Trying to get back on track

I have always been one who loves schedules and routines. I firmly believe that everything has a place and everything should be in it's place. I love having a clean and organized home.

I have a small confession to make. I can't seem to get anything to work here in my new home. I've been trying for months to get my old routines back and have failed miserably. I simply haven't understood why life can't be as simple (in a way) as it used to be. Until I realized....

1- I have tripled my square footage so there is no way that I can clean the way I used to. I wrote a post once about my cleaning routine which I can hardly think about now. Of course that was in a house that was barely 1000 sq feet.

2- I have a larger outside life than what I used to have. Before I was at home running a daycare dreaming of the day I could socialize with people with more than a Sesame Street vocabulary. That day has come and I feel that I'm hardly home. There is always a social group or playdate of some sort to go to.

3- I'm pregnant and therefore get tired very easily.

With that said, I have realized that I need to cut back on a few things. This is the difficult part because I want to do everything but I am stressed that I can't do anything.

My solution is to revisit my old schedules and routines for my home. I need to think in my new conditions and what I truly can do in one day.

I have written down everything that I want to do. Including the things that might not be realistic. Everything from working out, craft time, reading, journaling, gardening, errands, time with Livy (especially preschool), blog/Internet time, scripture study, family time......

I thought about how my mornings are and what I normally do. I'm not a morning person and I know that I can not fit too much here. I need to keep it simple. Right now my mornings are: wake up and quick clean up (put on hat, brush teeth), same for Livy, grab water bottle and milk/snack for Livy and head out for an hour long walk. I don't want to change this. In fact I notice a huge difference on the morning I don't go walking.

I thought about when things normally happen. When do I attend craft group, playgroup, and run errands. What other weekly scheduled events do I have?

I continued to think into the evenings. What time do I want to have dinner? How about after dinner but before Livy's bedtime? I want to have time together as a family. How about my own bedtime routine? That's one I've struggled with for years. I get busy doing things (like now working on this blog post) when I should be heading to bed. This needs to stop!

Then I started to piece everything into a master schedule. Once I had everything down, I found I had time to do some crafting and personal reading, just in moderation. There is free space and not every minute is scheduled. I know that I won't follow this 100%. It's important to be flexible for spontaneous things like doctor visits.

My goal for this week is to finish my cleaning schedule. I am breaking everything up over 6 days, instead of my daily super sprint clean. I am also thinking of long term things like what needs to be done monthly or quarterly.

My hope with this is to get the balance back in my life. I realized today, my life has been without balance and routine since we put the old house on the market. That was last August! It's been nearly a year! No wonder I'm feeling so overwhelmed with life right now!

Do you have a schedule, routine or cleaning regimen that you follow?