What's Your Method?

Today I want you to think about your preferred method of getting things done. In other words, do you prefer to work by a schedule or by a routine?

A schedule is defined as "a plan for carrying out a process or procedure, giving lists of intended events and times". A routine is defined as "a sequence of actions regularly followed". The main difference between the two is that a schedule is dictated by the time; whereas a routine is timeless - able to be done at any time. When you use a schedule or a routine may vary throughout the day or week.

Believe it or not, understanding which method you use is really important. Let me give you some examples from our home:

• Meal Times - Schedule: Breakfast at 8:00; Lunch at 1:00; and Dinner at 6:00.
• Morning Chores - Routine: 1. Get dressed; 2. Make your bed; 3. Clean your room; 4. Brush your hair and teeth; 5. Take the dirty laundry to the laundry room.
• Assigned Tasks - Schedule and Routine: Schedule the day of week certain tasks get completed, i.e. laundry on Monday; routine because it doesn't matter what time it starts or gets finished, so long as it gets done.

Someone that does not abide well to a schedule, and finds it frustrating, would be better suited to developing routines. To be successful in managing your home, you need to develop systems that will work with you and your personality - not against you. That being said, however, there is one other consideration we must make - your husband.

We all know that opposites attract, so there is a really good chance that you are a scheduler and your husband is not; or the reverse is true. If your husband is the scheduler in the family, and you are not, managing your home may be a bit more challenging. He will most likely have the preference of having things done at the same time every day or week and show some irritability with inconsistency. Carefully consider his natural preferences, remembering that we are to be our husband's helpmeet.

Following is a list of questions that I want you to carefully consider, from your perspective and that of your husband. There is no right or wrong answers here, but how you answer these questions will influence how you choose to proceed and implement the suggestions in future posts. It will help you to determine if you are a scheduler or more of a routine type of person.

• Do you get up at the same time every day, day in and day out?
• Do you get ready to face the day doing the same things or do you do what you feel like doing to get ready?
• Are you always fairly presentable or do you meet unexpected visitors and deliveries in your pajamas with your hair sticking up?
• Is breakfast a planned affair with variety or do you serve and eat the same thing almost every day?
• Are you on time to most events, appointments, and meetings or are you always making an entrance?
• Do you clean your house as a form of preventative maintenance or is it cleaned post emergency or immediately before company arrives?
• Do you do dishes because there is nothing left to eat on or with or do you do dishes after each meal?
• Do you know what you are going to make for lunch each day or do you rummage around to see what you have to prepare?
• Do you pack a lunch for work or do you buy on the fly?
• Do you know what food you have in the refrigerator, freezer, or pantry; or is it a vague, sort of know situation; or do you have no idea and it's a surprise every day?
• Do you do laundry on a consistent basis or only when someone complains that they are out of something?
• What is your perspective on ironing: do it as part of laundry; iron something when needed; avoid ironing at all costs?
• Are your afternoons relaxing and calm or frantic and crazy?
• Do you face the dreaded pre-dinner hour with a messy house, screaming kids, and chaos or is meal preparation done in a calm and peaceful manner?
• Do your children follow your example or seem to march to a different drummer?
• Is school time or homework time a daily expectation or flexible?
• Do you go to bed at about the same time every night or does it vary significantly (meaning by more than an hour or two)?
• If someone were to ask your husband what you do at home all day, would he be able to effectively and positively respond or would he laugh and say he has no idea?
• When it comes to money, who pays the bills? Is it you, your husband, or jointly decided?
• Are the bills paid on time, late, once a month, once a week, or after some service has been disconnected?

I hope that as you consider your answers to each of the above questions, you are seeing a fairly clear pattern. Are you a scheduler? Do you follow routines? Or do you seem to consistently "fly by the seat of your pants", so to speak? As we move forward in trying to emulate the Proverbs 31 woman, there will be tips for people that like schedules and tips for people that prefer routines. If you do not know for sure which one you are, I would recommend that your default be the topics directed towards routines. You can always add layers to the routines, such as a timed schedule, down the road. The goal is to help you to successfully manage every aspect of your life - not drive you to tears of frustration.

Blessings be upon you.