If you’re a suburban homesteader and you work a “normal” job for money to pay the bills then you are likely to run into homestead overwhelm especially when the garden is coming in and harvest and canning season is on. This post is about how to deal with all the homesteading overwhelm when you feel like you just can’t manage it all.
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What Is Homestead Overwhelm?
Homesteading overwhelm is the wall you hit when you feel like there is just too much to do on the homestead. You might also call it burn-out.
Homestead overwhelm starts usually when things are failing or going wrong and you feel that you just can’t do it anymore. Perhaps you tried to do too much all at once, too many animals, too big of a garden or maybe you failed at something new like beekeeping or raising chickens or maybe it’s just because your work-life-homestead balance is out of sync and your job takes precedence because, you know, it pays the mortgage.
Stress, depression, and giving up on your homestead can happen when you don’t dig in deep and pull through.
You can dig deep and pull through.
Pulling Through Homestead Overwhelm
Many homesteaders experience it if they are homesteading on 100 acres or on less than 1 acre. The important thing to remember is that it is normal to go through homestead overwhelm. In time, the overwhelm passes and here are some things to can do to help manage homestead overwhelm, especially when you feel like you can’t do it all.
Accept Your Limits
It’s ok to be where you are right now and it’s not always easy to admit to yourself, let alone another person that you are at your limit. Know this: that no one can do it all and sometimes, some things will need to be put aside to tackle another day. And, it’s ok to reach out for help.
I’m naturally a busy person, I have a full-time job, a garden, dogs, husband, I run a small business and I crochet and read. Often, I have to make a choice like am I going to write a blog post this week, or am I going to clean the house? Sometimes when trying to make my decisions, I talk through with my husband. We’re remodeling our home so we try to align on the goals we want to achieve together.
I will be honest and tell you that my garden has weeds and my house is currently a nightmare because of the remodel so I make choices that will move the family and homestead forward. If I choose to do nothing then everything will stay the same.
Choose to pursue the things that really matter to you.
Practice Gratitude
Enjoy and do the things that are important to you right now, without wishing for something different and take a moment to look back and celebrate how far you have come.
I began writing a gratitude journal. Every day, I write at least 3 things I’m grateful for. When I first started, it was difficult to think about. I wrote that I was grateful for another chance to snuggle with my dog, my husband making a pot of hot coffee in the morning or me coming home from work late and dinner was already made. These things may be trivial to someone else but on the day I wrote those things down, they were incredibly important and still are.
When things feel like they are going sideways, I read my gratitude journal and I write 3 things that I’m grateful for so far that day.
Choose Your Priorities
There are lots of skills to learn on your homestead and you need to pick one that is most important for you and your family. It takes time to be proficient in a skill and trying to do too many can leave you feeling stressed and overwhelmed.
There are no right or wrong priorities because choosing what is a priority for you and your family will be different from what is a priority for me and for my family and that will be different from another homesteader.
It’s not about comparing, it’s about achieving what is most important to you and your family and the life you want to live.
Your priority might be growing a garden, or raising chickens or quail. You might be canning or dehydrating food instead or perhaps brewing beer. Use these personal priorities to help drive you to your goals.
For example, our family’s goal is to grow and eat from the garden as much as we can and preserve as much as possible to reduce the grocery bill. That means that planning and growing the garden and canning season are really important and those tasks come before me writing a blog post or running the vacuum around the house. Your goal might be to have a neat and tidy home filled with handmade furnishings and showing heritage chickens so you spend more time cleaning, sewing, and raising chickens.
Your decisions to achieve your goals might mean that you miss out on some things but can open doors to others. For example, if you miss out on dinner with friends because you were elbow-deep in canning tomatoes, then why not invite your friends over to a preserving party? Everybody bring a dish for a potluck, make up a big batch of lemonade (or sangria, or cocktails or beer) and everybody helps preserve. You get to share a skill with friends and spend time with them and you get the preserving done! You can split the preserved foods with your friends or give them a basket of fresh veggies from the garden, whatever you decide!
Have a Plan
You really need to collect your thoughts and take the time to plan out what you need to do. It helps to make sure things aren’t missed and it can really help you feel that sense of achievement when you cross things off the list.
There is such a great sense of satisfaction and joy in achieving something on the homestead. Take a moment to step back and see what you achieved. Building that greenhouse or chicken coop wasn’t easy and you did it!
A good plan can help you achieve your goals. A farmer doesn’t spontaneously plant crops, they plan it out.
Some days will be harder than others but know that every day you take a step forward and do something on that list or plan, it will move you even closer to that goal you want to achieve.
Take 5 to 10 minutes the night before to plan out what you need to do the next day. Here’s an example:
- weed garden bed around tomato plants
- sow broccoli and winter cabbage seeds
- build quail coop
- batch cook dinners
- do laundry
If you are already feeling homestead overwhelm, pick only 3 things from the list to do. You will be more productive since it is only 3 things and this will help you move forward with your homestead and help move you out of the overwhelm.
Take a Break
If you are feeling overwhelmed because you are tired from pushing yourself too hard, take a break and get some rest. You need to take care of yourself so you can take care of the other things. My Dad frequently tells me that “you only get one body and mind and you need to take care of them”.
Take some time mentally relax by soaking in the tub, meditate, or practice yoga. Even if you have never done it before, there are plenty of tutorials for meditating and yoga on YouTube for free.
It’s also a good idea to get away from your homestead. Even if it a day out with the family, visit a movie or go camping or fishing. It’s ok to take a day or two to rest then go at it again feeling well-rested.
Downsize
If you really have way more to do than you can manage then consider downsizing your homestead. It’s ok to have a smaller garden, fewer animals and getting rid of stuff and it’s ok if you decide that the homestead lifestyle isn’t for you. Appreciate those things which you have and have achieved.
Having a smaller homestead and fewer projects mean you have fewer things to do and be overwhelmed by which means less stress and more appreciation and love of those things that are important to you.
Seek Help
You might also want to consider seeking help for your homestead for managing some of the tasks. Common times to enlist help are for
- harvesting
- canning/preserving
- installing and repairing fences
- barn raising
- planting
- baling hay
- shearing
Your mental and physical health are deeply important. If your feelings of overwhelm are something more, don’t be scared to reach out for help. Ask a friend, or a family member, and seek professional help if needed.
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