Thomasina's Weekly To-Do Lists and Practical Tips ~ Free Printable

“Each time you set and reach a goal, you'll discover a sense of contentment that breeds a stronger sense of direction and joy.” 

~ Emilie Barnes

{Welcome to another edition of "Fun Friday" this spring with Beatrix Potter!} I am sure by now that many of you are wondering (with bated breath!), how does Thomasina Tittlemouse get it all done? Her pantry and storerooms are stocked, her house is neat and tidy and she even has time to practice hospitality (excepting those insect guests of course!). "Shuh, shuh!" she would say! "She doesn't get it "all" done!" She realizes that "life" is a work in progress. She simply prioritizes with daily lists.  

"But the untidiness was something dreadful—"Never did I see such a mess—smears of honey; and moss, and thistledown—and marks of big and little dirty feet—all over my nice clean house!..."

Next morning she got up very early and began a spring cleaning which lasted a fortnight. She swept, and scrubbed, and dusted; and she rubbed up the furniture with beeswax, and polished her little tin spoons. When it was all beautifully neat and clean, she gave a party to five other little mice..."

~ Beatrix Potter, The Tale of Mrs. Tittlemouse

One thing that Mrs. Tittlemouse taught me was that when life gets out of hand, don't overwhelm yourself by basking in that "oh, dear!!--it's all spiraled out of control!!!" mode. Be pro-active and begin a to-do list! Break everything that needs to be done down to mini-tasks and get to it when time allows (even 20 minutes dedicated to it a day will help to keep the messes at bay!)!

“When you don’t know what to do next,

just do the thing in front of you.”

~ Elisabeth Elliot

Something that really helps to boost the morale is to write down an item that may take days to finish out a few times on your list. For instance, in the heat of summer, it can take me up to three days to mow our huge lawn (if I devote a few hours each afternoon). Knowing this is a big task, I will write down "mow lawn" on my to-do list three times. This way, after I have toiled for the day, I have something to cross off! If I waited for the third day of completion to cross something off the list, it would be quite disheartening. Allow yourself the honest time allotment for the larger tasks and go ahead and write them that many times. Mark "one" off each day you spend time on it. The satisfaction of a crossed-off task is quite sweet and will motivate you further! 

And finally, if you find your list continues to be out of control, consider your schedule as well. As Elisabeth Elliot said, "If we really have too much to do, there are some items on the agenda which God did not put there. Let us submit the list to him and ask him to indicate which items we must delete. There is always time to do the will of God. If we are too busy to do that, we are too busy."

You will find Thomasina's free printable weekly to-do lists HERE (for frugality sake, you can print these out in black and white ink in draft mode). These would go nicely in your home management binder. Or, perhaps you would like to place them in Mrs. Tittlemouse's "Manual of Household Hints and Delights" until you are ready to use them? This is simply a safe place you can store all of her homemaking printables to have them handy. You will find the free download here if you are interested. The cover page is designed to slide into the front of the binder as a title page insert. The tabs are best printed on card stock, affixed with glue to card stock and staggered as you attach them. It is just a bit of extra fun!

We hope you have enjoyed this printable by Mrs. Thomasina Tittlemouse from her "Cottage Rose" Collection. If so, you may also be interested in her matching recipe cards, free printable pantry labels, DIY bug spray, her "un-paper" towel tutorial and the make-your-own "old fashioned" furniture polish. Happy Friday to you dear friends!

This post may be shared with some or all of the following link-ups: The Art of Home-Making Mondays, Modest Mom Monday's, Monday's Musings, Make Your Home Sing Monday, Good Morning Mondays,  The Scoop, Titus 2sdays, Titus 2 Tuesdays, Tuesdays with a Twist, Raising Homemakers, Wise Woman Link Up, Homestead Blog Hop,  Wow Us Wednesdays,  Coffee and Conversation, Homemaking Thursdays, Home Sweet Home, Our Simple Homestead, From the Farm Blog Hop, Front Porch Friday Blog Hop, Awesome Life Friday Link Up, Shabbilicious Friday,  Five Star Frou Frou Friday, Simply Natural Saturdays and Clever Chicks Blog Hop. Thank you lovely ladies for hosting these.