The Automating Process On Our Homestead

Now that I have been reading the Four Hour Work Week and how many people, are automating their businesses, their homes, and basically their lives, I am trying to see how that could work in my homestead lifestyle.

1. The first thing I am working on is automating my email so I do not receive junk or spam email. I read it when I first get on my computer in the morning to see if I have any orders that need to be packaged up. After that is taken care of I delete anything that is junk or spam. I need to set my spam filters in place so they never come into my inbox to begin with.

2. Organizing all our bills so they will be paid online from our bank account with Bill Pay on a certain date.

3. Paying any bills I have that can be paid by an annual payment. Unfortunately insurance seems to have to be paid every six months.

4. Replacing our old telephone with a telephone that has an answering machine and caller id on it. And the thing about this is that this telephone which is manufactured by AT &T does not need electric to operate it.....it comes from the telephone line. So I am buying two of them. I have found that when I had the Internet Caller ID I could take calls that I wanted or needed and not the ones from telemarketers or ones that were not important if I was in the middle of something.

5. Buying some of our supplies online is a big time saver for me. My legs are not really good and especially in the winter as the cold seems to make them hurt more. Plus driving on bad roads is not my favorite thing to do. By ordering supplies on Amazon, eBay and other sites, I am able to order our supplies and even sign up for re-orders after I figure out how often we need to buy more. Automate as much as possible.

6. Make back up copies of our websites and my blogs, everything I write and don't want to lose, my eBooks, correspondance from people I want to keep and all my photos.  I will put them on a flash drive and update it regular. Nothing wastes time more than trying to save your computer files IF you can.

7. In my last post I wrote about stocking up our supplies. Well that is a big thing that saves time, as well as money. If you are so well stocked that you don't have to worry about what you are eating tonight. Just go in my well organized pantry and make your choice. Of course, gardening and preserving the harvest by canning is a BIG part of that time saver. I have to devote the time to garden, to harvest and to do the canning, which luckily are jobs that I really enjoy and look forward to.

8. Of course, then you must really make gardening easier so it is not a chore you don't look forward to. I have some trouble with my legs, so my husband built me a number of raised beds. They are so easy to plant, it is not funny! We use a wheel hoe which is a manual type plow with a big wheel. He replaced the wheel that came with it with a bicyle wheel and it is so much easier to use now. I can just put it in the bed and push it.

9. Our raised beds are filled with rich, dark compost that comes from our own horses. We have three piles.....one for this year's manure which we keep adding to. One for last year's manure that is just resting....not being added to, and not being used. The last one is the one that we use for our garden or anything else we may need compost for. It has been sitting for three years. I use the Neuton electric garden cart for moving compost or any jobs I need to do around my homestead. Keep my tools and water bottle in it and can easily do my outside chores.

10. Only plant vegetables that your family really likes to eat. Don't waste that precious space or time on foods that nobody will want to eat. If you want to try something new, buy it from the store first. Then if you really like it you can plant it.


I will be writing more on this subject as I work on it. Telling what I did or didn't do. There are many ways to automate your life and I am not just talking about your business life but your whole life. Time is precious and before you know it your life is over. How many hours have you wasted on little mundane trivial jobs that could have been done quicker and with a lot less effort? Too many! Course I will always write my blogs myself since writing is one of those things I do to relax and enjoy life.

Copyright © 2010  Kathleen G. Lupole
All Photographs Copyright © 2010 Kathleen G. Lupole
Updated 2015