5 Things Smart Homesteaders Do

We all want to run successful homesteads, right? Here are five things that I think smart homesteaders should do in order to run their homestead in the most effective way.

Smart homesteaders manage their time

Every season on the homestead is busy—they’re just busy in different ways. 

It doesn’t take long to realize that there is always more than enough to do on a homestead. And if you’re not careful, it’s easy to get overwhelmed. That’s why knowing how much time you have available, and learning tricks for how to manage that time is essential to running an efficient homestead.

We all want to do all the things, right? Whether that’s building a fence for goats, learning to butcher pigs, increasing the size of our garden, or learning how to be part of a farmer’s market, it all takes time. Make sure yours is managed as well as possible, and you’ll have less stress than your homesteading friends living in mismanaged chaos.

Read more/listen here: Time Management for Smart Homesteaders

Smart homesteaders pay attention—and then prepare accordingly

In today’s world of overwhelming constant information, we’re lead to believe that everything affects us.

Which simply isn’t true.

Yes, pay attention to what’s going on around you, but also realize that not everything you hear or see should affect you or the simple homesteading life you’re trying to live.

Once you’ve figured out what to pay attention to, you can prepare for whatever is actually headed your way.

And—spoiler alert—prepping doesn’t always mean storing massive amounts of water, ammo, and MREs, as some would have you believe. Prepping simply means thinking ahead to the next thing and making sure you’re on track to tackle it. It could be something as benign as planning out when you need to start that quilt you want to make for your niece’s graduation gift.

Read more/listen here: Smart Homesteaders Pay Attention (and Prepare Accordingly)

Smart homesteaders fix the problem

While there are a lot of really amazing things about homesteading, life as a homesteader certainly comes with its share of problems, too. A smart homesteader recognizes what those problems are and then does what they can to solve them—as soon as possible.

Have you ever met a homesteader that is always complaining about some issue they need to fix—but they never get around to fixing it? To be clear, I’m not against complaining—I honestly believe that blowing off steam is part of getting to the root of the issue! But we need to do more than just complain about something. Moving past that, towards fixing the issue at hand—whether that’s a particularly mean rooster, or a shed that’s falling over—is how we move forward as homesteaders!

Read more/listen here: Smart Homesteaders Fix the Problem

Smart homesteaders support each other

Many homesteaders aim for some level of self-sufficiency and/or self reliance on their journey. Unfortunately, this can cause some homesteaders to assume they don’t need any other homesteaders. They learn what they need to know, and then imagine a world of hermit-like solitude where they don’t have to deal with people and won’t be bothered by anyone.

Friends, that’s not how it works.

In modern homesteading, it is essential to remain in community with others who are living the same lifestyle. Not only does the homesteading community provide us with people to teach us what we don’t already know, it’s also gives us people who help us realize we’re not as weird as the mainstream thinks we are. Your aunt thinks you’re strange for wanting to have chickens? Your co-worker asks why you’re growing tomatoes when you could just get them at the store? Your homesteading community won’t let you down. We’ve got your back, and we completely support your chicken math and “ridiculously” huge garden.

Read more/listen here: The One Thing that Hurts the Homesteading Community Most

Smart homesteaders keep learning

Don’t fall victim to the assumption that you know everything there is to know about homesteading. Or that once you’ve figured something out, it’s always going to work for you. Homesteading encompasses so many different things and there are so many ways to go about doing it.

I feel like every time I meet a new homesteader, I learn something new about how I could be doing something on my homestead. And sometimes it’s mind blowing to me because it’s a situation of I didn’t even know what I didn’t know.

While it’s easy to get comfortable with the current amount of information we’re operating with, it really just means we’re stuck. Help your homesteading adventure to move forward by continuing to push the boundaries of what you know!

Read more/listen here: Smart Homesteaders Keep Learning

Homesteading is such an amazing journey to be on. By keeping these five things in mind, you’ll travel that road in the smartest and most efficient way possible.

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