Who has ever had a Day Timer planner? Raise your hand! Me, me...admit it, all of you who love to plan and schedule and write all your day-time activities, you just LOVE to use a Day Timer, right?
Showing posts with label schedule. Show all posts
Showing posts with label schedule. Show all posts
Friday, June 7, 2013
Wednesday, May 22, 2013
The Importance of Having a Morning Routine
About four years ago, I had about 50 pounds to lose! It wasn't a pretty site, but having had two babies where I gained 70 and 80 pounds each - then losing, gaining, losing, gaining - I had enough of it and wanted to get that weight off for good! My excuse, to myself, was that I didn't have time to really exercise. I thought that I would have to wait until both my kids were in school before I could actually lose weight, so I could work out once they went to school -- procrastinator!
Friday, April 26, 2013
Oh, SNAP....and keeping super busy!
I often get asked, you make money from blogging? Yes, I do! I feel amazingly blessed to be able to be a work at home mom and motivating and inspiring women to organize! But, it takes a LOT of time to do what I do. I'm now working full time from home on this blog!
Friday, April 12, 2013
11 Great Schedules to keep you organized
Do you like schedules as much as I do? Well, if you do, you're going to like these 11 great organized schedules!
Friday, March 15, 2013
Spring Cleaning for all Seasons!
I must be honest, I really struggle with spring cleaning. I think it's mostly because of the weather here. It's spring-like weather most of the year around in Southern California so I have never felt the sudden urge to completely clean everything in spring from top to bottom when winter is over.
I believe it's really important to get things on a schedule or some way that you can keep up with all your cleaning, to make it easier - using your own schedule to do it when needed. So, when Clean Mama told me about her new Ebook, I was VERY excited!
I’d love to introduce you to Clean Mama’s newest ebook…
Cleaning Around the Seasons: Deep Cleaning On Your Schedule
Monday, February 11, 2013
My Five Favorite Apps for Making Lists
Not everyone has a smart phone or a tablet to use, but I know a LOT of my readers do. I can see on my stats that a good chunk of you are coming to my blog from your phones and tablets. So, I KNOW many of you are interested in apps, right? I have five apps I want to share with you, that I use a lot, for making lists.
Tuesday, January 1, 2013
New Year and New Chance to get organized!
Happy New Year!!
I know that many of you are looking to get organized this year and many of you who are overwhelmed. My sponsor, Becky of Clean Mama, has this wonderful new Ebook that can help you get started. This ebook is fantastic and I highly recommend you getting this if you are needing some help getting started with schedules and routines.
I know that many of you are looking to get organized this year and many of you who are overwhelmed. My sponsor, Becky of Clean Mama, has this wonderful new Ebook that can help you get started. This ebook is fantastic and I highly recommend you getting this if you are needing some help getting started with schedules and routines.
Pulling Yourself Together: Implementing a Cleaning Routine
that Sticks
Wednesday, November 21, 2012
How sharpies help me organize!
How in the world could I dedicate a whole post to a type of pen? Well, Sharpies are my favorite pen {this isn't a sponsored post, either, just love them}. I love that they come in every imaginable color.
Friday, September 14, 2012
Organizing 101: Back to the Basics {Morning Schedules}
Welcome to this week of Organizing 101 with all of us bloggers, if you haven't seen the other organizing ideas, you are missing out! I'm going to share about morning schedules with you here and then you can go back and check out the other ladies when you finish here!
Friday, June 29, 2012
June Wrap Up!
The year is half over!! How is this possible? Does it seem like that can be?
If you missed any of this month's posts, now is your chance to catch up!
1. Big reveal of my new office
2. Summer printables - kids media sticks and chores
3. Summer cleaning schedule printable and projects
4. Organizing my office
5. Organized Reader
6. How to make a simple chore chart
7. Behind the scenes and how to's of my new office
8. My shed project - BEFORE
9. Lay N Go giveaway
10. My roof is done!
11. OMF to the Rescue: Mona's closet dilemma
12. Haven Conference Wrap Up
Once last thing...if you are on Facebook, be sure that you go to the OMF page and you are adding it to your favorite pages {or any other favorite blog}. Don't know what I'm talking about? Need help figuring out how to keep Organizing Made Fun in your FB newsfeed? Well, go HERE. My friend Kelly has the BEST tutorial on her blog all about how to do it.
Like what you see here? Consider becoming a follower or subscribe via email!
If you missed any of this month's posts, now is your chance to catch up!
1. Big reveal of my new office
2. Summer printables - kids media sticks and chores
3. Summer cleaning schedule printable and projects
4. Organizing my office
5. Organized Reader
6. How to make a simple chore chart
7. Behind the scenes and how to's of my new office
8. My shed project - BEFORE
9. Lay N Go giveaway
10. My roof is done!
11. OMF to the Rescue: Mona's closet dilemma
12. Haven Conference Wrap Up
Once last thing...if you are on Facebook, be sure that you go to the OMF page and you are adding it to your favorite pages {or any other favorite blog}. Don't know what I'm talking about? Need help figuring out how to keep Organizing Made Fun in your FB newsfeed? Well, go HERE. My friend Kelly has the BEST tutorial on her blog all about how to do it.
Like what you see here? Consider becoming a follower or subscribe via email!
Wednesday, June 13, 2012
How to make a simple chore chart step by step
One of my most asked questions is "How do you make your chore charts?" So, today I'm going to teach you. It's pretty simple and I want you to be able to do them yourself so you can tailor it to your family's needs.
I'm assuming you have a computer, so this is going to teach you to use your computer! If not, you will have to make these by hand and get as creative as you are able. So, with that, I use a publishing program on my computer. I am now a Mac user, but previously had used a PC for many years. I used Microsoft Publisher for many years - probably 15 years! So, when I switched to Mac and discovered I could't use Microsoft Publisher, I was a bit sad :(
But, good news! I found a similar Mac-based publishing program that works a LOT like Publisher - it's called Swift Publisher. I downloaded it for $29.95 {you get a FREE download for 30 trial to make sure you like it, too} and can now make ALL kinds of things - cards, menus, brochures, programs, posters, etc. But, you can also make your own thing. These two programs {Swift and Publisher} are similar, so you can use this tutorial for either one.
I started first by opening up the program and {step 1} starting with a blank new document.
{Step 2} Create a text box by dragging the shape as large as you want it. I did a larger text box and a smaller one - one for a title and one for the main body, but you can just make a title in one large text box also.
You'll need to choose what font {step 3} you want and decide what you want to put in there. I always like to choose a main font and a contrasting font - one with pizzaz for titles and important parts and one that is easy to read and more simple.
Next {step 4}, you fill out the whole thing - changing the size of the fonts if they don't fit in. You may have to play with it a bit, but in time you'll begin to know about what size will fit in how much space!
If you'd like {step 5}, you can add a border around the text box. Because I only wanted border around just the kids chores and days of the week, I chose to make a separate text box, like I mentioned {in step 2}.
Adding pictures {step 6} is both fun and easy - and I get lots of you asking where I get all my cute pictures! In the Swift Publisher {and Microsoft Publisher}, you can pull open your own personal pictures OR you can pull open clip art from a gallery of pictures. There are a lot of categories and you can type in a search word to find something you're looking for. I used to use a bunch of pictures when my kids were little - see my printables HERE for those ideas - but now that they are older, I just put a picture of them on there.
As you can see, above, if you were to look in Microsoft Word {similar to Publisher for clip art}, this is what you would be looking for to find clip art.
In Swift Publisher you can see where to look for photos and clip art, in the example above.
Then, just print up the cute, personalized chore charts - once you spell check and get everything set! Now, get ready to make some fun chore charts for your own kids. We keep them in sheet protectors that are taped in the pantry and behind their doors in their bedrooms - that way when they change, it's easy to slip them in and out, cause they change a couple of times per year. Have you started making your chore charts yet? How about a schedule for yourself? {I'll try to come up with a great tutorial soon on making pretty schedules for yourself!}
Join me on Facebook - where we interact and have lots of great fun. You can also see behind the scenes pictures and fun stuff I do on my Instagram!
Parties:
House of Hepworth
The 36th Avenue
Delightful Order
Tidy Mom
Serenity Now
Six Sisters
Tater Tots and Jello
Positively Splendid
Iheart Naptime
Tip Junkie
Home Stories from A to Z
A Bowl Full of Lemons
Organize and Decorate Everything
I'm assuming you have a computer, so this is going to teach you to use your computer! If not, you will have to make these by hand and get as creative as you are able. So, with that, I use a publishing program on my computer. I am now a Mac user, but previously had used a PC for many years. I used Microsoft Publisher for many years - probably 15 years! So, when I switched to Mac and discovered I could't use Microsoft Publisher, I was a bit sad :(
But, good news! I found a similar Mac-based publishing program that works a LOT like Publisher - it's called Swift Publisher. I downloaded it for $29.95 {you get a FREE download for 30 trial to make sure you like it, too} and can now make ALL kinds of things - cards, menus, brochures, programs, posters, etc. But, you can also make your own thing. These two programs {Swift and Publisher} are similar, so you can use this tutorial for either one.
I started first by opening up the program and {step 1} starting with a blank new document.
{Step 2} Create a text box by dragging the shape as large as you want it. I did a larger text box and a smaller one - one for a title and one for the main body, but you can just make a title in one large text box also.
You'll need to choose what font {step 3} you want and decide what you want to put in there. I always like to choose a main font and a contrasting font - one with pizzaz for titles and important parts and one that is easy to read and more simple.
Next {step 4}, you fill out the whole thing - changing the size of the fonts if they don't fit in. You may have to play with it a bit, but in time you'll begin to know about what size will fit in how much space!
If you'd like {step 5}, you can add a border around the text box. Because I only wanted border around just the kids chores and days of the week, I chose to make a separate text box, like I mentioned {in step 2}.
Adding pictures {step 6} is both fun and easy - and I get lots of you asking where I get all my cute pictures! In the Swift Publisher {and Microsoft Publisher}, you can pull open your own personal pictures OR you can pull open clip art from a gallery of pictures. There are a lot of categories and you can type in a search word to find something you're looking for. I used to use a bunch of pictures when my kids were little - see my printables HERE for those ideas - but now that they are older, I just put a picture of them on there.
As you can see, above, if you were to look in Microsoft Word {similar to Publisher for clip art}, this is what you would be looking for to find clip art.
In Swift Publisher you can see where to look for photos and clip art, in the example above.
Then, just print up the cute, personalized chore charts - once you spell check and get everything set! Now, get ready to make some fun chore charts for your own kids. We keep them in sheet protectors that are taped in the pantry and behind their doors in their bedrooms - that way when they change, it's easy to slip them in and out, cause they change a couple of times per year. Have you started making your chore charts yet? How about a schedule for yourself? {I'll try to come up with a great tutorial soon on making pretty schedules for yourself!}
Like what you see here? Consider becoming a follower or subscribe via email!
Join me on Facebook - where we interact and have lots of great fun. You can also see behind the scenes pictures and fun stuff I do on my Instagram!
Parties:
House of Hepworth
The 36th Avenue
Delightful Order
Tidy Mom
Serenity Now
Six Sisters
Tater Tots and Jello
Positively Splendid
Iheart Naptime
Tip Junkie
Home Stories from A to Z
A Bowl Full of Lemons
Organize and Decorate Everything
Wednesday, June 6, 2012
Summertime organizing: Summer schedule
Like I told you a few days ago, our summer has begun. I like having a simple schedule to follow during the summer. I continue to do my 15-20 minutes a day of cleaning, as usual. It's a simple way of always keeping my home clean...even though it's not perfect. Here is a free printable of my summer schedule, should you want to print one up to keep on your fridge, also. I know some of you do your laundry everyday, but I it all once a week.
The first week "off" from school {which for us is the week right after Memorial Day}, I like to take it easy and do pretty much nothing - no schedule! It's good for me to go from the craziness of school schedules and end of school year madness to pretty much nothing. After a week of having no schedule at all, I'm pretty much ready to get myself back into business and have some type of organized schedule to feel like I'm accomplishing something again.
So, my main goal this summer is to try and tackle several areas of my home. I'm only going to spend a couple of hours on each small area at a time. Re-organize and clean it out - then stop and put it back nicely and call it done! I don't really do the whole "spring cleaning" thing. Spring cleaning comes at a bad time for me - I'm so knee deep in spring break, kids year end projects, cab-driver for my kids, piano teaching, etc. So summer is my chance to "spring clean" my house - summer cleaning!
I've had a hard few months these last few months. I've had my mom in and out of the hospital in chronic pain and rushed to be by her side for days {or a week} at a time. I've had two kids to figure out what to do with while I left {when hubby was at work}, and find a house sitter to care for the house and dog. Plus, I went away with my hubby on a conference for a week - the problems of being gone so much and people still living in my home is that it was being used and no one has been here to keep up the cleaning! So, as you might guess, getting caught up has been hard for me - I sympathize with my many readers who have emailed me about getting caught up when things happen. Remember, I also work 30+ hours a week from home - running my blog {20+ hours per week} and as a piano teacher {to 15 students}. I don't teach piano lessons during the summer and not having to get to school to pick up kids makes my life a breeze! My kids are going to be helping me out a bunch, too!
Here is my list of areas/projects I want to tackle - one each week {in no particular order}:
Like what you see here? Consider becoming a follower or subscribe via email!
Join me on Facebook - where we interact and have lots of great fun. You can also see behind the scenes pictures and fun stuff I do on my Instagram!
 |
| Click here to link to printable |
The first week "off" from school {which for us is the week right after Memorial Day}, I like to take it easy and do pretty much nothing - no schedule! It's good for me to go from the craziness of school schedules and end of school year madness to pretty much nothing. After a week of having no schedule at all, I'm pretty much ready to get myself back into business and have some type of organized schedule to feel like I'm accomplishing something again.
So, my main goal this summer is to try and tackle several areas of my home. I'm only going to spend a couple of hours on each small area at a time. Re-organize and clean it out - then stop and put it back nicely and call it done! I don't really do the whole "spring cleaning" thing. Spring cleaning comes at a bad time for me - I'm so knee deep in spring break, kids year end projects, cab-driver for my kids, piano teaching, etc. So summer is my chance to "spring clean" my house - summer cleaning!
I've had a hard few months these last few months. I've had my mom in and out of the hospital in chronic pain and rushed to be by her side for days {or a week} at a time. I've had two kids to figure out what to do with while I left {when hubby was at work}, and find a house sitter to care for the house and dog. Plus, I went away with my hubby on a conference for a week - the problems of being gone so much and people still living in my home is that it was being used and no one has been here to keep up the cleaning! So, as you might guess, getting caught up has been hard for me - I sympathize with my many readers who have emailed me about getting caught up when things happen. Remember, I also work 30+ hours a week from home - running my blog {20+ hours per week} and as a piano teacher {to 15 students}. I don't teach piano lessons during the summer and not having to get to school to pick up kids makes my life a breeze! My kids are going to be helping me out a bunch, too!
Here is my list of areas/projects I want to tackle - one each week {in no particular order}:
- Clean oven {big task} thoroughly
- Clean inside of cupboards near kitchen sink area and re-organize
- Clean cupboards on other side of kitchen and re-organize
- Linen closet needs tweaking and a few things re-organized
- Find an organized place for wine glass set hubby got for Christmas!
- {After construction} Wash all 31 windows inside and outside! This is such a big task!
- Work on organizing and cute-ifying my craft cupboard in the family room.
- Thoroughly clean fridge, pull everything out, wash down, re-organize and throw out bad stuff.
- Go through kitchen pantry and clean out unused food and wipe everything down
- Clean extra stuff accumulated under my bed from office re-do.
Wow! I have more....but there are *only* ten weeks in our summer to do all this! If I tackle one a week for a few hours that will help the house get into shape. I'm still keeping up my 15 minutes a day of cleaning {in my sized house it's more like 25 minutes for some cleaning areas} and my yard has suffered greatly from all our roof and outdoor construction. Plus, I have this other big project coming this summer that I will be revealing to you soon! I'm certainly busy!
There's one more thing I want you to know, as I have been learning this throughout these last few months: Don't be afraid to ask for help when trying to get caught up with housework/organizing. Hire someone to do your windows or whole house cleaning, see if a teenager needs money for camp and have them help with yard work, get your kids to do more, ask a friend who's good with organizing to come over {maybe swap something you're good at with her}...there is no shame in hiring someone to help you get caught up or, if you just can't afford it, asking a friend to help you with it. We can't do it all - I can't, that's for sure!
What are your "organizing plans" for this summer? Would you like more summer fun? See my post on summer schedules and kids!
There's one more thing I want you to know, as I have been learning this throughout these last few months: Don't be afraid to ask for help when trying to get caught up with housework/organizing. Hire someone to do your windows or whole house cleaning, see if a teenager needs money for camp and have them help with yard work, get your kids to do more, ask a friend who's good with organizing to come over {maybe swap something you're good at with her}...there is no shame in hiring someone to help you get caught up or, if you just can't afford it, asking a friend to help you with it. We can't do it all - I can't, that's for sure!
What are your "organizing plans" for this summer? Would you like more summer fun? See my post on summer schedules and kids!
Like what you see here? Consider becoming a follower or subscribe via email!
Join me on Facebook - where we interact and have lots of great fun. You can also see behind the scenes pictures and fun stuff I do on my Instagram!
Monday, June 4, 2012
Goodbye School, Hello Summer: Summer chore charts and schedules
Summer in our household is officially here! The kids finished up their last day of school last week and it is so wonderful to be "sleeping in" for an extra 30 minutes a day! Ha, ha - I still get up to walk every morning, but instead of getting up at 5:30 AM, I'm now up at 6 AM.
Anyway, I am determined to be more organized in the area of summer activities, chores, and media time with my kids. I've been pretty organized before, but I've noticed some problems and I wanted to tweak my plans again. That's the beauty of keeping schedules, you learn to be flexible when it's just not quite right. As they grow, so must your flexibility!
My kids have daily chores to do every morning before school. Personally, I have found that they have more energy to do them before school, but if they don't finish them they have to do them after school. They have done pretty well at them and, for the most part, I haven't had to push too hard to get them done.
So, for summer, I decided that they would have to continue getting their regular morning chores done - minus having to make a school lunch, of course - but added that they have to do TWO more chores each day because this Momma is SO busy now that I need more help around here. I made extra chore cards that they can choose from {above FREE printable}. There are ten cards. They can choose two each day, but then they have to put the cards back into the cup so they don't repeat the same chores that week. It starts all over the next week. {Yes, I know there are two of the cards that are the same, and that's on purpose so they do it twice in one week, but must choose a different area to organize}. They like this part because they can choose their own chore and have some part in deciding what they want that day.
I've also got to get their time in front of the screen under control. I have always restricted their time in summer to two hours a day of media time, but haven't had a good way to keep track of it. Media, in our household, is defined as: TV, Wii, Ipad, or computer. You could also call it "screen time" or something like that. I don't have a problem with media on a small scale. I DO when they get obsessed with it and act like zombies and it rules their whole day. So, I came up with this idea. I made these "media minutes" sticks {well, laminated cardstock} and they get 8 of them each morning. Each one if is equivalent to 15 minutes. I have their first initial on them and they can decide how they want to use it - use up all their time at once, or a little at time. I also give "bonus" media minutes for various things and for reading. Whatever they don't use up at the end of the day gets put back and start with two hours the next day - they don't get to save up those 2 hours. However, if they got bonus time {I mark these with an asterisk} they can hang on to those and use them. So far, they love it and are doing well with them.
Let me tell you what this is teaching my kids. It's teaching them that media is fun, but not necessary. It's teaching them how to save - for instance, saver vs. spender. Are they going to use a little throughout the day or all at once? It's a great prep for money useage, too. They are finding lots of other ways to keep busy - alone or with each other. My kids are 13 and 8. Could they have done this many years ago? I believe so. I think these visual sticks are going to help them and we can all keep track of how much time they spend in front of the "tube" watching and doing stuff.
The last kid things I've done are money making chores. I know a few of you don't believe in paying your kids to do things. I also don't pay my kids to do regular household chores - we all have to pitch in and I'm not going to pay you $1 to clean up after yourself. But, those harder chores are great ways to teach them to make some money and learn great life-long skills. I asked my FB readers last week to help me out with this, and they gave me some great ideas:
Join me on Facebook - where we interact and have lots of great fun. You can also see behind the scenes pictures and fun stuff I do on my Instagram!
Parties:
Tip Junkie
Women Living Well
Anyway, I am determined to be more organized in the area of summer activities, chores, and media time with my kids. I've been pretty organized before, but I've noticed some problems and I wanted to tweak my plans again. That's the beauty of keeping schedules, you learn to be flexible when it's just not quite right. As they grow, so must your flexibility!
 |
| Click HERE for FREE printable |
 |
| Click HERE for FREE Printable |
So, for summer, I decided that they would have to continue getting their regular morning chores done - minus having to make a school lunch, of course - but added that they have to do TWO more chores each day because this Momma is SO busy now that I need more help around here. I made extra chore cards that they can choose from {above FREE printable}. There are ten cards. They can choose two each day, but then they have to put the cards back into the cup so they don't repeat the same chores that week. It starts all over the next week. {Yes, I know there are two of the cards that are the same, and that's on purpose so they do it twice in one week, but must choose a different area to organize}. They like this part because they can choose their own chore and have some part in deciding what they want that day.
I've also got to get their time in front of the screen under control. I have always restricted their time in summer to two hours a day of media time, but haven't had a good way to keep track of it. Media, in our household, is defined as: TV, Wii, Ipad, or computer. You could also call it "screen time" or something like that. I don't have a problem with media on a small scale. I DO when they get obsessed with it and act like zombies and it rules their whole day. So, I came up with this idea. I made these "media minutes" sticks {well, laminated cardstock} and they get 8 of them each morning. Each one if is equivalent to 15 minutes. I have their first initial on them and they can decide how they want to use it - use up all their time at once, or a little at time. I also give "bonus" media minutes for various things and for reading. Whatever they don't use up at the end of the day gets put back and start with two hours the next day - they don't get to save up those 2 hours. However, if they got bonus time {I mark these with an asterisk} they can hang on to those and use them. So far, they love it and are doing well with them.
Let me tell you what this is teaching my kids. It's teaching them that media is fun, but not necessary. It's teaching them how to save - for instance, saver vs. spender. Are they going to use a little throughout the day or all at once? It's a great prep for money useage, too. They are finding lots of other ways to keep busy - alone or with each other. My kids are 13 and 8. Could they have done this many years ago? I believe so. I think these visual sticks are going to help them and we can all keep track of how much time they spend in front of the "tube" watching and doing stuff.
The last kid things I've done are money making chores. I know a few of you don't believe in paying your kids to do things. I also don't pay my kids to do regular household chores - we all have to pitch in and I'm not going to pay you $1 to clean up after yourself. But, those harder chores are great ways to teach them to make some money and learn great life-long skills. I asked my FB readers last week to help me out with this, and they gave me some great ideas:
- Mow the lawn
- Pull weeds for an hour
- Rake leaves for an hour {or a certain area} and clean up
- Sweep for 30 minutes
- Scrub walls in the house
- Scrub BBQ and outdoor furniture
- Wash windows
- Wash the car
- Vacuum the inside of the car
- Special projects that come up
I have another big list of more chores too that they came up but they are more of just a list of chores that may or may not be paid. The list above is the one I came up with for my own kids to do for some extra money. I have made it a printable, should you want to also make your own $$$ chore cards, but if you don't like these {or want them personalized} I will be posting soon {like next week} about how to make your own chore charts and schedules. Once you learn how to make your own chore charts, you can tailor it to your own family needs...won't you like that? Has your summer officially started?
Like what you see here? Consider becoming a follower or subscribe via email!
Join me on Facebook - where we interact and have lots of great fun. You can also see behind the scenes pictures and fun stuff I do on my Instagram!
Parties:
Tip Junkie
Women Living Well
Monday, January 23, 2012
Organized Resolutions: Cleaning
Today's organized resolution is cleaning!
Uggh, this is seriously something I don't like to do.
Uggh, this is seriously something I don't like to do.
Are you like me? Do you NOT want to spend all your time cleaning everything? I certainly don't. About a year and a half ago I shared a post on keeping your house clean by doing 15-20 minutes a day of cleaning. It's a VERY popular post. I have actually had a couple of nasty comments saying that I misled people into believing it's REALLY possible to do it and that it's just not possible - but hey, TWO bad comments out of thousands of hits on that ONE post isn't so bad, right? I've also seen comments on Pinterest about that post that people can't see when I actually do laundry.
Monday, January 16, 2012
Organized Resolutions: Scheduling
Do you have a crazy, busy life? Me, too!
This Christmas I felt like I was going to go bananas! Every day was filled with activities and more things that needed to get done than I wanted to do. I had an opportunity to speak to a group of college students in their teacher education class on autism - which was so wonderful to do! Plus, I had all the many activities to drive my son to [who is now a middle schooler and his schedule has just exploded}. I had a blog explosion, lots and lots of email and facebook. I had piano lessons to teach to 15 students. I had FOUR Christmas parties at my house. I had regular Christmas activities....well, it was nuts. Absolutely nuts. How did I do it all?
Monday, January 9, 2012
Organized Resolutions: Getting Organized! {and FREE Resolutions printable}
Totally, completely, utterly unorganized…
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
How I organize for school: MY schedule for the school year!
Ok, OK...so technically this isn't for school, but it starts for the school year! Plus, who doesn't need a schedule? Well, I suppose there are some exceptions!
Our school year started mid-August, and I had been doing quite well with my summer schedule, above. I found that if I didn't get to the 15 minutes of cleaning I did one day, I just did it the next! Or I just skipped it and did it the following week - probably the only exception was vacuuming.
Unfortunately, I can not keep this schedule during the school year. You see, I am a piano teacher and work from my home two days a week {one half day and one FULL day of 10 - 5}. This leaves me with a full day of cleaning and laundry - which I really don't like - but it's the only thing that works for now and so I do it! If you see my schedule above, I have a full day of working on projects - which I LOVE! Sometimes that day gets used for other stuff like: a friend over for lunch, finishing up cleaning/laundry, or running extra errands.
I also have a detailed list of what I do when I clean, as above on my Cozi "To Do" list - sometimes I finish it, sometimes I don't. I don't fret if I skip over one of them. I try to keep it to this order, mostly. The laundry I start the night before - our washing machine actually has a timer you can set for it to go off whenever, so I set it for six hours and then when I wake up at 5:30 AM {yes, it's extremely early!} I can get the next load in. I like to do laundry in ONE day {it takes me from 5:30 AM to sometimes 8 or 9 PM and keeping on top of it all day with timers}...I like to get things over with {I was that way in college, too} and don't want to think about laundry for another week. It's what works for me! However....my girlfriends were over the other day and saw my schedule on the frig and told me there was NO way they could get all their laundry done in one day! So, I understand...again, it works for me and I'm pretty ambitious about it {I have timers set and rush right down to get it folded and on to the next load}.
Also, I realize that if I have a dentist appointment or doctor's appointment on Tuesday instead of Monday, I can easily switch my laundry/cleaning day with Monday's schedule instead! Flexibility...that's important!
Have you heard of Organizher? It's a Mead product line that is at Target. They have this great line of products...I'm more of an "online organizer" but there are some things necessary to print up. This particular organizer hangs from a large magnet that holds three pages of clear page protectors {honestly, I wish it held six}. It was only $8 but it is such a great visual of my daily schedule!
I will not bore you by posting every detail of my day, but I'll give you a couple of glimpses.
You can see I schedule in a lot of different things. I first make up a list {either in my head or on paper} of the important things that HAVE to get done, then a list of those I'd like. For me, those include {examples not in any particular order}:
Then, you figure out where to fit it in. In order for me to exercise, I have to get up at 5:30 and meet my walking partner at 6 AM to workout for an hour - I take my prayer cards and pray since she and I do NOT talk the entire way up the hill {we talk on the way down}. At 7, I must wake my daughter {son is already up on his own} and then proceed to get kids breakfast and ready for school.
I "read" my Bible...I have troublesome eyes and can't read for more than 7 or 8 minutes before they start to burn. So, I've found an Iphone app called "YouVersion" and it's the Bible. I have a "plan" on there I use that will read it to you, so I listen to that while getting ready and get to meditate on God's Word for 45 minutes each morning. I can also listen while I'm cleaning or doing projects around the house on those days. For my Bible study time I actually sit down and study and write out answers to the questions for my study....well, you can see that I've had to make adjustments.
I want to encourage you that I realize that MY schedule works for me. You may have different stuff each week, daily, and it changes all the time! This is during the day when my kids are in school and before school.
I have designated a couple of days each week for dinner. Tuesdays are Left-Over Nights {Adam and Rachel attend a social skills class for him, while hubby and I go on a quick dinner date}. Wednesdays are Fish Stick/Chicken Nugget Nights - Rachel goes to AWANA and Adam to Jr. high group at church and we have to be out the door by 6 PM. Believe it or not, we have ANOTHER date night, but much longer until 8 PM. Thursdays are Crock Pot Night - I throw stuff in that morning and let it cook all day while teaching piano lessons until 5 PM. Having these days sort of set up makes planning dinner easier. I have a whole Pinterest Board called "Crock Pot Recipes" that I'm collecting to help me get started!
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Our evenings are flexible and we have purposely tried to keep from overdoing sports and other activities - but some are unavoidable- like church or Adam's therapies. It works for us...but I am tweaking things from time to time to get it to be effective. Also, I get distracted VERY easily and having all this detail keeps me focused on the task and I accomplish so much more! I find when I don't have a detailed schedule that I waste a lot of time...or I wind up looking for food to eat....or I spend too much time on the computer/TV! I married "Mr. Spontaneous" and that is SO good for me! In the 17+ years we've been married, it has allowed me loosen up a lot. So, don't worry - I have fun, too! Lots of fun!
Have you ever made yourself a schedule? HERE is another resource I found with FREE printables of weekly schedules, chore charts, and menu planners! NEXT Wednesday I have a VERY, VERY special guest I'm interviewing, so be sure that you don't miss it!
P.S. If you'd love to hear more about time management, click HERE!
Parties:
Delightful Order
House of Hepworths
Our school year started mid-August, and I had been doing quite well with my summer schedule, above. I found that if I didn't get to the 15 minutes of cleaning I did one day, I just did it the next! Or I just skipped it and did it the following week - probably the only exception was vacuuming.
Unfortunately, I can not keep this schedule during the school year. You see, I am a piano teacher and work from my home two days a week {one half day and one FULL day of 10 - 5}. This leaves me with a full day of cleaning and laundry - which I really don't like - but it's the only thing that works for now and so I do it! If you see my schedule above, I have a full day of working on projects - which I LOVE! Sometimes that day gets used for other stuff like: a friend over for lunch, finishing up cleaning/laundry, or running extra errands.
 |
| I try to post this on my frig and check it off as I go! |
I also have a detailed list of what I do when I clean, as above on my Cozi "To Do" list - sometimes I finish it, sometimes I don't. I don't fret if I skip over one of them. I try to keep it to this order, mostly. The laundry I start the night before - our washing machine actually has a timer you can set for it to go off whenever, so I set it for six hours and then when I wake up at 5:30 AM {yes, it's extremely early!} I can get the next load in. I like to do laundry in ONE day {it takes me from 5:30 AM to sometimes 8 or 9 PM and keeping on top of it all day with timers}...I like to get things over with {I was that way in college, too} and don't want to think about laundry for another week. It's what works for me! However....my girlfriends were over the other day and saw my schedule on the frig and told me there was NO way they could get all their laundry done in one day! So, I understand...again, it works for me and I'm pretty ambitious about it {I have timers set and rush right down to get it folded and on to the next load}.
Also, I realize that if I have a dentist appointment or doctor's appointment on Tuesday instead of Monday, I can easily switch my laundry/cleaning day with Monday's schedule instead! Flexibility...that's important!
Have you heard of Organizher? It's a Mead product line that is at Target. They have this great line of products...I'm more of an "online organizer" but there are some things necessary to print up. This particular organizer hangs from a large magnet that holds three pages of clear page protectors {honestly, I wish it held six}. It was only $8 but it is such a great visual of my daily schedule!
I will not bore you by posting every detail of my day, but I'll give you a couple of glimpses.
You can see I schedule in a lot of different things. I first make up a list {either in my head or on paper} of the important things that HAVE to get done, then a list of those I'd like. For me, those include {examples not in any particular order}:
- Reading my Bible
- Doing my Bible Study
- Exercising
- Praying
- Cleaning the house, doing laundry
- Blogging time
- Practicing the piano {I have to be an example!}
- Running Errands
- Projects around the house
- Going to Bible Study
- Teaching piano lessons
Then, you figure out where to fit it in. In order for me to exercise, I have to get up at 5:30 and meet my walking partner at 6 AM to workout for an hour - I take my prayer cards and pray since she and I do NOT talk the entire way up the hill {we talk on the way down}. At 7, I must wake my daughter {son is already up on his own} and then proceed to get kids breakfast and ready for school.
I "read" my Bible...I have troublesome eyes and can't read for more than 7 or 8 minutes before they start to burn. So, I've found an Iphone app called "YouVersion" and it's the Bible. I have a "plan" on there I use that will read it to you, so I listen to that while getting ready and get to meditate on God's Word for 45 minutes each morning. I can also listen while I'm cleaning or doing projects around the house on those days. For my Bible study time I actually sit down and study and write out answers to the questions for my study....well, you can see that I've had to make adjustments.
I want to encourage you that I realize that MY schedule works for me. You may have different stuff each week, daily, and it changes all the time! This is during the day when my kids are in school and before school.
I have designated a couple of days each week for dinner. Tuesdays are Left-Over Nights {Adam and Rachel attend a social skills class for him, while hubby and I go on a quick dinner date}. Wednesdays are Fish Stick/Chicken Nugget Nights - Rachel goes to AWANA and Adam to Jr. high group at church and we have to be out the door by 6 PM. Believe it or not, we have ANOTHER date night, but much longer until 8 PM. Thursdays are Crock Pot Night - I throw stuff in that morning and let it cook all day while teaching piano lessons until 5 PM. Having these days sort of set up makes planning dinner easier. I have a whole Pinterest Board called "Crock Pot Recipes" that I'm collecting to help me get started!
Our evenings are flexible and we have purposely tried to keep from overdoing sports and other activities - but some are unavoidable- like church or Adam's therapies. It works for us...but I am tweaking things from time to time to get it to be effective. Also, I get distracted VERY easily and having all this detail keeps me focused on the task and I accomplish so much more! I find when I don't have a detailed schedule that I waste a lot of time...or I wind up looking for food to eat....or I spend too much time on the computer/TV! I married "Mr. Spontaneous" and that is SO good for me! In the 17+ years we've been married, it has allowed me loosen up a lot. So, don't worry - I have fun, too! Lots of fun!
Have you ever made yourself a schedule? HERE is another resource I found with FREE printables of weekly schedules, chore charts, and menu planners! NEXT Wednesday I have a VERY, VERY special guest I'm interviewing, so be sure that you don't miss it!
P.S. If you'd love to hear more about time management, click HERE!
Parties:
Delightful Order
House of Hepworths
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