My daily program

I promised in my recent podcast "Heather the Housewife" that I would post my daily schedule/program/rule of life. There are many names for it, but it's really just a tool for me to be disciplined about the way I live my day and try to do the will of God at every moment.

I refer to the will of God here because even though this may not seem like a very "spiritual" concept, I really believe it is. Everything we do in our lives should be oriented toward God--glorifying Him and spreading His Kingdom. I developed my program in an atmosphere of prayer, and I believe that it was created through the light of the Holy Spirit.

Below is my basic daily program. It's sort of the "ordinary" day. I have variations for when I need to run errands, go to the doctor, etc. But this is the basic framework I use. You'll notice that most of the time slots are farily short (no more than 45 minutes), and I believe this works well so as to incorporate a number of activities and also to fight boredom. Prayer is woven into the day so that I am continually turning my focus to God.

While this schedule is a framework, I have to be flexible to changes that might come during the day. For example, if my husband's car breaks down, I would abandon my schedule for the time being and help him. But once I returned to my "normal" day, I would adjust my schedule to fit in the most necessary things for that day.

At the same time, it's important that I not take changes to my schedule lightly. Abandoning it to my whims or to things that sound like emergencies but really aren't is contrary to the purpose of having a daily program. When I take a task on my schedule that I don't necessarily feel like doing at the moment, and do it anyway, it becomes an excellent tool to form my willpower.

Daily Schedule

7:00 a.m. Rise
7:15 a.m. Breakfast
7:30 a.m. Shower/Change
8:00 a.m. Morning Prayers
8:30 a.m. Dishes, Tidy
8:45 a.m. Free Time
9:00 a.m. Household I
9:45 a.m. Snack
10:00 a.m. Financial
10:15 a.m. Household II
11:00 a.m. Prep for Chapel
11:15 a.m. Depart for Chapel
11:30 a.m. Chapel: Gospel Reflection
11:45 a.m. Mass
12:15 p.m. Depart for Home
12:30 p.m. Angelus and Lunch
1:15 p.m. Free Time
1:30 p.m. Rosary (Walk)
2:00 p.m. Apostolate I
2:45 p.m. Snack
3:00 p.m. Spiritual Reading
3:15 p.m. Apostolate II
4:00 p.m. Free Time
4:15 p.m. Evening Prayer
4:30 p.m. Practice Piano
4:45 p.m. Dinner Prep and Tidy
5:15 p.m. Joel Home
5:45 p.m. Dinner

I have a weekly program that fits into the Household and Apostolate slots. Here it is:

Household I

Monday: Menu plan & laundry
Tuesday: Vacuum & mop
Wednesday: Second Bedroom
Thursday: Budget
Friday: Special Project

Household II

Monday: Grocery Store
Tuesday: Errands Out
Wednesday: Thank You Notes
Thursday: Taxes
Friday: Special Project

Apostolate I

Monday: Christian Life (email)
Tuesday: CL Content Writing
Wednesday: (CL in evening)
Thursday: RC Team
Friday: Special Project

Apostolate II

Monday: RC Team
Tuesday: Christian Life
Wednesday: (CL in evening)
Thursday: CL Content Writing
Friday: Special Project

I change the projects if one becomes "finished"...for example, pretty soon I won't need to spend 45 minutes a week on taxes! At that point I will incorporate a new project.

Fridays are a kind of "free day" where I can substitute in things that may have gotten "bumped" earlier in the week, or add an unforseen project that needs attention, or do something more fun like going shopping for things we need.

If people are interested, I might do a podcast on how I made my program and the general principles behind it (since this blog is getting a bit long). Let me know if you'd like to hear about that. I believe that a daily program is for anyone, whether one is working outside the home or working from the home. It helps me a great deal in doing what God is asking of me--all I have to do is look at my schedule!