When my children were growing up, I both worked and stayed-at-home. My days consisted of what their routines dictated. The daily timeline varied depending on school schedules, team sports practices, and other family variables. I remember keeping two dry-erase calendars mounted to our back door so I could plan our weeks and keep our home running smoothly.
Now that our children are on their own, I have encountered a love-affair of sorts with my weekly routines. While they aren’t as rigid as in the past, I find they bring a comfort and familiarity to my life. But there’s so much more that simple life routines bring you. Let’s chat…
Something to care for…
The first thing simple life routines bring is the importance of something to care for. I think as homemakers, mothers, and humans in general, we have a desire to care for something. As parents, sometimes the sheer volume of caring can be overwhelming at times. But when our children move on with their adult lives, often we lose the feeling of having something to care for.
Simple life routines give that back, if we allow them to – and we shift our mindset in that direction. So what are a few simple life routines that have this ability?
Making home…
The first simple life routine I find brings so much joy is the simple act of making home. To many, the daily tasks of making the bed, sweeping the floors, wiping counters, or washing the laundry are that…tasks. They are chores that need to be done. But when we shift our mindset, they become tasks that allow us the opportunity to care for something again.
Maybe it’s the satisfaction of straightening the laundry room shelves, or sweeping the leaves that blow into the garage and scatter across the concrete floor. Being blessed with extra time, maybe it’s taking a few extra moments each week to iron the hems of the sheets and pillow cases. Or maybe you’re more a creative type; it’s sometimes the opportunity to style or re-style a bookcase or table top. Maybe it’s the art of actually setting the dinner table again with placemats, cloth napkins, the good drinking glasses and silverware.
One of the simple life routines that brings the most joy at this stage of our lives, has been making home. The world is busy and it is loud. Everywhere we look we’re told we don’t measure up, we aren’t accomplishing enough, we aren’t doing enough, our homes are outdated, and our routines need a makeover. But there is a quiet solitude in embracing simple life routines. It’s often in those quiet moments of the mundane when our minds find peace, our bodies soften and relax, and we find ourselves catching our breath.
Feeding body and soul…
The second life routine that brings joy is simple food prepping during the week. When you’re an empty nester, you often find yourself with more disposable income, and more free time. John and I quickly discovered our love of dining out – and then we also quickly discovered the effects that had on our bodies! You’ve heard about the freshman 15…well, we experienced that as empty nester freshmen, too. So we dialed that back a bit and started preparing a few quick-grab items to enjoy throughout the week.
If you aren’t already implementing a simple meal prep routine of sorts, I want to encourage you to try it for a couple of weeks. Not because you have to measure up or because it’s something that works for us. I just find that it helps decrease decision fatigue and deflects the need to go grab something from takeout. Meal prep doesn’t have to be time consuming and the recipes don’t have to be fancy. Your goal is to pre-prepare a few items you can grab for a quick breakfast, lunch, or dinner.
For the sake of example, here is what our weekly meal prep routines looks like:
- Boiled eggs: Each week I hard boil 6-8 eggs. We enjoy them for breakfast, chop them for salads, turn them into deviled eggs, or egg salad. It’s a 10 minute task we incorporate each week that saves us a ton of time and effort later on.
- Sourdough bread: Each week I prepare at least one loaf of fresh sourdough bread. It makes the house smell amazing on baking day, we can use it for sandwiches, dipping in olive oil, or making sourdough French toast when it begins to dry out.
- Tuna or Chicken salad: We alternate this simple addition, but find that it’s a great lunch time treat on sourdough toast, with seed crackers, or on a bed of simple greens. Some weeks it’s old-fashioned tuna fish, other weeks it’s savory chicken salad, and still other weeks it’s a sweeter chicken salad with grapes and pecans.
- Grilled chicken: Some weeks I prep one or two grilled chicken breasts in our George Forman grill. This allows us to chop it for the above-mentioned chicken salad, or chop it for grilled chicken salads, or even bbq chicken pizzas. It’s an easy addition that only takes minutes, but we find it to be very helpful throughout the week.
- Soup or Chili: This isn’t something I do every week (especially during the summer) but preparing a large pot of soup or chili early in the week gives us an easy week night meal – and if it’s chili, can be recreated into other meals like chili nachos, loaded baked potatoes, or chili cheese fries.
Tending to life…
The third life routine that brings joy – and also happens to be my very favorite – is tending to life. While we don’t currently own pets to care for, we do have two balcony gardens. Our front patio gets morning sunlight and is directly off my kitchen window. I can water the plants or clip herbs for dinner simply by raising my kitchen window. I love the fragrance of the basil and oregano as the sunlight warms the leaves, and having a ‘garden’ to tend is a simple life routine that gives me something to care for, and also feeds our bodies with its bounty.
The back patio is tin-roof covered and gets very little sunlight at all. So we have created a shade garden there. It is filled with hellebores, hostas, heucheras, English ivy, and impatiens. It’s where we enjoy a coffee or a sparkling water, and the sound of the rain on the tin roof is magnificent! We tend the garden, and the garden tends our souls.
Having a garden, or even a couple of house plants to tend to, gives you the satisfaction and enjoyment of having something to care for. And that is a beautiful thing.
Quiet routines…
My last routine may surprise you. It isn’t that this routine is my favorite – in fact, it’s one of my least favorite chores to do. But when I intentionally shifted my mindset and recreated the routine itself, it became a familiar escape at the end of the day that I actually look forward to with a smile.
This simple life routine is the routine of dinner clean up. I know it may sound ridiculous, but hear me out. When my sink and work tops are covered with cooking and food prep paraphernalia, dinner dishes, cups and spatulas, it is an overwhelming thing. But simply doing three things changed my mindset around this unsavory task.
Here’s what I recommend:
- A cup of tea: Starting the kettle, making a cup of chamomile tea, and stirring it gently as the team rises from the cup puts me in a better frame of mind right from the start. I have a favorite mug, I fill it with the warm liquid, and I set it near my kitchen sink to sip on while I wash the dishes in all that glorious sudsy goodness.
- A good playlist: Having a good playlist to listen to – either soothing, calming piano instrumentals, or a more upbeat lofi jazz – can turn this nighttime task into something relaxing and enjoyable.
- A great smelling candle: We all have our favorite fragrances, so pick the one you enjoy the most. Light the wick, watch the flame dance, and dive into the task set before you with a happy and grateful heart.
- Bonus – A great dish soap: A good dish soap should cut grease, clean easily, and smell amazing. I have three that are my favorites: Original Blue Dawn, Mrs. Meyers Rose, and Mrs. Meyers Peony. They are a delicious way to end the evening and make the most of this simply routine.
There is something gratifying about a simple life routine that also brings purpose and reason to the day. It may sound like a romantic notion, but it truly comes down to a simple mind shift. Even if you don’t change a thing about your week, or your daily routines, try giving this intentional thought shift a try. Let me know if you see a difference in how you interpret your life.
xo, Billie
discover more:
- Seven Easy Ways to Transform Your Evening Routine: https://forwardourmail.com/dinner-dishes-evening-routine/
- Tiny Habits that Increase Your Quality of Life: https://forwardourmail.com/increase-your-quality-of-life/
Homemaking Essentials (our favorites)
These are a few of our favorite things: Peony and Rose scented cleaners, Thieves essential oil cleaner from Young Living, and E-cloth! These microfibre cloths only need water to do an amazing job. So if you’re a family trying to steer clear of chemicals, or simply have fragrance allergies, these are worth a try.
If you’re interested in starting sourdough, the Artisan Sourdough book is a great introduction with some fantastic easy-to-follow recipes.
And if you want to savor a quality cup of coffee, then Onyx is the one to try.
