Do you ever find yourself searching Pinterest for the perfect cleaning schedule or dinner ideas?
But after you’ve pinned all the ideas, you still don’t have the motivation to do all those things!
The truth is no matter how many cleaning tips or recipes you find, they won’t actually ensure that you will clean your house or get dinner made.
Instead, the motivation to do those things is mindset.
I have a free resource called the Simple Homemaker’s Checklist available for you when you sign up for my emails.
#1: Treating Homemaking Like a Real Job
Before thinking of homemaking as my job, I treated homemaking as something I was burdened to do and I would put off doing things like the laundry and the dishes or dinner.
I felt like the work I did at home was beneath me. Like I was too good for it.
Because I had worked full time outside the home for 9 years as a teacher. And honestly I thought that my value was in what I did to make money, and what I did outside the home rather than in it.
Homemaking just didn’t feel important so I procrastinated and had a hard time enjoying it.
But all of that changed for me when I started seeing homemaking as real work that I needed to take seriously.
So I decided to treat homemaking like a job. I was greatly encouraged by Ecclesiastes 9:10,
“Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might.”
As homemakers, there’s a lot that we do with our hands, and we are told that whatever our hand finds to do – big things, small things, mundane things – everything is to be done with all our might.
Thinking about that helped me take homemaking more seriously.
Practically speaking that meant I had to have a plan for what I was going to do each day.
Instead of feeling lost and no idea, I had a plan of how to accomplish the dishes and laundry.
I also started getting myself dressed and ready for the day.
One of the things I missed as a new stay at home mom instead of going to work each day, was dressing up and putting on makeup. I had resorted to frumpy clothes, and I felt awful.
So I decided to start wearing clothes that I felt good in and putting on just a little bit of makeup. When I did that, I felt good about myself and like I was really showing up for my day.
#2: Understanding my “why” for homemaking.
I came across a quote by Mother Teresa that says:
“Wash the dish not because it is dirty or because you are told to wash it, but because you love the person who will use it next.”
That completely reframed homemaking for me.
So often, I was doing tasks just to get them done and cross them off my list. I rushed through them, while I felt annoyed and resentful.
But when I began reminding myself why I was doing all the things, I stopped feeling so resentful and unmotivated.
I reminded myself that I was doing all of these things to create a comfortable, safe place for the people I love and even for myself.
I also came across Colossians 3:23–24: “Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men. You are serving the Lord Christ.”
When I clean, cook, and care for my home with love I’m not just serving my family. I’m serving the Lord. And that perspective gave me so much purpose.
I also found that I needed to come up with a list of reasons why I do tasks that I was putting off.
One of those tasks was dusting. So I sat down with a piece of paper and listed reasons to dust my home.
Some of the reasons were super practical like the health of my family and the air quality in my home.
So remembering the reasons why I do the different things around the home is very important.
This mindset is one of the things I talk about in my course The Motivated Homemaker Blueprint. In my course I talk about the important mindset shifts that are needed to find peace and purpose at home.
#3: Doing My Best—Not Someone Else’s
For years, I compared my home, my routines, my energy, and my abilities to other women whether they were online or in real life.
That comparison always led me to feeling discouraged and stuck.
But one day, I passed by a church sign that said, “Do the best you can with what you have, where you are.”
That was the first time I had ever heard that quote, I even turned my car around and took a picture of the sign so that I would remember it!
It was a reminder to do my personal best with the abilities I had and in the season I was in.
I stopped asking, “Why can’t I be like her?” and started asking, “How can I do better today than I did yesterday?”
“What is the next thing I could do that would make a difference in my home or life?”
Instead of aiming for perfection, I aim to do a little better than I did yesterday. When you let go of the pressure to compare yourself to others, homemaking becomes more peaceful.
I’ve learned to find inspiration from other women, and embrace the season I’m in with the current skills and abilities God has given me.
If you’re looking for my direction with homemaking, be sure to sign up for my free resource The Simple Homemaker’s Checklist.