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.
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| 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