The “ToDo List” and I tend to be the best of friends and worst of enemies. Since I am not the task driven, Type A personality, well organized kind of person I need a list to keep me focused and organized. Being the artistically-organized-wanna-be that I am I tried putting together a “Housekeeping Notes” journal but, while it may be useful to some people, I tend to hardly look at it, there's too many dividers and various notes that I find overwhelming. I've tried make notes on scrap pieces of paper, but those seem to either get lost or I forget to throw them away when I am done which leaves me with useless, messy paper piles - particularly on my night stand.
Enter the "1 Subject, 70 Sheets, College Ruled Notebook"! It fit well within my budget (a whole .50 cents!) and my personality. I just make up my daily todo list, which I don't lose since it's bigger and heavier than a single piece of paper and then I get to it. I don't have dividers for the books I want to read, projects I hope to accomplish, company I need to have over, menu planning, etc. because although those are good, I tend to get lost in so many categories. I am better off just looking at my bookshelf for something to read, looking around my house for my never ending list of projects, flipping through the church directory or walking around the 'neighborhood' for people to have over. The one category that I do have a separate paper for is menu planning. While I am still working on learning exactly how to menu plan successfully I am convinced that it is a worthwhile skill and that it will (eventually) save me time and money.
How do/does you/your family stay organized?
If you are the "keeper of your home" what does this look like for you?
If you are a daughter, how does your mother do it? How would you theoretically like to implement the principle of organization in your own home some day?
Oh, Monique! I can so relate! :) The first year & 1/2 of our marriage I had a note pad that I was continually making lists in. I was constantly misplacing the lists, finding old ones, crossing things off etc. Personally I like organizing every little thing, so I started an "Ultimate List" word document on our laptop where I can keep lists of anything & everything (i.e. shopping lists, recipe ideas, gift ideas, books I want to read, household items to purchase, projects I need Michael to do ~ even movie's we want to watch, because we can never remember what we wanted to watch when it's time to watch something ;)! I also keep a "sticky note" on our computers desktop with my daily reminders (housecleaning, cards to write, people to call). So far it has worked great. I prefer these virtual lists as they never get "messy" (all I need to do is press "delete") and they stay in one place. ;) No more shifting through piles of scrap paper trying to find a random address or shopping list.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you found something that works for you! I'd be interested in seeing a post about your menu planning thoughts. Coming from a family of 12, I found that I needed to have a drastically different mindset when preparing food for the two of us. Now, almost 2 years later, I have found many simple, inexpensive & healthy meals that are easy to prepare. I have one simmering on the stove-top right now and need to go and tend to it or I'd ramble on a little more. ;) Pssst! It's sweet onion & red peppers stir-fried w/ fresh ground pepper, salt & soy-sauce. I mix in ground beef & serve on whole wheat pasta with a sprinkle of romano. Voila! ~ Rebekah
Wow! Supper sounds great ;-)
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for sharing what organization ideas work for you! I hadn't thought of using a word document to keep everything organized but that's a great idea!
Menu planning is a skill I am working hard to develop and the results I am trying not to get too discouraged about. My mother was a "fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants" kind of planner, which worked well for our family growing up considering that we were constantly moving, dealing with health challenges and various other upheavals. Unfortunately, I never exactly learned how to schedule and plan very well. So, that's my focus right now - learn to plan well without holding on to a schedule too tightly and don't get too discouraged if it doesn't work as well as I hoped.