Learn the Importance of the To-Done List as a Homemaker

Learn the importance of the To-Done list as a homemaker. This simple strategy will help you feel accomplished in your role at home.

Anyone that knows me well, knows that I am a type A personality. I love making a good list. You will often find me with pen and paper in hand making a list of all of the things I need to accomplish.

Why I Love Making Lists

There is something so satisfying to me as I write down all of the things I need to accomplish in a day. As the day or week passes I love methodically crossing off each task and activity. Have ever added a task you just completed to your list, just to mark it off? I’m right there with you!

All of you fellow list makers out there know what I’m talking about!

Why “To Do” Lists No Longer Work for Me

Making “To-Do” lists served me well throughout my first thirty years of life. I loved making lists and I accomplished most everything on them. However, this all changed once I had children.

My children are the joy of my life but after having kids my ability to get “things” on my list accomplished became more and more difficult. It got to the point where I wasn’t being able to mark anything off of my list.

As an industrious person who loves to achieve my goals, this became really discouraging to me as a mom. I would finish my day feeling as if I was everywhere, doing everything, yet nothing on my list was marked off.

My list looked exactly the same as when I had written it. It just sat there, staring at me as if I had failed. I felt like I wasn’t getting anything accomplished during my day. Wrong or right, this was how I felt and I knew something had to change.

Other Types of List Making

After having kids I tried several variations of the “to do” list.

One type that I tried is called the “Top Three.” With this list you write down the top three tasks that you need to get done for your day. The goal is to dedicate your attention to these three things during the day. This type of list helped me to an extent but I still found myself feeling discouraged. My day ended wondering why I couldn’t even get three things accomplished for the day.

I also tried to create some sort of weekly schedule. This worked for a while until I missed a day and this tasks “assigned” to that day. Again I found myself in a place of discouragement feeling as if I couldn’t get it all done.

No homemaker should be living in discouragement based on what you get accomplished in a day. What homemakers accomplish in a given day is often more than others accomplish at a regular 9-5 job. I saw a stat the other day that a SAHM/homemaker works the equivalent of two full time jobs. And now, as a mom of three I believe it!

All of my attempts at making new types of “to do” lists made me realize I needed a new strategy. I knew I needed a new plan when it came to my “To Do” lists. That is when I changed my mentality about how I made lists.

I started making the To Done Lists!

What is the To-Done List?

The “To-Done” list is a list that starts off blank at the beginning of the day. As the day goes along you fill the list with all of the tasks you complete.

The tasks written on the to-done list can be simple or complicated but are all of equal importance. This is the perfect type of list for a homemaker who is constantly doing a variety of different tasks around the home.

An example of some of the things that might be included on my daily list as a homemaker are:

• Made breakfast
• Put the kids clothes on
• Washed bed sheets
• Had my Biblestudy
• Texted a friend
• Did some work for our business
• Balanced our Checkbook
• Cleaned toilets
• Made lunch
• Got my son to poop! (this is a whole blog article in itself)
• Made supper
• Read to the kids
• Put the kids to bed
• Wrote a blog post

When you start writing down all of the things you do as a homemaker your daily list becomes quite extensive!

How My Perspective Changed

After writing a To-Done list for several days my perspective greatly changed. I realized that I was getting a ton accomplished on a daily basis. Writing this way each day encouraged me as a mom and homemaker.

I know that as a homemaker my value is not defined by the tasks that I accomplish each day. But as a natural born list maker it is encouraging for me to be reminded that I actually do accomplish a lot each day.

Get Your FREE To-Done List Here

As a homemaker you accomplish much more than you probably think. If you too feel like you aren’t getting as much “done” since having kids. I encourage you to start writing the “to done” list today. 

You can access my super cute “To-Done” list pictured above for FREE, HERE. Print it out and start writing down all of the things that you are accomplishing each day!

I hope you too will change the way that you make lists in your home. I hope you feel encouraged by all of the ways you have cared for your family and home. Comment below and let me know how making “To-Done” lists has worked for you.