5 Practical Ways to Manage Your Energy as a Homemaker
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Knowing how to manage your energy as a homemaker can be challenging, especially while hacking your way through the thicket of the daily grind. But with these practical ideas and strategies, you can make simple changes each day to reclaim time and simplify your life.
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Time is a thief. It feels like there is never enough time to get it all done, and we hustle and grind to squeeze so much into a single day.
But what if we just stopped trying? What if managing your time and energy as a homemaker wasn’t about accomplishing more in a day but, instead, just simply doing less?
Over the last few months, I’ve talked at length on my YouTube channel about homemaking efficiency and finding realistic ways to survive the daily grind.
Even though I value efficiency skills and time-saving strategies, sometimes, they don’t solve the problem of having too much to do.
I can’t always get work done faster; I need less work to do and a more simplified life at home.
Now, as a homemaker, this can be tricky because there are many non-negotiable tasks each day. Food needs to be made, diapers must be changed, and dishes are eternal.
So, yes, there is a place in life for efficiency and hustling to check off necessary tasks on our to-do lists.
But I contend that doing less is another solution to life’s perpetual busyness.
It might seem impossible, but with these tips, you can make small changes each day that will reduce your output and manage your energy.
What Does Homemaking Energy Management Look Like?
Good question! What I need for time management and energy conservation might look drastically different from what you need. So, this is not an exhaustive list.
Instead, these tips serve as a launching pad for your exploration into managing your energy as a homemaker.
The tips I cover in this post include:
- The Path of Least Resistance
- Focus on the Right Tasks
- Trust What You Already Know
- Create Free Time
- Let Go of Control
Some of these ideas are a little esoteric, but I’ll give you some tangible examples along the way.
More Resources for Managing Your Homemaking Energy
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Buy Now → The Path of Least Resistance
Many people fall into the trap of believing that the more complicated the route, the more legitimate. That to suffer means you are “doing the work.”
However, I caution that this mindset can lead to unnecessary stress and burnout.
When faced with choices, examine the options closely and embrace the simplest option that still supports your goals.
Remember, it’s not about the complexity of the task but about the outcome.
Ideas for Choosing an Easier Path
Baking Routine: Instead of baking bread every week, batch prep your dough or freeze sliced sourdough bread. Keep your starter in the fridge so you don’t have to feed it as often.
Tools: Use the tools and technology available to you. Use a stand mixer to make your dough, invest in a robot vacuum if it is within your budget, or bust out your bread machine. We are lucky to live in a world where technology can create less effort in our daily lives.
Meal Prep: Rather than worrying about cooking from scratch every day, make meals ahead of time. Beef and broccoli, homemade sloppy joes, Cuban garbanzo stew, and one-pot Japanese curry are all easy meals that can be made in advance.
Focus on the Right Tasks
Before making a to-do list or checklist, we have to decide what is worthy of our time and attention.
This conscious decision-making will allow you to focus on what matters most, freeing up your time for activities that bring you joy.
Questions To Consider for Homemaking Energy Management
What is the most important thing that needs to be done? Evaluate your daily tasks and determine what is truly important. Pick one or two goals/tasks for the day.
Are you spending your time wisely? Take note of how you are spending your time. Are you moving through the day in a way that will help you complete the goals/tasks you set for the day?
What is the next best thing to do? Each step along the way, ask yourself, “What is the next best thing to do?” It’s easy to assume we are taking the right steps each day, but asking yourself this specific question can lead to better choices.
Trust What You Already Know
Our social media-driven culture creates an environment—even within our homes—that implies we never know enough. It projects the flawed idea that to be enough, we have to learn more, do more, be more.
That pressure to constantly learn new skills can make managing your energy as a homemaker challenging.
Sometimes, the best thing you can do is lean on what you already know because the truth is you know a lot. You harbor an entire life of experiences and knowledge that are useful every day.
How To Use What You Know for Homemaking Energy Management
Lean on familiar recipes: Cook recipes that you know by heart and that your family loves. Save the new stuff for a season when you have more bandwidth.
Stick with what is working: As the old saying goes, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” If the systems you have in place are working, don’t change them. We often focus on what isn’t working, but take note of what is.
Don’t assume other people are doing it better: Through social media, we have endless access to other people’s lives. It can feel like influencers know all of the answers and have more skills than you. But remember, that’s just a snippet of their lives, and what works for them may not be the right solution for you. Trust your intuition, not the internet.
Create Free Time
For many homemakers, myself included, free time feels like a fleeting luxury.
But by doing less in your daily grind, hopefully, you can carve out moments for leisure and hobbies.
Creating this space is essential for your mental health and energy. I know it’s easy to overlook free time, but I hope you can find some space for leisure.
How To Carve Out Free Time
Set a stop time: Pick a specific time that you will stop working and do something you enjoy. Set an alarm on your phone. When the clock strikes, don’t ignore it. Actually stop and enjoy a little free time.
Schedule your free time: In the same vein as above, schedule your free time into your routine. Block the specific time you need in your calendar, and adjust it accordingly as your schedule changes.
Do something for you: It’s really easy to turn our personal hobbies into homemaking tasks. Sure, I love making sourdough bread. But at the end of the day, I’m mostly making it for may family. So to actually carve out some me-time, I have been going on a 30-minute walk each day.
Let Go of Control
This might be the trickiest of all the tips I’m sharing for managing your energy as a homemaker because there isn’t a tangible way to do this.
The ability to let go is a learned skill, and it usually has to be learned over and over.
But when we let go of what we can’t control, sometimes magic happens.
Lessons from My Garden
This summer, my garden was completely overrun with pests. And by the time I almost got them under control, two tropical storms rolled in and took out most of my garden.
Sure, I was disappointed that my garden season was a flop. But the only thing I could do was let it go. So I ignored my garden for the remainder of the summer.
A few weeks ago though, I went out to clean my garden beds and plant garlic. Amidst a jungle of weeds, I found the most beautiful cut flowers and green peppers growing.
My zinnias, dahlias, and bell peppers, though completely ignored, flourished in my absence.
By stepping back and allowing things to unfold naturally, you may find unexpected beauty and growth in your life, just as you might find beautiful flowers in a neglected garden.
Managing Your Energy as a Homemaker – Final Thoughts
I hope we can discover as homemakers that we don’t have to fill every moment with tasks.
Rather, I wish for us to create a work-life balance where we can thrive in our homes and at our jobs while making space to do less in our daily lives.
Embrace simplicity, prioritize your well-being, and enjoy the gift that is your life and home.
What’s Next in Your Simple Living Journey
As you continue to cultivate a simple life at home, these posts can offer a little inspo:
Vlog – Homemaking Energy Management
Check out my vlog that accompanies this blog post. And don’t forget to subscribe to my YouTube channel for weekly videos!
If you have tips for managing your energy as a homemaker, share them in the comments below!
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