Productivity

I think this is an area we HearthKeepers need to deepen our definitions. We can become trapped by surface things and miss some deep growth and encouragement in ourselves, our homes, and our people.

Remember homemaking is routine and flexibility. Remember homemaking is a lifetime of work, not a weekend gig. Remember, as was addressed to singles, that paid work isn’t the only work we engage in. Hold onto these truths while we discuss productivity in our home.

Productive: producing especially in abundance, yielding results, the satisfaction of wants and creation of utilities. 

Please tell me your mind simply exploded with delight and opportunity with those definitions!

It is so easy as homemakers to limit our production to chores.

“Were you productive today?”

“Well, I cooked, cleaned, and did laundry.”

Okay. Good. Actually, really, really good job. Those are such necessary things, such great gifts we give our people. Creating a clean environment, providing fresh clothing, and nourishing meals are wonderful.

Here’s the problem. If we narrowly define producing as only the housekeeping, we will quickly slip into a boring rut. We’ve all heard the complaint that our work is boring. Well, maybe it’s boring because we are feeding the boredom with a limited perspective.

Don’t feed the boredom!

Shake it off!

If I asked you every day if you were productive and you simply handed me your To-Do List and Chore Chart, we would probably have a dull, short conversation. (Don’t get me wrong, I love singing the praises of housekeeping, but our work is so much more than that!) You and I would both tire of the daily list of meal prepping, dirt hunting, and cycling loads of wash. Plus, as different women have pointed out, it is so easy to make that To-Do list, the chores, the housekeeping, the thing we pour ourselves into because it is so satisfying to mark things off. We can do this to the detriment of the home overall and to the detriment of our people.

The best way to combat this narrow, boring focus is to enrich, deepen, and broaden our understanding of productivity. Here are some other things we can start to take note of. Ladies, I highly suggest you train your mind to note them. You can’t grow in your management of the home if you aren’t growing in your heart and mind. We are never ever given the excuse to stay in a cycle of dormancy. We are to always work on sanctification, faith, hope, love, prudence, justice, temperance, and fortitude. Take note, get to work.

Mindset Growth: You may not have a whole lot of production to physically show at the end of the day. You didn’t rescue any children from burning buildings or save the world from hunger. What you did do was see your bad attitude. What you did do was work on mental habits so that you respect and love your husband. What you did do was tweak a routine to be better for your people. What you did do was completely change focus without freaking out. What you did do was focus and complete a chore. You worked on your heart, mind, and attitude. Do we know the dividends such work pays in our homes? Do we realize how valuable it is for the woman of the house to have a good attitude, good mental habits, and the ability to judge what is a priority and what isn’t? Do you realize that working on your mind is being productive in the home because it is the foundation of all other productivity?

Hobbies, Classes, and Continuing Education: We are not one-dimensional creatures. God made us to have varied interests, to love sub-creation, and to grow our skills. Some days production in the home is working on a hobby like quilting, knitting, or painting. Sometimes it is taking a class to help you gain a new skill. Sometimes it is watching a YouTube video, listening to a podcast, or reading a book that helps you look at your home in a fresh way. This is productive. This is improving your skills so you can be more generous with your people and your church family. How productive do you think a woman is who never develops her skills? She can’t sew, bake, organize, or decorate. She has nothing to give out of her abundance because she has no abundance. Start realizing that your interests are a very important part of your ability to be a good homemaker.

People Tending: You may have a week that feels totally unproductive because all your kids got sick, your husband got sick, you got sick, and yet, have you ever considered the work of healing? You may feel like you are unproductive because you cook from scratch which takes so much time and effort. Have you considered the work of tending? You may feel like you have done nothing, but did you hug your husband and make him feel welcome? Do your children love being home or flee at every possible opportunity? Have you slowed down enough to reach out to anyone in your church family? Tending to people isn’t a To-Do list, but it is our most important work. It is productive because it is ultimately caring for souls. If you disciplined a child all day and are facing a mountain of laundry, retrain your mind about what is actually productive. (Hint, they both are.) If you spent a large part of your day deep in discussion with your husband and now face a disaster of a kitchen, retain your perspective on productivity before you freak out. Both must be done and both are productive.

Managing the unique aspects of your home: Housekeeping is much the same the world over and throughout history. There is nothing new under the sun. Being productive in our homes is managing the aspects that make our homes unique. Husbands that travel vs. husbands that work from home require different management styles. Homeschooling vs. public schools, big family vs. small family, country vs. city, married vs. single, child-full vs. childless, and on and on and on. The combinations of things that make your situation and your people unique are a big part of the production in your home. Managing them well and with grace IS being productive. This means our productivity will look different at different times. You may be productive today because you got some laundry done, worked in the garden, and made dinner, while I was productive because I stopped and listened to my husband for two hours and then totally changed my focus for the rest of the day. You may homeschool your children while someone else has no children. You may constantly have people over while I am not able to do that. Managing the uniqueness of your home, your husband's expectations, and your current situation is productive.

Productivity is so much more than our housekeeping and tangible chores, while at the same time it is those things. We must hold both in our minds at the same time. We must not give housekeeping the limelight. That is like working out one leg and not the rest of your body. It’s unbalanced. That is like only cooking one thing and refusing to ever learn to cook something else. Open your mind to abundance, to results, and to satisfying wants. This is so much more than running the vacuum cleaner, while running the vacuum cleaner is included in it.

Train yourself to notice your attitude and work on it. Train yourself that tending to the sick is productive. Train yourself that making room for husbands and children is productive. Make room for how your home is YOUR home and not someone else’s. Train yourself that hobbies aren’t a waste of time and that they are productive.

My dearest homemakers, we are the housekeepers, but we aren’t only the housekeepers. Home is where the heart is and so we are the heart of the home, and that means production is so much more than simply cleaning, cooking, and laundry. Productivity is abundance, and abundance can be found in many places. Maybe the first place we should start is by seeking to love abundantly and to have an abundance of good attitudes.

Have a To-Do list. Know the physical work that must be done every day to keep everyone alive. This is our responsibility. At the same time, we must not measure our day only by those things. Some days we work on our love for our husband and order Chinese food. Some days we make a special meal for our family and share it with another family. Somedays we focus on our teenage daughter’s struggles and pour cereal for lunch. Somedays we get a flat tire and have to change everything up. How we handle these things says more about our productivity than our perfect-appearing homes.

Be productive. Don’t let the communistic perspective on work being put forth by the world rob you of true production in the home. Don’t let comparison between all our different strengths and weaknesses rob you of measuring and being encouraged by your own productivity. Maybe productivity for you today was putting that To-Do list down, and maybe for me, it was picking it up.

Both are productive.