On Mission with a home mission statement

It’s easy to full pulled in a thousand directions, whether you stay at home, work at home, work full time, or whatever. Bottom-line, we have a lot of hats we wear, a lot of roles we fill. How do I know what to prioritize, what to tackle and what to set aside? For me, having a home mission statement helps tremendously. It helps to remember not only what I want to be doing but WHY I want to be doing it.

Brainstorm your Priorities

Think through what you want to be doing in your home, but also add to the list the “why.” For each priority, ask yourself: why is this a priority for me. We all want a clean home, right? But why do I want it? If I figure out the why, I also know what “clean” really means. Because my definition of clean and my kids definition of clean are not the same. What is clean and what can we settle on? Why do we want it?

When my home is clean, it changes our mood. We all feel a lot of stress leave. When the clutter is gone, there is a sense of freedom and peace. We are energized, and our home becomes a place we want to be. That’s a mission statement. Now, I have a daily reminder of why I want to work on this mess. Otherwise, honestly, taming the chaos seems like an exercise in futility—unless I know why I’m doing it.

Craft your Home Mission Statement

From your brainstorm, right out a sentence or two or three that captures the priority and the why. Again, this does not need to take long or be overly complicated. It can change over time. Then, have fun making it pretty. Put it on a chalkboard in your kitchen. Hang it on your fridge. Print it off and frame it. You want to put it in a place where you will regularly see it and be reminded, which is why I think it’s important that we take the time to make it beautiful. The way you display your home mission statement should be a reflection of those priorities as well; it should be something that inspires you on the hard days, not another  reminder of what you are not getting done.

If this doesn’t inspire you and help you, skip it. That’s right, forget I ever said anything. The purpose of this is to help inspire us to the tasks that are hard, to remind us of why we put all the effort into our homes in the first place.

My home mission statement hangs on the side of my fridge. It’s been there for years, and it’s not something I read or go over everyday. I don’t have it memorized necessarily, but more than once, as I’ve opened the fridge for yet another meal, it reminds me of my calling, MY purpose, what it is that I want my life and my home to be about. And suddenly, it breathes fresh air into a stagnant day. I’m not just keeping house; I’m making a home.