How to simplify homemaking

Are you struggling as a homemaker?

Here’s how to slow down and take a simple approach to homemaking

Taking a step back

Are you feeling exhausted and burnt out? Like there's so much pressure to have a perfectly clean home and live up to a standard of the 'perfect homemaker' but maybe you just can't seem to get on top of the never ending chores and household responsibilities.

Here's how to take a step back, regain control of your home and take a sigh of relief

First take a step back and get ready for a mindset shift.

Because as wives, moms, and homemakers, we tend to over-complicate everything! Even when we choose this lifestyle with the intention to care for our family, our homes, and embrace the simple life.

Even when our intention is to slow down and be present, we still end up falling into consumerism thinking we need every cooking appliance and baby gizmo and gadget to accomplish the same things that our women ancestors knew how to do without thinking twice.

We have over complicated homemaking.

Looking back to our ancestors

Of Course we don't have the same wisdom passed down through the generations, but we can still learn basic skills without complicating every detail.

We can garden without having to learn everything up front, we don't need the perfect soil PH or perfectly aesthetic set up.

Our ancestors would’ tsk tsk’ at how we have turned every simple, peaceful, intuitive practice (i.e. providing nourishing meals, gardening, parenting) into a comparison game. We overuse technology and information and under use our own critical thinking and intuition.

Homemaking is similar to motherhood in that you can read every book, learn every skill, and have all the info at your fingertips and still feel like you have no idea what you're doing when you're living it out in real time. We don't learn to sew, or cook from scratch just from books ,or instagram , we learn with our eyes, our hands and our minds.

Today many women feel like they can't be homemakers if their husband isn't rich and they don't have a nice two story home. But we know that's silly right?

The homemakers who came before us were not wealthy women, with large homes, maybe some of them, but the majority didn't have even half of the luxuries that we possess today. They made due with little, and used their hands to work hard to create a lovely home, they didn't have a hobby lobby or 'clean & decorate with me' videos online.

They couldn't derive constant inspiration from pinterest and motivation from blogs. In some ways we are blessed to have those things, but we may be in over our heads with information. It can be easy to lose touch with what homemaking really is when we have a front row seat to everyone else's lives online.

Homemaking in the modern age

So maybe you see the problem too? But how do we actually stop over complicating and overthinking daily life and embrace the old ways, get back to our roots and let our homemaking become what it was always meant to be. Caring for our home and family. How do we live simply and intentionally in a complex modern age?

How can we take a simpler approach to homemaking so that we can slow down and live simply?

Well let's not over-complicate it...

For one lets turn off the TV, take a break from social media.

Stop wasting your time, and slowly learn skills that women from the past would recognize.

I know this might sound overly simplistic but that's because it is, we need a break from the constant rush to be perfect. While there's nothing wrong with being productive (in fact we should be productive as homemakers) the constant pursuit of perfection will not help you to embrace being a homemaker.

We should instead try to slow down, find homemaking skills that bring you pleasure. Maybe baking, or sewing. Maybe home decorating or gardening?

Finding joy in homemaking

People become miserable at their jobs when there is no passion or inspiration. Homemaking is the same way! We need to feel passionate about our job!

Find what brings you joy and incorporate it into your daily routines.

It really is that simple, we can do this through hobbies, and by enhancing the mundane. By taking time to light candles after you've cleaned up. Drinking a cup of coffee or tea, cooking meals that make your heart sing. Getting outside with your kids and watching them be adventurous and learn new things.

These things are such an innate part of human nature, but we are so distracted by our own expectations, others expectations, and social media that we forget what it feels like to just live.

Managing our households and caring for our babies isn't something we need to be educated on how to do. It's an innate characteristic of being a woman, and if you've chosen to become a homemaker, there's no doubt in my mind that you know why your role in the home is so valuable. You are irreplaceable in your home, unlike in a stuffy office space, you cannot be replaced within your home.

Reducing overwhelm

If you're feeling overwhelmed as a #homemaker, it may be that your daily routines are too complicated, your to-do list is too long, and you're not letting yourself do what brings you joy.

Homemakers and moms don't get breaks or days off, so we have to weave in fun and relaxation into our daily homemaking habits, and you don't have to feel guilty for that. Every job has its ups and downs. Even people who love their work, have bad days, and feel uninspired by their job sometimes.

I think as homemakers, especially those of you who are like me and have received a lot of criticism about your way of life, we may feel like if we aren't good at homemaking 24/7 and always happy then maybe those critics are right. Don't fall for that negative thinking, it's a lie nobody is perfect at their job all the time.

Let yourself experience the natural ups and downs that come with any career choice.

Remember your why

Remember why you chose this life in the first place. In my case I'm running back to my roots, embracing my feminine nature, and preparing for motherhood.

What is your reason? Why do you love being a homemaker, cut out all the things that distract you from that. Declutter the daily chores and habits that don't make sense for the homemaker you want to be. And yes you can declutter bad habits, unrealistic expectations just like you can #declutter stuff.

So taking a minimal approach to homemaking is not complicated, just slow down, give up the unrealistic expectations, and take the pressure off yourself to perform perfectly at your job. Shorten that to-do list and maybe declutter your house while you're at it.

Take care, Danielle