Small Business and Big Families: Keeping It All Together Part 1

         Our family business,  Maid-N-Meadows, is our family's dream come true. We are providing other families with a healthy product and caring for our cows in a way that honors them. But beyond our obvious love of dairying and all things farm, is a dream to work, play, learn, and pray together as a family. I feel there are other families out there with the same goal and I wanted to share what we have learned so far. If there are veterans out there, we would love to hear from you and perhaps pick up a tip or two!

     

     Scheduling vs. Going With The Flow

 With farming, daily plans can go down the drain in a heartbeat! An animal needs medical attention. It is raining so the hay has to wait. The bees are swarming! And it goes on and on! Important things that need doing will most likely be accomplished if we schedule them for right after morning chores and breakfast. This way (If we got it done!) it is off our plates and not such a frustrating stressor when the next "surprise" pops up.
   When we have deadlines to meet, I try to begin working toward them as early as possible. Sometimes that means designating a day to focus on it. But because life is so unpredictable, our focus is often diverted and we need to reschedule. As long as there is plenty of lead time, I feel free to do this!
    Sometimes the deadline is short or we were just covered up in other "emergencies". We end up coming down to the wire. In that case, we pull an all-nighter to accomplish the goals. My husband has made many a batch of cheese from dusk to dawn. We have labeled packaging through the night twice now. It is the last resort and one that should be avoided! Burning the candle at both ends is not a winning strategy! But here is where flexibility can actually benefit! Usually the next day I can score a nap because we learned long ago that over-scheduling leads to frustration and burn-out.
    So how do we get things done without scheduling them? We start at the beginning of the week with a broad overview of the places we need to be and the jobs that need to be done.

• We prioritize our "to do" list! Some goals we share as a family. The older children working alongside us feel empowered and satisfied when we make goals with their input and then work towards them together!
• We block out the days with the most stringent time demands. We also block out the days we tentatively want to accomplish some goal. (For us Fridays and Saturdays are market days. Other days are cheesemaking days and home days.)
• Then we write a list of the things that need doing but must be squeezed in among everything else. I check that list each day and try to envision where I might be able to squeeze a job in.
• The other thing I do is try to do the planning for things that I know must be done each day but take a lot of mental energy! Like meals! So I make a list of the things we can make that week and then pick from that list each day. I vary the list from easy to time-consuming so that if I get in a pinch one of the children can prepare the meal.
• Take some time off! We protect our Sabbath jealously! Even God rested at the end of the first week! Time off is physically and spiritually restorative. Try not to cheat and squeeze something else in! :-)

     Lastly, I try to limit our todo list because one can easily try to squeeze in too much. Family life can suffer quickly! (This is a weakness of ours!) I have to let some things go during this season! I just try to remember it is not forever, Lord willing, and this too shall pass. If I can rejoice in what we are doing and not dwell on what we are not, then my family's moral will be all the stronger!
     
How do other families accomplish their family goals? Did I miss anything?