As most of you know, I am in school for a masters. I often wonder what possessed me to begin this journey but all I can say in my defense is that “it” was/is a God thing. So, I had to take it up with Him. And that is just what I did. I took my problem to Him and He led me straight to a solution through a great set of ladies and an time tested tradition.

My problem is not exactly spending too much time on Facebook, although, I do a lot of that. Or rather, I did. My problem is not sleeping all day, because I hate naps. Ask my mom, I have always hated naps. Almost as much as I hate peas. Here is a scripture that sadly, defined me:

He also that is slothful in his work is brother to him that is a great waster. Proverbs 18:9

My problem is this, I tend to procrastinate. A lot. All the time. Nearly every waking moment. OH, I started out good. My time working on my associates was a breeze. I was up early, dressed and ready to go. My assignments were done early, my house-work was done and I had time to lounge around and eat Bon-Bon’s while reading a good novel. Then along came the bachelor’s and even though the workload was a bit more stringent and the reading was twice as long, I still managed to work a part-time job, get my assignments done early and still have time to clean the house top-to-bottom and float in the pool for hours on end.

THEN I signed up for a masters program and everything went to pot in a matter of hours after starting. As much as I tried to stay on a schedule the more I fell behind and barely got my assignments in before the deadline. We are talking Micro-seconds, here. I went to bed with major stress headaches, I was grumpy (as some of my friends can attest to), and I was just an all-around crabby mess. I had stopped doing what I should have been doing all along – seeking Him for strength and guidance.

My house was an utter nightmare – dog hair floating through the air and covering the every available surface, grimy windows that would barely let light in; Mt. Washmore (laundry) reigned supreme in overflowing baskets and hampers; dishes piled high unless my other half got annoyed and did them himself, and not a dinner to be had in the place unless it was ordered or brought in. I was of no use in the house, because my world centered around school.

Then along came Fly Lady. She told me that I was never behind and if I didn’t get things done, it was okay and I would just pick it up the next time around. So, she – with the help of my sweet cousin- got me to re-evaluate my schedule and start to reorganize my life. The first thing that Fly lady recommended was to get up, get dressed, eat breakfast, and make your bed! You will feel a lot better about your day. She also mentions a few faith based “chores” like praying and devotions before your day gets started. HERE was my “ahah!” moment. The key to my failings.

Then it hit me, my grandma Demorest was the same way! Like the Fly lady, not me.  She had a devotion time and set day for every chore in the house and nearly ALWAYS made her bed and rarely ran around in her night clothes. She had her shoes on and hopped right on her chores instead of lounging around reading McCalls or Ladies Home Journal Magazine (something I read on Facebook!) Most importantly, she was constantly praying.

So, I got started on my own self –

I fell off the wagon a few times and even though I suffered a few bumped knees and bruised ego’s, I managed to hop right back on. I was doing really good until my summer vacation came to an end and school started up again.

So here I am all refreshed, with a shiny new wagon that holds a shiny new schedule with the same old chores…

I took Facebook off of my computers homepage and replaced it with my school’s website so as soon as I log on to my computer, I am not tempted to spend my first few hours yakking with friends or playing my favorite game – Noah’s Ark. Even if it is a “Godly” game, it is a time waster! LOL

I created a school schedule, a chore schedule and a meal schedule.  What I learned was this:
1. Do what you dread first. For me, it’s usually the reading for school. It is most often long, tedious, and boring. So if I get that out of the way first, the rest is nearly smooth sailing. As far as chores go, it’s doing dishes. My dishwasher ran away to college…

2. Make your to-do list in manageable chores. If I write “wash windows” I am immediately put off and want to hire a maid right then and there. However, if I add “wash kitchen window” then that doesn’t sound nearly as bad and can be done as soon as the dishes are done (if you have a bunch of colored bottles in your window like me you will need the free counter space to store them while washing the window).

3. When making a schedule, spread out your duties as far as possible during the week. For my schedule, I used my Office Outlook so I could upload it to both computers and my electronic devices AND get reminders for my chores well before they are due. For my schedule, I gave each week day a room…

Monday- Kitchen/Dining :Floors, counters, misc. dishes, wipe down front of fridge, table (my hot spot or catch-all); dust bookshelf, china hutch and vacuum area rug.

Tues- Bathroom

Wednesday – Bedroom(s)

Thursday – Living room/front porch

Friday- Office/Laundry Room

5. If you don’t get it done, just pick it up when you can… You never know when something is going to happen where you can’t stay on schedule. So, placing an escape in your plan keeps you from beating yourself up for not getting things done. That “escape” is believing Fly Lady’s motto – you are never behind!

Sometimes, in the grand scheme of things, getting that floor vacuumed or that TV dusted is not nearly as important as going to your kids baseball game or spending time with friends. Seriously!

In case you are interested – my school schedule is this:

Monday: 9 – 12 (class 1) Read chapters and answer discussion questions; 12 – 1 Lunch! 1-4 (class 2) Read chapters and answer discussion questions; 4-6 Dinner and household chores for the day.

Tuesday- (same time schedule for classes) Start assignments for both classes; house chores

Wednesday – ”    “Finish and  Edit assignments and post to classroom

Thursday – ”    ” Start research for the next weeks class (we are writing a dissertation so there is a LOT of research going on.

Friday – Sat – and Sunday are reserved for family, blogging and left over house chores.

This seems to be working really well. Matter of fact, I am all done with 1 class’s homework for the week and it is still TUESDAY!!! Tomorrow, I will do my other class’s homework and I have the rest of the week to lounge around after my household chores are done.

So to the heart of the matter – devotions and seeking God’s help should be done first thing in the morning before you attempt to tackle your day. You don’t have to read the whole Bible in one fail swoop; just a scripture or two a day that you can meditate on all day long – think about, mull over, or just wonder about. Some have great success with daily devotional books. I have a devotional app on my devices that works well for busy people and for myself. Some like to take a half hour, some like to do their devotions while exercising. I prefer to just think about things while doing another task that is menial and doesn’t require much brain power.

Hope this helps!

graphic courtesy of House-Mouse, Inc.