1 Year to an Organized Life - January Week 2

Creating Schedules and Routines

This week you can: (from page 23)

• Learn the beauty of working with a calendar.  Whether it's a PDA, the one on your computer, a system such as the Day Runner, or one you create, there is no better way to keep your life on track.
• Start practicing the fine art of knowing when and how to say "no".  Remember: it adds power to every "yes" you utter.
• Begin to think like an organizer.  Is there a jumble of thoughts in your head?  Let's bring order to your mind while we're clearing out the physical space.
• Start creating routines that will save you time and in the long run money and emotional energy.

I was so excited for this week!  I have been keeping a calendar since college, so this one was easy for me.  The look of it has changed over the years.  I used to have a Day Timer, but now that I don't work anymore, this freebie calendar I was given last year at school works just fine.  I have always used the one month at a time view...that's just what works for me.  I got my husband one that is a week at a time because he has so many appointments.  It just depends on what works for you.  Mine is also color coded....that is not necessary, it's just how I roll.  The colors work for me because if I'm looking for an appointment that month I know to just look for light blue, or if I'm wondering what day I'm volunteering at church I look for pink.  It just works for my mind.  You figure out what works for you.

Now start thinking like an organizer.  A lot of us are people pleasers who are always saying yes to whatever people ask of us, then we end up with no time for ourselves or our family or to clean anything...let alone enjoy something WE would like to do.  On page 24, Regina says "When you start planning your life with an overview, you safeguard two things: your energy and your goals."This has helped TREMENDOUSLY with saying no for me.  I will say I must check my calendar....and that's no lie!  I used to be able to tell you exactly what I had written down everyday.  Once I had written it it was memorized.  Those days are gone!  Now that I schedule everything, including chores and exercise and FUN, I can tell someone no, I'm too booked that day, and I safeguard my priorities and feel much better about myself.

This scheduling also helps me build a routine.  A routine shouldn't be thought of as a rut, but more like a timesaver and for me once my routine is done for the day, the rest is wide open for myself, my family or helping others...whatever happens to come up that day.  I like to go to the pool 3 mornings a week, then I run errands if I have any while I'm out.  When I get home I hang up my wet stuff, and put away anything from my errands.  Then I pick up throughout the house and vacuum.  If it's a crock pot night, I will then get it going and clean the kitchen; if not I wait to clean the kitchen as I'm cooking dinner.  In between I get to read or blog or maybe volunteer.  Two of the days that I don't go to the pool, I get up and get straight to the cleaning.  One days is for bathrooms and mopping and the other is for laundry, bills and cleaning the laundry room.  That leaves two days of the week.  One day is purely for fun with my family, and the other for for church and whatever may follow.  

It's important, though, to have the family on board.  Have a family meeting and agree to assign everyone their own routine and keep it posted on the fridge, or in a three ring binder kept in one place if you don't like stuff on the fridge.  I have this paper calendar that has 4-5 blocks for each day of the week.  It's magnetic so it's on the fridge.  You could have one block for each member of the family and maybe it's for a chore, or for soccer practice, etc.  Just an idea.

I like what Regina says on page 27.  "Whatever is used must be returned to the spot where it came from."  If you have followed my blog, you'll know that I have talked about author Sara Horn's "one touch rule" that her mother-in-law has in her house.  If everyone followed this at all times, house cleaning would be so easy!!  It's very simple, if you use something, or read it, or move it, etc YOU are responsible for putting it back where it goes.  This would virtually eliminate clutter!  I know if we would follow through with it for everything, all I would ever do would be the basic cleaning of all areas.  I know sometimes, especially after one of us has been sick, or maybe so busy we touch and run, that there is a ton of clutter around the house.  Not only does putting it away then take a long time, just looking at it can be depressing.  Trying instituting a one touch rule at your house and see how it goes.  Maybe along with it institute a quarter jar.  If you don't follow through with a one touch rule, you have to pay a quarter....and you still have to put it away.  Then maybe donate the quarters or something.  It might make it stick a little faster especially with kids if they have to give up some spending money.  Again, just an idea.

Next week we start in the kitchen....I can hardly wait!

Until Next Time.....

Franny