To keep on top of the work on my little small holding I've adopted my new ethos, which is to work "an hour a day" on it. This can be any job from gardening to fixing household appliances.
I always want to do more, but the trick is not to burn myself out as I have quite a full day anyway.
Although I have Mondays off to spend with my little girl, I do normally end up working on a Saturday, just moving my weekend forward one day. During my normal working day I tend to get up just before 6, do my chores, have breakfast and leave for work by 6.30 so I can start at 7.30. I then work a full day as a carpenter, finish just after 5 and get home just after 6 (I've no idea what 9 to 5 is like as I've never done it). I then spend time with my little girl and wife, have some tea before putting her to bed (the girl not the wife). This is when I go and do my extra hour.
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| Splitting wood seems to be a task that never ends but for some reason I love it. |
I've split piles and piles of wood, planted loads of seeds, maintained tools, weeded the drive, cleaned out chickens, etc.
Big jobs can still be done at the weekend, and most of Sunday is normally dedicated to this, but getting rid of a lot of the smaller ones in the week makes it all more manageable.
Now if I could just get to bed before 11 I'd probably find getting up a whole lot easier!
How does everyone else manage their time to get things done?
Big jobs can still be done at the weekend, and most of Sunday is normally dedicated to this, but getting rid of a lot of the smaller ones in the week makes it all more manageable.
Now if I could just get to bed before 11 I'd probably find getting up a whole lot easier!
How does everyone else manage their time to get things done?
I only work 13 hours in the hospital a week...... And I still don't. Have enough time to care for 100 animals, a field, a cottage and threedogs
ReplyDeleteI have a habit of sometimes doing that in a day before I get home! It seems to be the more I do the more I want to do!
DeleteI am just TATT. It is that time of year!
ReplyDeleteA little girl waking up at 5 isn't helping how tired I am!
DeleteThe difficult part with this line of business is you are working physically all day long. I have to laugh at my friends with desk jobs who are itching to run 10 miles after work. You are still young and have the energy but it tears at your body. 30 yrs plus at this sort of work and it catches up with you eventually. I am hitting 50 this year and I certainly don't have the bounce I did when I was your age. And the body takes longer to recover from the falls. Its a mater of pacing yourself. If you don't your body will let you know.
ReplyDeleteDon't start e on people with desk jobs who are shocked I never go to the gym! So far at 30 my body seems to be holding up, my firend that play high impact sports are feeling a little worse though so I guess being unsporting helps! I do struggle to pace myself but having my little girl on a Monday means it's a day I have to take easy and rest so that really helps my tiredness.
DeleteI work full time on the land and take off when it rains. We have had a week of dry weather so the weekend rain will be a nice switch. You have to make time off or you can get burnt out.
ReplyDeleteWhen it rains I've got my tax return to sort out so I hope it doesn't rain on a weekend anytime soon!
DeleteYup, those 10 minute jobs soon add up to a job well done.
ReplyDeleteJane x
I like it at the weekend when I can dive straight into a big project knowing all the little ones are done!
DeleteWe adopted a "tools down" system which means no matter where we are on a task we put tools down at a pre determined time. On property the chores go on forever and it is so easy to wear yourself down - so tools down even if it means leaving the tractor in the middle of a field. In the warm weather tools down usually means sitting in the sun with a cold beer or wine.
ReplyDeleteThe way I was brought up was completely different to this! I guess I follow my father in that way. I will stop but if something need to be done then I'll just keep going!
DeleteWe too have found that little and often helps (as does breaking really big jobs down into smaller jobs) We have learned too that you have to pace yourself as you will always have another job to do, sometimes its better to save your energy to fight another day
ReplyDeleteBreaking the jobs into smaller ones really helps, as does writting lists, I get a bit of pleasure from crossing every job off a list!
DeleteIt's hard! I break up big tasks into little ones so that I have a sense of having finished a task, even if it is part of a bigger one. It is easy to get bogged down and lose sight of what one has achieved. Counting my blessings before I go to sleep also helps. Stops me from fretting about what I didn't get done. Better to live with lots to do though, than be stuck in front of the TV and be bored!
ReplyDeleteTV is the biggest time waster. I don't think you can measure something you've done yourself against watching a soap or series on TV. I'd rather split wood than whatch half the rubbish thats one anyway! Mind you it's easy this time of year but much harder to convince myself to leave a warm house to do jobs in the dark and cold during the middle of winter!
DeleteGood idea - the hour a day. Truly, a lot can be managed in that time if we are doing it daily. It's really hard to juggle homesteading tasks with full time work and a family... my husband finds it really challenging to get to the jobs, too. I am home so I do as much as I can each day but there are some jobs that only he can do. This is the busy time of year - so slow and steady wins the race!
ReplyDeleteSometimes you read books or other blogs and they say about what you should be doing and when and how long for but they forget that a modern family needs to work a lot to pay the bills and a large mortgage. Family time is really important to me as well so fitting it all in can be tricky but I seem to have a good balance at the moment!
DeleteThe things that need to be done are never done LOL It is better to do what absolutely has to be done first. Then be relaxed about all the other stuff. The main thing is to enjoy life and have fun.
ReplyDeleteI enjoy my jobs though! I even love my full time job so I guess thats my way of enjoying life.
DeleteI see what you mean. I suppose I was relating to my own experience. I would get frustrated if I could not get everthing done and angry that I did not have the energy or time to do everything.
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