My time budget

We all have 24 hours in a day. No one gets any more or any less. It's easy to blame our time constraints on the demands of others. But I resolve to take responsibility for my time and make it work for me.

Sleep - 7.5 hours

Sleep is the largest chunk of time unless you work an outside job. Even then, work tasks can be divided up into different categories of time. I have been trying out different wake-up times and I've discovered that I do so much better in alertness with 6 hours of sleep plus 2-3 power naps than I do with 8 hours of sleep. If I've had an especially busy day, I'll get a quick power nap after supper before I tackle the kitchen cleanup and bed time routine.

Homeschooling - 2.5 hours for older boys, 1 hour for the little ones.

This will be the time for active teaching and instruction. There are many activities and assignments that they can each do independently.

Cleaning - 3 hours

I will spend 1 hour in the morning, 30 minutes after lunch, 1 hour in the afternoon and 30 minutes after supper. For some, it might make better sense to lump all the cleaning time together and get it done with. But with little ones that can wreck havoc in no time, I think spreading out the tasks will keep things under control more often. The children will be expected to help for 30 minutes in the morning, 30 minutes after lunch and 1 hour in the afternoon.

Meals - 2 hours

Self-explanatory

Crafts - 2 hours

This may seem like a large chunk of time for crafts but I get 2 hours most days just waiting for the boys in taekwondo. There's also dr appt waiting times. And I usually have some sort of project that I work on while watching tv. My goal is to start an Etsy shop with 10 products by the end of the month.

Faith - 1 hour

I like making this a solid hour although it may be divided into half with family devotions and personal prayer and study. It reminds me of the recommendation of the priest from the DVD Common Ground that I watched during or before RCIA. It comes from Matthew 26:40-41.

 And He came to the disciples and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, “So, you men could not keep watch with Me for one hour?41 Keep watching and praying that you may not enter into temptation; the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

Exercise - 1 hour

My exercise routine usually takes 40-45 minutes but I am making it an hour to include travel to and from the gym. I am shooting for Monday through Friday and scheduling it at a time when my kids are asleep and my husband is home. No excuses! I will keep the same time for Saturday and Sunday and use it for grocery shopping.

My goal is going to be to work out at least 250 days in 2015. That leaves weekends free and a little wiggle room for certain times of the month and colds. I do like the feeling after exercise but I still have a hard time making myself get started. I need a good reward. I don't care for shopping and I don't need food rewards. So I'm thinking a little more long-term. If I meet my goal, I will reward myself with an embroidery machine in 2016. With 5 kids, the opportunity to monogram is endless.

Cooking - 1 hour

Breakfast is a eat-what-you-want buffet of fruit, cereal, grits, oatmeal, baked sweet potatoes, and eggs. Nothing takes a great deal of time so I fix what is needed as I clean and prep in the kitchen. Lunch is leftovers so a simple reheat. I may have 15 minutes of prep in the morning and 45 minutes of actually cooking in the evening.

Planning - 1 hour

This time will probably be during taekwondo or early in the morning before the kids are up. There are lots of things to plan for like preschool and homeschool lessons, menus, crafts (for me and the kids), better organization solutions, activities, celebrations, etc.

Couple time - 1 hour

Our lives are so busy with family and work that we can neglect each other. Every day may not go perfectly but an hour is there to talk and connect. Even if kids interrupt and all we do is watch a show while waiting for them to doze, it's still time together. By making an hour devoted to each other, we make each other a priority.

Grooming - 30 minutes

Time to shower, fix hair, moisturize, apply makeup, clip nails, etc. I have a tendency to forget my vitamins in the morning so I include that in my time.

Travel and prep - 30 minutes

Mainly to and from taekwondo.

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That's 24 hours.

This is a basic Monday-Friday schedule. Some activities like grooming, cooking, meals and faith will carry over into the weekend. Saturday will be for fun, activities and deep cleaning projects. Sunday will be for worship, rest and family fun.