I feel like lately I’ve been talking to EVERYONE about this. And it’s something so near and dear to my heart that it was only a matter of time before I blogged it anyway.

Because every post needs a Reese pic. Also SHE STARTED WALKING LAST WEEK AH!

I LOVE TO PLAN. I love it so much. Too much, The Beard says. But I’m too busy planning what chores I’m gonna make him do this week to listen.

As a teacher/student, planning was such an essential part of my life. I had to plan to make sure I got to all my classes, worked all of my hours, did all of my homework, met all of my teaching obligations, printed all of my worksheets for The Civil War unit, and still had time to eat and sleep and watch The Office.

Planning SAHM life is an entirely different beast. Where before everything in my life was fixed and on a timetable and had deadlines… nothing really is that way now. It was so bizarre to look at an empty week and think “Well. The only actual things I can write down are the pediatrician at 11 on Thursday and three hours of church on Sunday.” Everything else was flexible, unfixed, unknown. Planning as a SAHM is more to make sure that you get done what you want to get done, in addition to what you NEED to get done. It’s so terrifyingly easy to mix those two up.

I love the freedom that allows me to just snuggle with Reese and watch TV all day when we really don’t feel so good. I love the freedom that allows me to take Reese downtown for a day of shopping or whisk off to St. George for a girls weekend.

Unfortunately that freedom meant that sometimes I forgot to do my laundry, or spent a whole day cooking and cleaning but missed out on reading my scriptures or having some real quality time with Reese.

I’ve written about this a lot of times before, so I’m trying not to beat a dead horse here. Basically planning now means making a humongous list of everything I need/want/would like/HAVE to do and then finding and making time for all of them. Much like my laundry plan, I have a schedule for everything and while it’s flexible and not mandatory, it still has a set time and priority in my life.

Since I’ve been thinking about this a lot and a few people have asked me about my planner/schedule I leaped at the opportunity to talk planning/schedules/color coding and being a Type A psychopath!

Tools

+ I use the Florabunda large agenda from Ban.do and I really really like it. I like having a month layout and weekly layouts, with the days big enough for notes and scheduling too. I don’t need hourly plans, but I do need space for lists, random timed appointments, and notes. I’ve used the Erin Condren Life Planner in the past and really liked it – but I didn’t need as much structure once I quit teaching.

+ I was never a big sticker person before, but now I’m all about it. I bought the Ban.do sticker book, and never looked back. Now I buy them from grocery stores, Target, anywhere I can find them. I just bought a huge set of planner stickers for $1 on the Chinese shopping app Wish and I cannot wait for them to get here in approximately 8 weeks (lol hopefully not). Planning has always been very satisfactory and even ritualistic to me, so the stickers have made it more fun and functional.

+ I use these Papermate color markers to color code my planner. Orange is for family, Yellow is for church, Purple is Ryan’s stuff, Pink is my stuff, Green is meals, Red is my workouts, etc. This has probably been the best development for me, since it makes my planner so much for useful at-a-glance. Highlighters are helpful too on occasion, and everything else goes in pencil so it can be erased and moved around.

+ Washi tape is so fun and pretty to use in planners! I use it to block out days for vacation or multi-day events like General Conference. It’s also easy to use to make flags for days or pages you refer to often.

+ Post-it Notes of all shapes and sizes are so helpful! I’ll do blog posts on the skinny flag ones, and move them around according to when I want to post. I’ll put certain to-do lists (such as those for a specific Harry Potter Book Club Event, or church assignment) on a big post it note and then move it from day to day in my planner rather than having to rewrite stuff over and over.

+ Google Calendars are still incredibly useful, especially for when I’m out and about because I don’t carry my planner with me. I put all of my time-sensitive appointments and plans in my Google Calendar so that I can check immediately if someone wants to make plans for a certain day. And it’s helpful for The Beard to be able to see when we have family plans.

My (Rough) Weekly Plan

Monday

Monday is my mental health day, kind of. My friend posted on her Instagram that she tries to stay home on Mondays – avoids appointments, engagements, grocery shopping, etc. unless absolutely necessary. That’s when she gets stuff done and prepares for the week. I loved that. I also read a great article about how to balance working from home and it talked about how you need to take time in your schedule to recharge and re-motivate. It encouraged freelancers to take a day to do stuff that FACILITATES work, without actually working: answering emails, browsing pinterest for ideas, reading and supporting other bloggers, organizing your workspace, and anything else that will set you up for a productive week. I LOVED that. So that’s my Monday. Here’s my basic schedule

• Weigh-in: I weigh-in once a week, and I make it every Monday morning. I log it in my Fitbit app and just try to keep a general eye on it and use it to inform my food/exercise decisions during the week.
• Laundry – I change, fold, and load throughout the day
• Write/Finish Wednesday’s blog post and any freelance that I got behind on (try to avoid this at all costs)
• Browse Pinterest, edit pinterest boards, plan meals for the week and update shopping list
• Watch YouTube videos – makeup, new music videos, vlogs, etc.
• Read as many blogs from my Bloglovin’ feed as I can, comment on the ones I like
• Reese’s Nap: Reese hangs out in the office with me or plays in her crib with toys and books (mostly books, the nerd) while I do this stuff and I take breaks to play with her, change her, etc. She’s down to one monster nap a day so that’s when I plan to do the stuff that’s easiest to do when she’s asleep.
  • Yoga: I’ve been more intentional about doing yoga on Mondays since it sets such a good tone for the week. It counts as a workout, but it’s so relaxing and zen that it just feels like a treat.
  • Shower and get ready
  • Clean our master bathroom – easier when Reese isn’t emptying my cabinets as I clean them
  • Read! I try to get my yoga and cleaning done fast and then fill up the rest of the time with my personal reading
• FHE/Bachelor Night. Since tonight is the finale I’ll actually have to start planning something!

Tuesday

I always come out of Monday feeling pumped and prepared, so I learned to take advantage of that by making Tuesday my primary “Out” day. I know I’m gonna leave the house so I try to knock out as many errands and tasks as I can.

• Zumba class 10:30 @ Vasa University
• I usually meet my Mother and Sister-in-law for lunch somewhere in Orem around noon
• Any errands – returns, shopping, etc.
• Grocery Shopping
• Sodalicious – double punch!!!!
• Reese’s Nap
  • Shower: wash my hair and apply a repair mask to fix dryness, split ends and damage, use an exfoliating wash and shave (yes I schedule shaving or else I would find a way to talk myself out of it every single time)
  • Freelance Work: I use my 15 minute timer method and take frequent breaks between writing sessions to finish the laundry, tend to Reese when she wakes up, get a snack, etc.
• Tuesday night stays pretty open for dinner plans with with family or friends, $5 Tuesday movie nights, whatever we want to do.

Wednesday

Wednesday is kind of my “homemaking” day. I spend basically all day downstairs in my kitchen. Meal prepping my breakfasts and any treats we want once a week is so helpful to me, and I always try to make a legit dinner. Of course this also includes cleaning.

• Meal prep breakfasts – usually egg cups (I use spinach, turkey bacon, and cherry tomatoes), sometimes healthy muffins. Anything I can grab-n-go!
• Treats – at least once a week we’ll want treats for a dinner party with our besties, to take to our visiting teaching girls or home teaching families, for a party/Book Club meeting, or for a movie night. I use this time to make the cookies or cake pops or brownies or whatever treat we want.
• Prep or Crock Pot dinner for that night – I always prefer the crock pot. So easy!
• Once everything is made I clean my kitchen and the bathroom, and I try to deep clean at least one thing that only needs it once a month, like the fridge or Glen Coco’s dish & kennel or the oven.
• I like to listen to audiobooks while I do this, and I try to make a really healthy lunch. Reese will chill in her high chair or play in her “baby fort.”
• Reese’s Nap
  • Blogging: Wednesdays I try to write my posts for the upcoming week, do any maintenance, plan posts and photos I need to take, etc.
• Dinner & Family time: We have dinner at home and use this as our night to catch up on our shows or watch a movie. Its nice to know that this will be an at-home night so we can avoid any other plans or obligations.

Thursday

If I ever have appointments where I can take Reese, or someone wants to make plans for lunch or a workout or anything like that I try to plan them for Thursdays. I like to keep my Thursdays and Fridays pretty light, since those days either fill up or I need them to catch up on stuff I didn’t get done on previous days.

• Clean Upstairs: after we have breakfast I clean the office and Reese’s room. I finally put away laundry if I haven’t gotten to it yet, and clean the bathroom if that never got done on Monday.
• Weightlifting Day: Usually around 12 or 1 I head to the gym for straight weightlifting, which is my favorite. I listen to audiobooks or podcasts and try to work as hard as I can for an hour lifting upper body, lower body, and a core workout.
• “Healthy” Fast Food: I try to hold myself to fast food once a week. I don’t beat myself up for doing it, and giving myself a day that I’m gonna do it takes away the temptation on other days. If I don’t do lunch with Kitty & Haley I’ll get an acai bowl from Ivie, a cobb salad from Zaxby’s, or a chicken avocado bowl from Del Taco.
• Wash the Car
• Any other errands, appointments, or just plain “stuff” is usually reserved for Thursday afternoon
• Reese’s Nap
  • Plan my Primary lesson for Sunday
  • Catch up on any unfinished freelance or blogging tasks. I really try to have my plate clean for the weekend.
  • Shower and get ready
• The Beard’s Meal – We’ve worked out that Ryan makes Sunday dinners for the 2 Sundays a month we are home, and then one regular meal during the week. His weeknight usually ends up being Thursdays, sometimes Tuesdays or a weekend night.

Friday

I usually don’t plan much for Fridays but they somehow always turn out crazy. I often find myself in a frenzy finishing the details for a book club meeting or finding a wedding present or heading to some event or activity. So I try to keep Fridays pretty open and make sure that I take the time to get ~really ready. You SAHMs know what I mean by ~really ready.

• Zumba 10:30 @ Vasa University (I always make this one optional. I go if I can and if that day is chill and I’m feeling good. If I’m not feeling great or if there’s a ton going on that day, I skip it and don’t beat myself up about it.)
• Lunch with friends or family, any errands or last minute things for the weekend
• Reese’s Nap
  • Shower: wash my hair with volume shampoo & conditioner, shave, use facial scrub.
  • Blowout my hair and use self-tanner
  • Manicure/Pedicure (I actually often do this in steps – I’ll clean off, shape and buff my nails on Thursday and then paint them Friday depending on my time and schedule)
• Friday Night! Having no plans is a rare but treasured occasion. We usually have stuff with family or friends, or we plan a date night. I try to plan an outfit in advance as it helps me break out of a boyfriend tee rut.

Saturday

Again, these are flexible and unpredictable, as there’s baby showers, bridal showers, parties and events which can randomly throw everything off. There are a few things we try to do every Saturday, though.

• Sleep in. The Holdaways are not early risers.
• Have a good breakfast. Whether we go out or cook at home, we do a bona fide breakfast.
• Chores: the extent varies based on our time and how much cleaning I did during the week. At the very least I take out all of the trash, completely tidy up all of the clutter in each room, The Beard vaccuums, and we change our sheets.
• Exercise: I’m trying hard to get a good routine of Saturday family exercise. For Valentine’s Day I got Ryan raquetball stuff so we can play together, so hopefully we can pick that up. It’s also warming up so I’m looking forward to canyon walks and softball.

Sunday

“A Sunday well spent brings a week of content” is a phrase that I heard once but think about literally every Sunday. Sundays are hard because you feel like you have nothing going on but also like you can’t do anything. We’ve finally found our sweet spot!

• Church: we sleep in until we have to get ready for church, whether that’s at 9, 11 or 1. We try our best to stay for all 3 hours but it usually ends up being 2.
• On Fast Sunday we head straight to my mom’s after church for Sunday dinner and hanging with my family.
• On every other Sunday we come home, change into our sweats (Reese too lol) and The Beard makes his delicious grilled cheese sandwiches. We have family scripture study and family council (talk about the upcoming week, any big stuff going on, any issues or concerns)
• THE SACRED SUNDAY NAP
• On the third Sunday we head to the Holdaway’s for dinner around 6 and hang with them for the rest of the evening
• For the Sundays we are home, Ryan makes dinner (I help!) and we eat as a family
• Around 8 I’ll make a huge bucket of popcorn and we’ll watch our favorite shows, a movie, or more likely this time of year – baseball.
• After we put Reese down around 10 pm I use my Clarisonic to give my face a real deep clean for the upcoming week and take a warm bath with a bath bomb or epsom salts to relax and reflect on the week.

Having this loose schedule has made my life so much easier and less stressful. I’m still tweaking with it, even day-by-day. Pretty soon The Beard’s softball schedule will throw it off, as will his new job (YAY Hi also The Beard got a new job! In OREM!!!!! SO HAPPY!!!!!) since he won’t be riding the train downtown for 3 hours a day.

I am constantly reading articles and blog posts about SAHM schedules, cleaning schedules, how to work freelance/from home, and what an ideal toddler schedule looks like. If you’re a mommy blogger I would really love to know what your schedule looks like – how do you get everything done?