When you were a teenager living at home, you may have had times when your mother or father would ask, “do you have any homework?”  The answer might vary as to the type of student that you were or possibly whether or not you actually had any homework to do.

“Home work” is typically assigned during the school day by various teachers for the student to do in “off hours” from school.  Many students take their home work seriously, while others may be able to sort of “slide by.”  Sometimes the work is easy for a student and he or she might be able to do the work in other class periods before the time which it is due.

In those cases the student is not at all doing the work at home. The nature of the assignment and the way that it gets completed is not what’s important.   However, the system may be set up in such a way that not doing your “home work” might result in poor grades.

Those grades then may carry forward to high school, preventing entrance into college or into a particular college of choice.  In college, those grades may influence the decision-making process of future employers on whether or not to consider you for employment.

Those grades sometimes hinge on the work that you do outside of school, which may translate to the effort that you put into your school.

As time goes by and you finish being a “student” in the scholastic sense and enter possibly the work world or the world of raising a family, you may continue to have “home work.”  The work may take the form of completing yearly income tax forms, mowing the lawn, cleaning the home, paying the bills, cooking meals, etc.

Sometimes an employer may “assign” work to be performed at home, or you may have so much work to do that you take it with you to finish at night.  The “home work” may never seem to stop, even though when you were younger you may have longed for the day when you were out of school to rid your self of that work.

The point here is that the work that you have is only limited by the amount of work that you are willing to do.  When the work that you are to do on your “own time” begins to pile up, you need to prioritize that work, possibly letting some of it go.

A couple of days ago, we talked about simplifying your life.  The concept of “home work” is also closely related to how simple your life may be.  For example, if you would always like to have a so-called “clean house” you may be giving up other things to do that.  If that is a priority to you in your life, then by all means keep your house clean.

However, if you spend an hour or two each evening after work cleaning your house, something else may need to give – possibly, spending time with your mate or your children.  Maybe there won’t be time to help your child with their homework, or time to talk to your mate to share the happenings of the day.

We suggest that you make conscious decisions on which “home work” is important to you – not to your neighbors, friends or society, but what is important you.  Decide, if shiny clean cars to drive are a high priority, or if an occasional wash when it absolutely needs it will suffice.  Do you need to be continually washing those windows on your home, or can that happen once or twice a year?

Life is not about a clean house, or a clean car.  There is plenty of “home work” that can always be done.  The question is, how do you manage all of that work in a way that allows for happiness and joy, without causing additional stress?

When you arise in the morning, you might want to make a tentative decision, (for things may change), as to your “home work” for the evening.  Maybe it’s to go through the stack of mail, or something simple like taking out the kitchen trash.  When you keep up with small things that have a large impact you may feel better about getting some of the work done without lots of effort.

Taking small, impactful tasks and completing them each day sometimes leads to the completion of much larger tasks without much effort.  Similar to finding your way to the beacons you have placed, taking one step each day in that general direction.

Figure out what is important to you and the people or family that you live with, and decide how to keep things in “good enough” order that you all may live a joyous, stress free life when you enter your home.

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Work that is performed at home can consume your life preventing you from having rest.  Make conscious decisions on the work that you will perform so that you may keep your home life in balance with your “home work.”

Written Mon Jan 27, 2014 7:20 – 7:40 AM MT