January 2013 Challenge {Time Management: Week 5}

This week {across all challenges} it's all about sharing what you've accomplished this month!

If you have a blog {or other way to share a URL}, you can share through the link manager below. If you do not, you can comment on this post to share.

January 2013 Challenge {Time Management: Week 4}

Confession: I'm not very good at planning for the future. I'm stuck in the present. There are a few ways that I setup my "future self" for success.

Google Calendar
Okay, so I know I've talked about Google Calendar a lot already, but the reminder and repeat event features are amazing. I have birthdays set up with both in my GCal. All I had to do was set up the birthdays once a few years ago, set them to repeat yearly, and add a 7 day in advance email reminder. Now I can send out cards - on time - every year.

Monthly Calendars
I have lots of printed monthly calendars - bills, curriculum planning, personal planning - to name a few. I print the whole year at once so that I can write anything that comes up down right away. No excuses with Post-It notes all over the place anymore. =]

Monthly Checklists & Yearly Planners
I like to plan out major cleaning and organizing projects by month for the year. Everything gets a deep clean once or twice a year, depending on need. When I assign each month a task, it makes everything more manageable and ensures it gets done. I've created an annual planner document to share with you! I use it to plan out my monthly to-dos, such as cleaning schedules, blogging themes for each month, etc.

Your challenge today is to plan out projects, events, etc. for the year that you're currently aware of or in need of planning.

January 2013 Challenge {Time Management: Week 3}

I like having a routine, as I'm sure most people may. I like knowing that everyday, during the week, I get up at 5 a.m., leave for work at 6 a.m., arrive at 6:30 a.m., and my day goes smoothly from there. If this routine is thrown out of place, my whole day feels off.

Yesterday, this routine was thrown out of place. I can't get into the school until 7 a.m. this week due to maintenance. I tried to sleep in yesterday...and failed miserably. It threw off my whole day. Things just felt strange. I know it's not a huge deal, but I'm a creature of habit - I like a routine. I like predictable.

Now I know routines/schedules are not for everyone. To each their own. Routines/schedules can be helpful though if you are forgetful {like me}, need to better manage your time {like me}, or have a to-do list the size of Texas {like me}.

While I have my daily work-related routines, I also have a schedule at home for things to accomplish each day of the week so I don't feel so overwhelmed.

Mondays are for finance review and grocery shopping.
Tuesdays are for cleaning the kitchen.
Wednesdays are for cleaning the bathroom.
Thursdays are for cleaning the bedroom & living room.
Fridays are for blog planning.
Saturdays are for relaxing.
Sundays are for meal planning, laundry, and school planning.

It works for me. Creating this weekly schedule keeps me sane and on top of the important home management areas in my life. There wasn't a lot put into creating this schedule. I just picked out the areas that I was struggling with at home and things that I knew needed to be taken care of on a weekly basis.

Your challenge for today is to designate certain days of the week for a specific task or area. What areas in your life need prioritizing once a week?

January 2013 Challenge {Time Management: Week 2}

Daily schedules aren't for everyone - I get that. I only have one during the summer when I'm off from school so I'm not on my computer all day and night. =]

If you find yourself wasting a lot of time throughout the day, then you may want to assess and prioritize your time and then create a daily schedule for yourself. Last January I actually covered both of these topics in a the January 2012 challenge. Both posts have free printables to help you with this process.

Money Saving Mom has a really great series on Time Management 101.

Today's challenge is to create a daily schedule, if it's something that will work for you!

January 2013 Challenge {Time Management: Week 1}

It seems like a never ending battle between time and my never ending to-do list. I used to have an amazing memory and never needed a list or calendar to remember anything. Not so much anymore - and maybe it's just because life is busier now than it was previously.

Here are some essentials I need to manage my time. I am not saying that my household or life runs perfectly - it definitely does not. My personal essentials make life a little less hectic for me.

1. Weekly Calendar
I've tried tons of planners. I loved the BusyBodyBook, but they discontinued them this year. What I liked so much about it was the freedom to assign the columns to different areas of my life. I had the Erin Condren Life Planner for 2012. It was beautiful and I enjoyed the personalized cover and bright colors. I did not enjoy the way it was set up by time of day. Being a teacher and planning my {work} day in my school plan book, I didn't have things to write in the morning/day sections. I don't want to plan by time of day or by hour {like most other planners do}. I just want to write down what I need to do and if I have a specific time for it, I'll write it in myself.

I was going to make my own planner for 2013, but life just got the best of me last year, so I didn't have the time. {Maybe for 2014?} I bought a planner from Sam's Club a few months ago, which was similar to the BusyBodyBook, but it wasn't durable and was cheaply made - that's already made it's way out the door. Last week I finally just purchased a dotmine planner. I got it on sale and just wanted something basic. My inability to read the details left me surprised when it arrived in the mail and is the size of a regular sized notebook. Not really what I wanted, but I don't tend to take my planner with me, so it will be fine. {Pro - it gives me more space for writing!} Another thing - it had August 2012 - December 2012 in the front. I tore those out. I don't really understand why planners come 17 month. Every time I purchase a new one, I have 5 months I won't use in the front because I actually wait until December to purchase. Oh well. It was an easy fix!

I use my weekly calendar mostly for planning ahead. I don't keep planners at the end of the year to look back at, so I'm only every writing down things I absolutely need to remember in the future. The first things I penciled in were online professional development courses I signed up for that start in different months throughout the spring.

2. Monthly Calendar

I use a monthly calendar to write down due dates and payment amounts of bills. I also started {for this month} planning my blog posts ahead of time on a monthly calendar. Why I never thought to do this before, I don't know. Now I don't need to think each day about what I'll blog about. I can just look at the schedule. {While writing the schedule, it felt as if I was meal planning, really.}

The calendar I'm using for blog planning is just plain black and white and is vertical instead of horizontal. If you're interested in downloading, you can get it free here.

3. Google Calendar
Why use an electronic calendar when I already have a few forms of paper calendars? Collaboration. I share my Google Calendar with my husband. We both get email alerts, 7 days in advance, for birthdays and bills. That's about all that I use it for at this point. I'd love to eventually switch to electronic planning completely since I can access it from anywhere - my Surface, iPad, any computer, my smartphone, etc. {That can be a goal for this year? Maybe...}

4. Weekly Plan
This is new to me. I've used my daily plan document in the past, but I just don't need a page a day. Last week I purchased The 2013 Confident Mom Weekly Household Planner. {It's currently available this week only as part of the Bundle of the Week with 4 other eBooks for $7.40 for the bundle. Wish I would have waited! I didn't know it would go on sale!} I really like the whole purpose of it. But, being that I don't have any kids and I live in an apartment without many household "spaces", I've taken the basic setup of it and tweaked it for my needs. I also made it straight black and white since I'll be printing it every week. What I love about my weekly plan is all of those little things I never think to do each week {change the dish towel, clean the microwave, etc.} I can leave on the document and change the things that are a one time deal. I also created my plan in PowerPoint, so I can easily duplicate the page and make the changes I need without creating multiple documents for each week. This way, I can look back at the last time I completed certain tasks. This plan is genius because I've added simple things to do each day during the week that will help keep our place tidy. Taking the 5 minutes to wipe down the refrigerator every other week will definitely keep it from having to be it's own task during spring cleaning. =] {Due to copyright, I can't share my version of it since it's so similar.}

5. A {Practical} Routine
I generally have issues with "practical". I always expect too much, too soon - and that's why things don't work out. Goals, routines, etc. always tend to fall through the cracks with me. This year, with a practical routine, they won't. My whole "mantra" for this year is "let go". I want to let go of the past, what I can't control, and stress. Things have been really great for the last month, and I only see it getting better. I've already let go of things that I was trying to stuff on my plate in my every day life - which has made my routine more practical.

Today's challenge is to choose a time management tool - any that I've mentioned or anything else that works for you - and tweak it so it works for you {and your family}. Besides, what's the point in using any time management tool if it causes stress and wastes more time than it saves?

Free Printable: 2013 Calendar

I've had several emails asking if I was going to create a 2013 calendar to share on my blog. Honestly, I wasn't going to. I was selling it in my Etsy store only, but want to share for free now.

Please DO NOT download the file and then upload it anywhere online. I had this happen a bunch of times throughout 2012, which is why I waited so long to share the 2013 calendar. The first time I find it elsewhere on the internet, I'm going to take it down. Please just don't do it. You may pin the image on this post to share the calendar with others, though.

 

Finances & Home Information Binder: Bills & Calendar

For the last two weeks {seriously} I have been working on a new binder. Since creating my home management binder back in September 2011, I've changed the way things need to work for me. I don't have a family with children, so I feel there are many things that are truly just not important for me to worry about tracking at this time. Also, we've decided to tackle our massive student loan debt, the smart way {as opposed to the long way...of just paying minimum payments for 15 - 30 years}. It just makes sense to rethink the home management binder idea - for us - and revamp what and how we track.

Disclaimer: Don't take any of my "finance" related posts as expert advice. I'm not claiming to be an expert. Eh, I'm far from it actually. This post...and the few that are coming up next...is purely for me to show you how my husband and I handle our finances. We're a financial mess, but this is how we organize it in style.

{Due to not wanting to blur out all of our financial info, I'm just going to show you screen shots of the forms I used, where applicable. I'll use actual photos where I can.}

The very first section in my binder is bills. It just makes sense since my main focus is, well, paying them...on time. I'm pretty good at it, but I could plan better. Here are the forms I have in this section.

bill & payment checklist

Front and center. If I can check it off, I can ensure I've paid it - or scheduled it to be paid.

irregular payments for bills & memberships

Life saver. Truly. We all have those bills that are paid once a year, bi-yearly, quarterly, etc. I like to know ahead of time when things are due, rather than 30 days {or usually less} before it's due. This form is the best reminder for me. I can cancel memberships before they auto-charge if I don't want to renew. I can have the money saved up so we're not charging the cost because we forgot the bill was coming.

We also have a savings account called "bi-yearly bills". No joke. This is where I save money for all of these things. The biggest deal for me is auto insurance. I don't want to pay extra because I choose to go monthly rather than bi-yearly. I have the money every time. Smartest money idea I've ever had. {If you don't think it's that genius, fine. But just think...that means I'm truly not a financial goddess. Wish I was, but not even close...yet.}

The next section is simply calendar. I have a printed copy of my free 2012 monthly calendar in this section. And now that I look for it...I realize I never shared the current one I'm using...just 2 others. I keep changing my font preferences, I guess. You can purchase the new calendar, along with the 2013 set, for just $5 in my Etsy store.

Anyway... here's a sample picture of how I use the calendar. I color code paychecks coming in on the day they pay and how much {since we're salaried}. Then I color code bank accounts and write down bills as I pay them or schedule them. That way I know what account they're coming out of and when. Yet, another idea I think is brilliant.

I'll be back tomorrow - yes, seriously...on a Saturday - with the next three sections: budget, income, & business expenses. {Click here to read the next post.}

And, in the meant time, if you're wondering where you can get such amazing forms like these, let me tell you. I spent the last two weeks working on a new set with this new font. Maybe not new, new, but new from what I usually use. It's called GeosansLight. This whole set, called fiances & home information set, has the same usual colors I use, but this new font. It's on sale for $30 until Sunday, July 8. {Plus...if you've been paying attention...there's a 20% off code in a post from earlier this week that's still good until Sunday. So you could potentially only pay $24.}

January Challenge: Planning and Delegating Tasks

Sometimes tasks and projects become bigger than we can handle on our own. They require one or two things: a plan and/or someone to help you.

Planning tasks and projects can be as easy adding it to your to-do lists or something that takes more thought and preparation. 99% of my tasks and projects are simple enough that I don't need to plan them out. I've created a project planning page to help you with this planning process. I know down the road when I have a house I'll use this project planner all of the time.

The project planner document is perfect for planning out an actual physical project (such as building a new desk) or planning out an organization overhaul on a specific room (such as your office that looks like a tornado came through). The last box on the document - called "envision it" - can be used for more notes, photos from magazines, or a sketch or diagram that you've come up with.

project planner

Delegating tasks and projects can make your life easier and less stressed. Sit down with your spouse and/or family and decide who can do what to help take the complete home work load off of you. After all, you made a list of things you'd like to spend more time doing. If you try to do everything yourself, you may never get to do what you enjoy. Delegate! Take advantage of your children being able to complete some tasks themselves or for you if they're old enough. It teaches responsibility and it's a great way to get them involved in helping out the running of your household. {On a side note: I love how Dave Ramsey talks about his children helping out around the house when they were young and earning a commission. What a great way to teach children about money and responsibility. (You can read more about it here.)}

Delegate tasks to your spouse. After all, there are truly some things that our spouses do better than us. Why shouldn't we take advantage of that? Here's a free honey-do list for delegating tasks to your spouse.

honey-do list

Ladies: pay close attention, because I'm about to let you in on a little inside tip. Men need and want a "complete by" time for tasks we're delegating to them. My husband sent me this article that was linked via Yahoo, and told me that tip #3 was definitely one of the most important things he wanted me to remember. Since I've read this article from Woman's Day, I've been telling that tip to people all of the time, and they think that it's not really something that's as important as I'm leading it on to be...until they ask their spouse. Then I'm told that I was right. Trust me on this one!

So, your homework for this week's challenge is to finish categorizing and creating your lists (from Monday's post), plan out tasks and projects that need more than just a reminder on a to-do list, and delegate tasks to others in your household. I know you can do it!

Only one week left before the January Challenge comes to an end. Remember: there will be a post on January 26, allowing you to share your progress and enter a giveaway for an amazing prize that goes along with this month's challenge, and will fit hand-in-hand with next month's challenge (which you will all love by the way). To share your progress you can simply leave a comment telling me what you've accomplished this month, related to the challenge. If you have a blog and want to post about it on there and share the link, I'd love to see what you've been up to!

Keep up the good work! Get ready for monthly organizational challenges for the rest of 2012 by finishing up January's challenge with a great schedule, to-do lists, and sense of relief from fixing your time crunch hunch. I'll be back next Monday with the last January Challenge task post!

January Challenge: List Making 101

One of the biggest reasons people become overwhelmed when it comes to completing projects/tasks is from not planning effectively. Many people choose to make lists of things they need to accomplish, whether it be goals, tasks, projects, or events. That's a good start.

When I used to make lists, I would do so on a simple lined piece of paper. No title at the top to tell me what the list was, just a list, filling every line, in multiple columns...it was exhausting to look at. I'd create the list and keep adding to it all week, setting the goal to accomplish the tasks/projects on the weekend. By the time Friday rolled around, my list was huge and I had no idea where to start. I spent more time reading over the list to choose what to accomplish next, than I did actually accomplishing anything. (Sound familiar to anyone?)

The secret to great list making is simple...

Start off thinking about the different parts of your life that require you to complete tasks/projects and make a quick list. I have chosen the following areas to focus on: school (work), organizing & cleaning, blog, etsy, and general. (General isn't the best "area" of focus, but for me, it works. I know exactly what is "allowed" on the list, and what isn't.)

You can also choose to categorize your lists by thinking of the following questions:

• Who? Who needs to complete the tasks or projects? (This is where delegating comes in handy!)
• What? What needs to be completed? What category can you place your tasks under?
• Where? What areas of your home or life do these tasks/projects belong to?
• When? When do the tasks/projects need to be completed by? You could always create monthly to-do lists for something like this. "When" lists can also be as simple as time of day or day of the week.
• Why? For some people, categorizing by the "why" (reason) they're completing the tasks/projects is more motivating. For example, a travel to-do list...the motivation is your vacation, the tasks are those that you must complete before going.

Each area that you chose needs it's own list. I have created some basic to-do lists for you to have for free. (Click the photo or caption below the photo to download.)

organizing & cleaning to-do list

to-do list

work to-do list

Now that you've created your areas of focus, you can begin making your lists!

Here are some additional tips for list making:

• Categorize. If you don't have the need to create large lists like these, then you should at least categorize the smaller lists you have. It allows you to focus on one area at a time, and not become so easily overwhelmed.
• Prioritize. When I have projects on my list that I absolutely must complete ASAP, then I will highlight the tasks on the list. You can also use Post-It flags to accent what tasks you need to complete ASAP if you don't want to highlight.
• Laminate the lists. If you laminate your lists (or even just slip them inside a clear page protector), you can use a dry erase marker to write on the list and erase when your task is complete.
• Start with a clean list every month. At the end of every month, I start over with a fresh, clean list. If something has been sitting on my list for a whole month, I reevaluate whether or not the task is actually something I need to complete. If it is, I go and complete it right away (if I have the time). If I don't have the time to complete it, I write it on a Post-It note and put it on my PC. It's not worth it to keep "recycling" the same task over and over again each month and never complete it.
• Don't clutter your lists with daily or weekly tasks/routines. Only use your to-do lists for things that you need to accomplish presently, not things that you do every week anyways. Those tasks belong on a daily or weekly plan.
• Cross or check off what you've completed! It's a nice feeling to do this. It gives you a sense of accomplishment, especially when you look at your list and see all you've done throughout the month.

If a large list just isn't for you, you could also use Post-It notes of different colors to categorize the tasks and then stick them in a designated place. (I, personally, prefer the super-sticky kind of Post-It notes. They're less likely to end up on the floor.)

There are also several note taking apps for smartphones and tablets now. You could always use Evernote, Cozi, or any other note taking app you can find in the app market that works for you. You definitely won't ever lose your lists...unless you lose the password to your account.

I have a program on my PC called Sticky Notes that I've been using for the past week. I really like it because I have different color notes for different parts of my life. I can easily delete what I've done and add new tasks. The downside - no gratification for what you've accomplished. Sometimes it just seems like a never ending list and I forget how much I've actually done.

Using a planner or calendar is also an option for tasks/projects. This may be a good option for you if you're better at completing things if they have a "due date".

Storing your to-do lists is just as important as creating them. You don't want to create a list and then lose it - so you need to choose a place to store them. I keep mine on a clipboard on my desk. The only time they leave my desk (still on the clipboard) is when I'm going around the house, completing tasks. Find a place for your lists, and keep them in that specific place so you can always find them!

I was going to go in to planning tasks and delegating today, but this post seems long enough, so I'll be back this Wednesday with those two topics!

Are you a list maker? How do you keep everything straight without becoming overwhelmed? I'd love to hear how you keep your to-dos in order so they get accomplished!

 

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January Challenge: Creating Schedules and Routines

Why do people use schedules and routines?

Anyone...?

To make life easier! Ya know - less stressful, more relaxing, allowing more time to do what you'd like, etc. (I know, it sounds easier than it seems.) Truth is, it can be easy.

So many people thing a schedule has to be something that's concrete. Sure, when you were in college (or high school), your class schedule was something you had to follow if you wanted to be successful. But again, I use mine as a guideline...or scaffold. It's simply there to help me accomplish what I'd like, but it's not the end of the world if I don't follow it to a T. And it's flexible, so I can change it whenever I want. It's my schedule, after all.

Through the first week and a half of this January Challenge, I've been talking about prioritizing and figuring out what's important to you, and how you'd like to spend your time. Yes, there are things that you must do...especially if you have children. But making time for what's important to you in life will help you accomplish your goals as well.

Think about it - when you're happy (and doing things you enjoy and want to do), you can accomplish more. You're likely to have more energy and motivation to do things in life that will continue to motivate you, make you happy, make things easier for yourself (and your family), etc.

Take out that list of "how I'd like to spend my time". Did you prioritize in order of importance? This can be hard to do, but once you do this, it will be easier to see what your goals are.

I'm not an expert. But I do know that goals are what motivate us to do our best and want what's best for ourselves. Sure, I'd love to lose some weight. (Don't we all want this?) But, I currently don't have a true "goal" or reason for losing it. Last year, I wanted to lose weight for my wedding. It was the easiest goal to accomplish because I had a reason to do it. The wedding was my "goal". I completed this goal, and then felt like I no longer had a goal...so the weight went back on. I don't currently have a goal for losing weight, so it's not a priority. I have other things in my life that are currently more important.

Looking at my "how I'd like to spend my time" list...the most important thing for me is spending time with Chris. The whole "goal" for me is just simply spending time with him. We could be out to dinner, playing a board game, or watching a movie. I really don't care, as long as we're together, enjoying each other's company.

The next goal on my list is planning for school. Now, as much as I want to do this, I need to look at why I want to. I could spend hours planning. I love everything about my job. I especially love looking for things to do to my classroom to make it more "student friendly". Therefore, I'm spending time looking for posters/signs/decoration ideas/learning charts/organization ideas/etc. But, when I sit down and think about it, I have bigger goals in mind. I want to look at the up coming curriculum and find enrichment activities to go along with my lessons. I want to find resources and books to read that will give me insight on ways I can make my writer's and reading workshops more student friendly and effective. It's no longer all about what my classroom looks like. It looks great. It's now more about what is going to be best for my students and help prepare them for third grade. I'm so glad I've found my goal so now I can focus on what I need for my classroom, and stop wasting the extra time on the unnecessary "bonus" stuff. (I'll spend time on things like this when I have time off, not during the week when I have more important things to worry about!)

I could keep going about each goal of mine from my list, but I won't. It would just make for a long post, and it's not getting to the point of this post: creating schedules and routines.

I'll assume that you included things you need to get done on your list - such as cleaning/organizing/paying bills/etc. Sure, you may not want to do them, but you know they're things you must do in order to keep your home a happy, enjoyable place to live. But, if you don't care about having a clean or organized home, don't include it. (Honestly.)

Seriously consider sitting down and scheduling out your time for each day of the week. First put in the tasks/events you absolutely cannot go without doing (children's classes you have to take them to, weekly appointments, sporting events, classes you attend, etc.), then see what you have left for opening time. Create a really loose schedule so that you can move things around and make it work for you and your family. One of the biggest reasons for creating a schedule is so that you can schedule in the things you want to spend your time doing. Fill in those empty spaces with personal goals or things that will make you happy.

This schedule you're creating will help you "do it all" in your home. You'll be able to find the right balance between things you need to do and things you want to do. A happy mom/wife/woman = a happy home. =]

Having trouble creating a schedule? Take a look at your time tracker from the first week's challenge. Is your new schedule matching up with what you were spending your time doing last week? If not, are there some spaces during the week that you've found yourself "wasting time" that you could add in things you'd like to focus on? You may write down "cleaning" every day at noon for an hour because it's "what you've been doing for the last few months/years"...but did your time tracker show that you've been online pinning everything you can find and only spending 15 minutes cleaning? Maybe that time block doesn't work for you with cleaning if you're constantly being distracted. Think about task placement. Perhaps cleaning would be best done early in the morning, or all on one day? Write in pencil and change/rearrange/reevaluate all week!

On a side note: over the summer, I was famous for creating schedules for myself and then setting a kitchen timer so I wouldn't get carried away. This was a life saver...especially when it came to spending time online. Whenever the timer went off (every hour), I would get up and go organize something. I had nothing else to do since I was home all day, but it got me up and moving and doing something I wanted/need to do.

I've created a daily schedule document for you to create a schedule for yourself. I suggest using pencil and changing it as you "live" through your week. Use your schedule as a scaffold or daily reminder of what you'd like to be doing during each time block.

daily schedule

As for routines, use them for creating weekly or daily cleaning plans for yourself. A routine is "a fixed program", something you do over and over again regularly. I like to do laundry every Sunday, so it has become a routine for Chris and me to do so on this day. The sooner you create a routine for yourself (and add it to your schedule), you'll be motivated and willing to keep up with it.

My personal goal this week is to create a schedule for my time after school and add some routine tasks into that schedule. I plan to include cleaning tasks, blogging, reading, spending time with Chris, etc. (other things that are on my "how I'd like to spend my time" list). I will share my schedule with you on Monday.

So...can you handle the challenge and create a loosely based schedule? I know a lot of people are going to have a hard time with this, but just try it. You may surprise yourself and end up enjoying what you've created!

I'll be back next Monday with planning out tasks and projects with lists and by delegating!

Good luck! If you have any questions, please comment or email! (Make sure your email is linked to your profile or leave it in the comment if you'd like a response!)

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January Challenge: Assessing & Prioritizing Time

Over the past week we've spent time tracking our time - seeing where exactly we're wasting it. How'd you do? I had an unusual week, so I feel like I didn't get any really great insight. But, nonetheless, I did waste a lot of time...so I guess maybe it is insightful after all.

On Monday I had the day off, so I spent the day shopping with Chris and then planning and doing school related things for the rest of the day. Waste of time? Besides the shopping, I'd say so, yes. A lot of the school related things are probably truly unnecessary, but they're getting done now, rather than later.

On Tuesday, Chris and I went out for dinner after work and then came home and decided to play board games together rather than get anything else done. Pro: I spent some much needed time with Chris. Con: I got nothing else accomplished that night.

On Wednesday through Friday, every day after work I was consumed by Netflix, watching United States of Tara, with Chris. We fully watched seasons 2 & 3. Wasted time, again, by watching TV. But, I spent the time with Chris. On Friday I came home from school earlier than usual because I'm now sick with a head cold. Due to my sickness, my weekend time off didn't really help me accomplish anything. We did decide to go visit relatives last minute on Saturday, and spent the whole day with them...so on Saturday, I accomplished nothing. And on Sunday, I was feeling my worst, so I did some laundry (SUCCESS!), lots of blogging (I wrote some guest posts for another blog and this post), and school related planning for the week.

Overall, I've realized I'm super lazy and I'm not following my schedules and routines that I've previously established for myself. Time to reevaluate. It's a new time in my life with a new job and no schooling (college courses). It's a new year. I need to decide what is important to me and how I'm going to ensure that I'm happy at home.

This week we're going to look at what we consider to be important to ourselves. How exactly would you like to be spending your time? If you didn't download this week's printable last week, go ahead and do so below. Write down the things you'd like to spend your time doing on a daily/weekly basis.

how I'd like to spend my time

I spend a lot of my time at school. I go in early and stay until 5:30 on most days. It's my choice to do this, and eventually it will cut down as I start to feel good about how my room looks. (I'm still working on the environment and organizing.) I chose not to include school on my time tracker because I know I'm not wasting time there. But now that I'm thinking about it, if I were to leave school even an hour earlier, I'd have more time to do things at home that I want to do. Chris gets home from work around 5:30, so I'm not missing out on time at home with him when I leave at 5:30 each day (I luckily only live 1/2 a mile down the street from my school).

My priority worksheet is below. I don't have a lot that I'd like to do at home each day/week. I listed everything, and then (in the right column) numbered each task/experience in the order of importance. I only wrote down things I want to do. I didn't write down anything that I felt I should do. The things I have to do will be placed into my daily schedule accordingly - these are all things I want to do because they're important to me.

I've been doing a great job with my first priority - spending time with Chris. Planning for school hasn't been an issue - but I do spend too much time doing this. I feel like I don't get to spend enough time blogging during the week. Cleaning and organizing my home hasn't been something I've been very good at lately, but I want to do it and get back into a habit/routine with it. I love being online and reading the blogs I subscribe to, checking my email, searching Pinterest...so I don't want to give it up. But it needs to be focused on a lot less in my day/week, so it's lower on the priority scale. And then lastly, I have reading (books and magazines). I never get to do this. I have so many magazines that end up going in the trash, unread, because I'm months behind. I want to read more, so I think it's important to put it on my list.

Assess what's important to you and prioritize the items on your list. I will be back on Wednesday (this week) with a post on creating schedules and routines. Save this worksheet - you'll need it for Wednesday's post. (You may also want to save the time tracking worksheet as well.)

If you have any questions, please comment or email! (Make sure your email is linked to your profile or leave it in the comment if you'd like a response!)

where I'm linking up this post

January Challenge: Prioritizing & Scheduling

I am so excited to begin our year long journey through monthly challenges to get organized in 2012. I need this just as much as everyone else does.

Over the past few months, I have received tons of emails and comments asking me for advice on where to start with organization, how to keep up, and where to find the time. Going through a change in my life right now, I need to re-prioritize my life so that I can continue to keep my home clean and organized so I feel at peace.

This month's challenge will focus on the following topics:

• Where does your time go? We'll track our time for a week, seeing where it all goes.
• What is important to you, and how would you like to spend your time? After tracking our time, we'll prioritize what we're doing and decide what we'd like to add or do more of.
• Creating schedules and routines. We'll figure it out so you can "get it all done" once and for all.
  
• Planning out tasks and projects with lists and by delegating.
• List making 101. I'll give you ideas on how to create your to-do lists so they get conquered rather than making you feel overwhelmed.
• Anything else I decide to add as we tread through the challenge.

Sound good?

If you'd rather not participate in this challenge because it's not a specific home organization task oriented challenge, that's okay. But you may just like what I have up my sleeve. =]

Week 1: Tracking Our Time

Okay, seriously...I just had 2 weeks off and feel like I accomplished very little. My home is still a mess, my curriculum is still unplanned, and I'm feeling anxious with school starting again on Tuesday. Anyone else have a similar feeling?

I know where my time went - to the internet. Teaching blogs, home blogs, Pinterest, Facebook, etc. I wish I would have started this challenge 2 weeks ago so I could have logged and seen how much time I wasted each day on these things. I know exactly how I would have liked to have spent my time - planning, cleaning my home, organizing, creating printables for my Etsy store, and purging junk to donate or sell.


Starting today, I'm going to track my time for one week. I'm not going to be super picky and write down every single thing I'm doing. I really just want to know how I'm spending the majority of my time. I'm sure Pinterest will show up more than I'd like to admit.

I challenge YOU to join me. I have created two free printables for you to track your time. The first one is for tracking your time with a weekly calendar (this is the one I'll use). The second one is for tracking your time with an hourly calendar for each day of the week. (I would use this one if I was at home during the day, and probably will use it for Saturday and Sunday.) To download, click the link in the caption of each picture.

track your time with a weekly calendar

track your time with an hourly calendar

And while you're completing week 1's task, think about how you'd like to be spending your time. Would you like more "me" time? More time with your family? More time cleaning or organizing your home? I know I often find myself thinking these things when I'm feeling like I don't have enough time in the day/week to complete things.

Believe it or not, time is one of the biggest reasons people won't organize or clean their home. They feel overwhelmed by everything that is going on in their life and don't realize they're "wasting time" doing things they could care less about.

Being an organized person is a personality trait. Not everyone has it in them to innately to keep their home organized and spotless. That's okay. So many people have asked me for advice on how to become a more organized person. You have to want it. If it's something you're truly not interested in, it's probably something you won't keep up with over time. Sure, you could organize a room and feel good about it - but if you're not interested in keeping up with it, it's going to fall apart.

So, if you want to organize your home, great! That can be added to your list of things you'd like to spend time doing.

Actually, I'm going to give you one of next week's printables now so that you can start your list of things you'd like to be doing on a daily/weekly basis. Go ahead and make your list if you'd like, just don't worry about the second column labeled "priority" - we'll get to that next week!

how I'd like to spend my time

Good luck! I'll be back next Monday with Week 2's task. If you have any questions, please comment or email! (Make sure your email is linked to your profile or leave it in the comment if you'd like a response!)