Blog Post 9 – Homesteading Hacks: Free Up Time with Automation, Delegation & Batching
Homesteading is often romanticized as a simple, peaceful way of life—but let’s be real, it’s also a lot of work. Between feeding animals, growing food, preserving the harvest, cooking from scratch, and keeping up with household tasks, it can feel like there’s never enough time in the day.
But what if I told you that you don’t have to do everything the hard way? That there’s a way to make your homesteading life easier without sacrificing the heart of why you’re doing it?
Enter Automate, Delegate, and Batch—three powerful strategies that will reclaim your time, reduce stress, and help you enjoy your homestead more. I first heard about this concept from business mentor Denise Duffield-Thomas, but when I applied it to my homestead, it was a total game-changer.
Let’s break each of these down and see how they can transform your homesteading mindset.
1. Automate: Take Tasks Off Your Plate
Automation is about setting up systems to make things run smoothly without constant effort. In business, this might mean using email sequences or funnels, but on the homestead, it means finding ways to remove unnecessary manual labor from your daily life.
Here are some practical ways to automate your homestead:
- Timed Watering Systems – Instead of manually watering your garden every morning, set up a drip irrigation system on a timer. It saves water, ensures consistency, and takes one more thing off your to-do list.
- Automatic Chicken Coop Doors – This little gadget will let your chickens out in the morning and lock them up at night without you having to do a thing. No more running outside at dusk when you’re already in your pajamas.
- Roll-Out Nesting Boxes – These allow eggs to roll into a separate compartment as soon as they’re laid, keeping them cleaner and preventing breakage. You don’t have to check the coop as often, and your eggs stay safe.
- Two-Week Rotating Meal Plan – Meal planning can be overwhelming, but if you create a two-week plan and simply rotate it, you eliminate daily decision fatigue while keeping variety in your meals.
- Subscription-Based Deliveries – Whether it’s bulk animal feed, household supplies, or groceries, setting up scheduled deliveries for essentials means fewer last-minute store runs and more time for what really matters.
Mindset Shift: How Automation Helps You Thrive
When you automate tasks, you free up mental energy for more important things—like enjoying your morning coffee, spending quality time with your kids, or dreaming up your next homesteading project.
Many homesteaders struggle with the idea of using automation because they think they should do everything by hand. But here’s the truth: homesteading is about self-sufficiency, not self-sacrifice. Work smarter, not harder!
2. Delegate: Let Others Share the Load
Raise your hand if you feel like you have to do everything yourself. (Yeah, me too.) As homesteaders, we wear a lot of hats—gardener, chef, vet, carpenter, cleaner, and more. But trying to do it all alone leads straight to burnout.
The solution? Delegate.
Ways to Delegate on the Homestead:
- Get the Kids Involved – Give children age-appropriate tasks that teach responsibility. Younger kids can gather eggs or water plants, while older kids can help with feeding animals or stacking firewood.
- Trade Skills with Other Homesteaders – Maybe your neighbor is great at fixing fences, and you make amazing sourdough bread. Swap skills instead of trying to learn everything yourself.
- Hire Help When Needed – If you’re drowning in farm chores, consider hiring a local teenager to help out for a few hours a week. It’s okay to ask for help!
- Use Community Resources – Farmers’ markets, co-ops, and local CSAs exist for a reason. If making all your own cheese or growing every single vegetable isn’t feasible, buy from other homesteaders and lighten your load.
Mindset Shift: Overcoming the Guilt of Delegation
Many of us feel guilty about handing off tasks. We think I should be able to do it all! But guess what? Delegation isn’t laziness—it’s leadership.
By letting others contribute, you’re not only making your life easier, but you’re also empowering those around you. Your kids learn valuable life skills, your community thrives, and you get to enjoy homesteading instead of feeling like it’s an endless chore list.
3. Batch: Work Smarter, Not Harder
Batching is the practice of grouping similar tasks together to increase efficiency. Instead of bouncing between different activities all day, you focus on one thing at a time and knock it out in bulk.
Ways to Batch on the Homestead:
- Preserving Food in Large Batches – Instead of canning tomatoes every few days, set aside a whole weekend and preserve a season’s worth at once.
- Meal Prep & Freezer Cooking – Double or triple your favorite recipes and freeze portions for busy days.
- Buying Feed & Supplies in Bulk – Instead of making weekly trips to the feed store, plan ahead and stock up for a month or more.
- Errand Days – Dedicate one day a week to running all your errands so you don’t waste time making multiple trips.
- Content Creation – If you’re documenting your homestead journey on social media, batch-create content in one sitting rather than scrambling for daily posts.
Bonus Tip: Use Your Natural Cycles to Optimize Batching
Your energy levels fluctuate throughout the month. If you align your batching with your natural cycles—whether it’s menstrual cycles, moon cycles, or seasonal shifts—you can take advantage of high-energy times for productive work and allow yourself to rest when needed.
(Check out my blog post “What’s the Moon Got to Do With It?” on KelleyOrbe.com for more on this!)
Mindset Shift: The Power of Focused Work
Batching helps prevent decision fatigue and burnout. When you focus deeply on one thing at a time, you get more done in less time—and with less stress. Plus, knowing you’ve already handled certain tasks gives you mental space to enjoy the present moment.
Final Thoughts: Homestead Like a CEO
When you apply Automate, Delegate, and Batch to your homestead, you shift from constantly hustling to running your life like a well-oiled machine.
- Automation frees up your mental energy.
- Delegation teaches responsibility and builds community.
- Batching maximizes efficiency so you can work and rest with intention.
If you’ve been feeling overwhelmed, start by implementing just one of these strategies this week. Small changes add up, and before you know it, you’ll be running your homestead smarter, not harder.
Let me know in the comments—which of these three strategies do you struggle with most? How do you plan to implement them on your homestead?
And if you want to dive deeper, check out my blog post all about batching at KelleyOrbe.com!
Let’s grow something extraordinary!
With Love,
Kelley
For practical and easy to use
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