Do you Order your Days?
By the Alveary Team
Do you order your days, or do your days order you?
In her insightful way, Charlotte Mason linked the habits of order and diligence with integrity—“integrity in use of time.” She tells us,
“It is a bad thing to think that time is our own to do what we like with. We are all employed; we all have duties, and a certain share of our time must be given to those duties. It is astonishing how much time there is in a day, and how many things we can get in if we have a mind. It is also astonishing how a day, a week, or a year may slip through our fingers, and nothing done.”
We plant the seeds of this habit in our students with our scheduling certain times for certain lessons, teaching them “that one time is not 'as good as another'; that there is no right time left for what is not done in its own time.
But do we order our own lives in this way?
As Mason describes, “Not all the king's horses and all the king's men can make the dawdler diligent; he himself must make himself do the thing he ought at the right time.... The time which is due to an occupation belongs to that, and must not be used for any other purpose.” But in order to use a given time for its purpose, we must determine what are the chief things to be done each day and how we will allot our time. Though the rigidity or fluidity of our schedule will depend on a number of factors, including personality and family needs, the principle of ordering one’s day remains.
In addition to work and chores, we must also prioritize periods of rest and leisure. One Parents’ Review article tells of the brilliant composer Beethoven’s habit of rising early to begin writing and elaborating on his compositions from morning until noon. Afternoons he would spend on long walks in the woods and fields outside Vienna, sketchbook in hand, where he received most of his musical inspiration. For his success, he needed consistently both the hours of diligent work and the hours of creative wandering.
In a Parents’ Review article entitled “Simple Things—A Daily Rest,” we find that “The real truth with most of us is that it requires a little more resolution and a good deal more method than we possess to so arrange and carry out the work of the day, as to secure the resting time in the middle of it.” As Mason says, “In the end, integrity makes for gaiety, because the person who is honest about his work has time to play, and is not secretly vexed by the remembrance of things left undone or ill done.” And “this power of making oneself work is a fine thing. Every effort makes the next easier, and, once we mount upon that easy nag, Habit, why, it is a real satisfaction to do the day's work in the day, and be free to enjoy the day's leisure.”
As this new year begins, ask yourself: what is truly worth your time and how will you order your days to make it count? Let us know in the comments below!
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Notes:
- Award Winner: Alveary has been selected for the 2026 Best Homeschool Curriculum & Resources List! This parent-driven recognition reflects the real experiences of homeschooling families. We’re thankful to serve you.
- Social Media: Want to share your homeschool with the Alveary community? We’re looking for a few members to be featured in a Day in the Life with Alveary on social media. Click here if you are interested.
- Office Hours: Here is the recording of this week’s Office Hours on Charlotte Mason’s 4th principle.
- Simplified Homeschool Summit: Join Sarah from the Charlotte Mason Institute (along with 40+ other speakers) at the Simplified Homeschool Summit, Jan 19-23, 2026, as she shares on Education as an Atmosphere, showing practical ways the rhythms, habits, and tone of your home quietly shape your children’s learning. Plus, enjoy a few special CMI/Alveary freebies! Register free!
- Course Registration: Registration is open for CMI winter courses including the CORE teacher training course, Mason’s Principles: Parts 1 & 2, and the Virtual Immersion Masterclass. If you are interested in diving deep into the CM philosophy, snag a spot today.
- Guiding With Grace: Access to the 2025 Conference videos ends 1/23! If you purchased a ticket, make time to watch any remaining sessions before they’re gone. Then come back to the Hive and share your insights and reflections. We’d love to hear what inspired you!
- In the Company of Ideas: Check out the Hive to see the rest of our reading schedule for January through April. In January we are discussing the monograph by Dr. Shannon Whiteside titled “Narration and Retelling: Charlotte Mason’s Living Method of Learning.
