: respond to emails, check on project progress, wrap up your work day
6PM-7PM: unwind from work, prepare dinner
7PM-7:15PM: wash dishes
8PM: wash a load of laundry
9:30PM: get ready for bed
4. Have a Cleaning Schedule
Cleaning can be tedious, especially if you live in a large space. No one wants to spend their weekends or days off catching up with the cleaning that needs to be done. The best way to avoid cleaning overwhelm is by breaking up your tasks to get done, throughout the week. Here is a small breakdown of my personal cleaning schedule as a homemaker who works full-time and is raising a young child:
Monday: plan meals for the week
Tuesday: load of laundry
Wednesday: scrub the tub, toilet and sink
Thursday: collect all trash in the house, clean out the fridge
Friday: wash bed sheets, vaccum and mop floors
Saturday: big tasks that I’ve been putting off
Sunday: book and toy rotation
This list is not exhaustive of all the things that need to get done, but it does provide structure and consistency in cleaning and maintaining our home.
5. Break Up Big Tasks
As busy working mothers and wives, we already have a laundry list of things we need to do (and seemingly not enough hours in the day to do them). The best thing you can do to maximize your time is to break up one big task into small time blocks.
For example, if you don’t have time for a 30 minute workout, find three blocks of time (10 minutes each). You can break up your workout into three circuits or focus on one muscle group for each session. Another example is dishes. If you don’t have thirty consecutive minutes to hand wash your big pile of dishes, break it up into two sessions. The first block of time can be used to put away dry dishes on the rack and set up your dirty dishes for efficiency and the second block of time can be used for washing as many dishes as you can.
6. Ditch the All or Nothing Mindset
This goes hand in hand with breaking up small tasks throughout your day. When you can’t seem to find one big chunk of 30 or 60 minutes to check off one thing from your to-do list, schedule small bits of time dedicated to getting as much done as you can (within that time frame).
You don’t need to finish everything in one sitting or at one time. It’s not about getting it all done at the expense of your mental and physical health, it’s about giving yourself the grace to do what you can with the time you have. Prioritize what’s the most important and chip away at your to-do list bit by bit.
The all or nothing mindset applies to every aspect of being a homemaker, wife, mother or full-time employee.
I pray that this blessed you and helps you to balance all that God has given you to steward as a homemaker, wife and/or mother. I’d love to hear how you currently manage homemaking with all of your other responsibilities in the comments below! If you’d like to discuss this topic more in detail, feel free to send me an email!
Find more about homemaking here.
Find more encouragement for faith here.
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