Episode 141: A Weekly System that Keeps you Sane with Kelly Sakmar
What You’ll Learn
The fact that Mayhem begins with May just seems too apropos...
The end of school is mayhem...our schedules are mayhem...our minds are mayhem...our homes are mayhem...
Today we're talking with a certified productivity and organization expert, the owner of ClutterLESS, wife, and mom of 4.
The end of May feels like the end of the marathon…your legs are wobbly, medical attention may be needed…
How can we set up our homes to serve us in this transition from the end of school into the summer…and what are some of the ways Kelly sets up HER home so it runs in the background and she’s not tripping over her home in addition to the other chaos happening?
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How Alliteration Can Assist YOU (03:20)
As moms of many, we need systems for things we’re using on a daily basis…especially things to serve our families.
Someone asked once, what’s the most difficult part of your job—and as a stay-at-home mom—it’s that your family wants to eat THREE meals a day and be clothed.
Laundry, meal planning, and chores are an ALL day EVERY day task, and there ARE many ways to approach that, but Kelly likes using alliteration.
Maintenance Monday (04:32)
On her social channels, Kelly has spoken about Maintenance Monday…starting with a clean slate.
Laundry is started
DIshwasher is emptied
Groceries are ordered
Meals are planned for the week
Monday is a great day for this for Kelly because she’s energized on Mondays! She keeps a Sunday Sabbath (like Kelsey Pasquarell suggested), which means she is focusing on the tasks of the day and NOT working. This is a great way to start the week fresh.
Straighten-up Saturday (06:43)
Straighten-up Saturday is another day Kelly uses to protect her Sabbath. Anything that hasn’t been taken care of yet is handled by the family as a WHOLE—it’s a weekly “Rain Date” (as Laura Vanderkam spoke about)—where tasks can be parked and taken care of in a timely manner.
Mindset-wise, it’s easy to look at the chaos in and out of your home and feel overwhelmed, but if you have a routine in your mind (which includes a Straighten-up Saturday), you can give yourself a little grace and KNOW that the extra clutter WILL be handled.
For laundry, here’s a dirty secret Kelly shared with us—she doesn’t always fold right away—most times she doesn’t! Each child has a basket and if there are items that need to be kept wrinkle-free (uniform shirts for her kids, or work shirts for her husband) she’ll hang as soon as they come out of the dryer. Everything else goes in the basket for the KIDS to put away on Saturday. (Psst…This is a GREAT first step to children doing their own laundry independently.)
During the school year, Kelly will take on more of the laundry washing chore (by adding a Wash Wednesday into her week), but in the summers, kids take more responsibility.
Straighten-up Saturday helps Kelly’s family FEEL like the laundry is “Done” (which is a myth-we KNOW this).
Meal Prep & Planning (11:30)
Monday is when Kelly does ONE of her grocery orders for the week. As her family has grown, she’s expanded to two.
Monday is when Kelly orders meals for the weekdays, and Friday is when she gets food for the weekend! (For her, weekend meals are a different category and it helps her keep them straight to do it this way.). Usually on the weekend, the family is running around more, enjoying date nights, visiting friends, and it’s really a different type of meal that’s required.
Kelly meal preps each morning. She does a lot of freezer cooking too (she does this by making two or three portions of each meal while she cooks). This allows her to freeze the two extra portions and pull them out when the mayhem REALLY sets in!
This is interesting, because when we chatted with Sterling Jaquith, she mentioned a similar system—that keeps her family fed—which allows her to put time into her work (and less into the act of cooking). In her home, she keeps rice available, and makes a protein and appropriate vegetable.
It’s important to mention that thinking ahead, preparing multiple portions and saving them for other days will save time AND money (because you can purchase meat in builk and shop the sales).
Final Questions (17:00)
The book Kelly has shared with the most people is, “Overwhelmed” by Cheri Gregory & Kathi Lipp. They’re great christian authors, and one of their concepts is “pre-deciding” which is when you make a decision about what your priorities are and you let the rest go.
The book that Kelly just finished is, “Teaching From Rest” by Sarah Mackenzie, and she LOED it (just like we do!)
The go-to dinner in a pinch in Kelly’s house is meatballs (which requires a bit of forethought). Another meal that requires even LESS planning ahead is shrimp risotto (recipe incoming).
In the evening, Kelly makes sure the kitchen is clean (dishes done & floors vacuumed or swept). Each morning, Kelly does her morning offering, the Saint Michael prayer, and the FULL serenity prayer before she even gets out of bed.
One home system Kelly couldn’t do without is straighten-up Saturday. It’s a family project that helps Kelly remember she’s NOT the only one working on her home…handing out laundry baskets and allowing her family to help with the home helps her to feel appreciated and it sets everyone up for Sabbath Sunday.
More About Kelly (24:35)
You can find Kelly on Instagram @clutterlesskelly and on Facebook at ClutterLess Kelly.
She JUST re-vamped her website clutter-LESS.com, and you can head there to learn about her membership, her online course, and working with her online or in-person (depending on where you’re located).
Finally, get her Weekly System Guide!
Remember sweet mommas,
You are doing beautiful work!
