How to stay organized on the homestead
I’ve had people ask me, and I’ve wondered, how to stay organized on the homestead. These are the things I do to stay organized and continue to thrive on my homestead.
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Staying organized on the homestead with this simple, easy method.
One thing you will soon find out if you’re anything like me while starting your homestead for the first time is that things will get overwhelming, QUICK. I always found myself to be a very organized individual until we bought a homestead. HOLY. MOLY. THINGS. TO. DO. So, I took action.
I made lists.
This might seem obvious, right?
My advice to you is to make a list? What a bust, right? Hear me out!
The ultimate reason to make a list is to be sure you’re getting things done. There was so much standing and staring at the beginning. From not knowing where to start and where to end. Or what to start and what to end. It was not good, Y’all.
At the end of the day, I felt overwhelmed by all of the things there was to do. I was overwhelmed because I didn’t know where to start, so I got nothing done. It was a very bad formula.
I needed a hutch built for my meat rabbits but I also needed to build a brooder. How was I going to do both? Sometimes I would start both at the same time and, of course, that was the wrong approach because it just ended in homestead burnout.
Make your lists and specify WHEN it needs to be done. What’s the deadline? Needless to say, I got virtually NOTHING done in the first year.
How to use multiple lists to stay organized on the homestead
I want to tell you how to stay organized on the homestead. Originally, I started by just writing all of the things that needed to be done on as many lists as I could.
This honestly worked for some things, and I still use that method for really busy times of the year. The drawback to using that method most of the year is you’ll have
What I eventually settled on, and still love, was two lists on a dry erase board.
You can get the one I use, it looks like this:
On one side I have my “Top Priority” list. On the other side is my “Not-So-Top Priority” list. This works perfectly for me because I can see what needs to be done, say, within the week (Ex. Clean rabbit hutches, clean waterers, etc.) and what can wait (Ex. Redoing anything cosmetic, organizing the shed, etc.).
Top priority items could include: (within the week):
- Starting Seeds
- Cleaning Hen Boxes
- Cleaning Water Buckets
- Starting Fodder
- Turning Compost
- Cleaning Fodder Trays
- Harvesting Produce
Not-so-top priority items could include (within the month):
- Shoveling Hen House Bedding
- Organizing the Shed (still VERY important)
- Fixing that loose latch
- Cleaning you Outside
Kitchen Putting up your hammock…okay you get the point.
How my lists look
The way my list looks today is:
“Top Priority”
- Build Duck Brooder & House
- Plan Hen House Extension
- Check Ducks
- Dust Chickens
- Clean Hen House
“Not-So-Top Priority”
- Mow Lawn (Dog yard and front)
- Rearrange Fodder Room
- Burn Vines
- Cover Spare Coops
Some of these are common sense and really don’t need to be on my list. I stay organized on the homestead by writing lists. It just helps me make sure everything actually gets done to write even the simple things down. And it feels so good to mark it off!
My top homestead tip when asked how to get organized
Make a list and, for your own sake, follow it. I couldn’t believe how much I got done when I found a list system that worked perfectly for me!
