Well Planned Life

It’s been just about a year since first mentioning my  Spirituality Notebook .    I have made a few small changes, which one of my readers asked me to go over.    You can read the background of this book in the linked post above, but to sum up the major details, the notebook I’m using for this purpose is a traveler’s notebook made by  Ray Blake , and its purpose is to focus on things that I’m grateful for, things that I’m concerned about, and quotes that motivate me.    This notebook also houses projects and notes related to my church, as I am involved in a few committees there.    Having all things spiritual in once place is great.    Plus, I find that it’s a great use for this awesome book! First, I have three sections in my (regular size) book. Inside the front cover of the book, there is a small pocket, which I use to keep lined Post-its for random notes and a business card from the Goulet Pen Company . ...

Those of use who are Type A like to get stuff done.   In fact, that’s one of the traits of being Type A, among so many others.   Our qualities aren’t always seen as a good thing , but we keep on keepin’ on because, let’s face it, that task list isn’t going to get itself done. But when is being productive bad for you?   The short answer is when it takes its toll on the body. Last weekend was busy for me.   It was not my ideal weekend .   I had a meeting on Saturday morning that went quite a bit longer than I expected, I had dinner plans for the evening, and between those two events, I rushed around trying to get groceries bought and put away and clean up the kitchen.   I did nap, but not nearly long enough.   On Sunday I went to church and was there longer than I expected.   My plan for after church was to clean whatever was on the rotating list . But by the time I got home, I was so dog-tired.   Not just sleepy, which I was,...

I recently read two posts from Penelope Loves Lists that resonated with me deeply.   The first, “ I’m ‘Overly Organized’ and Other Myths We Tell Ourselves ,” gives voice to something I have come across so often, I can’t even tell you how many times I’ve experienced it.   I highly recommend reading the original post to get the full picture, but the main idea is that being organized is often seen in a negative light.   And the question is, why is that?   Moreover, why do we accept it? The post highlights certain words that are often used to describe those of us who are organized, words such as controlling, perfectionist, anal, OCD, neat freak, worry wart, and rigid, among others.   All of the above have been used to refer to my personality and not necessarily in a good way. While many people are in awe at my organizational and time management skills, many of those people also see these things as a downfall.   They seem to feel that being so hold...

A couple of weeks ago, I attended a meeting.   We had a guest speaker come in to talk to the group.   The first thing I noticed about this woman was the huge planner she was carrying.   She carried it in the crook of her arm, not stowed away in a bag.   Naturally, I got excited, hoping to see this planner in action. Once we all sat down, I could tell that it was a Franklin Covey binder , something along the lines of their Classic size .   It was black and shiny and wonderful.   It looked very new, which was confirmed once she opened the binder to that day’s inserts—the Monticello two pages per day , to be exact, with the matching tabbed months interspersed throughout.   (From what I could tell, she had the entire year in that binder.)   There was nothing written on that day’s pages.   My thought was, “Well it’s new, so I can understand that.   But she doesn’t even have this meeting written in.”   I wasn’t judging, mind you. ...

I have been using a compact binder since 2011 .   True, not necessarily the same binder for all of that time, but the compact style, yes.   I did dabble back in the personal when I got Lady Godiva last summer .   And while I was able to use the personal again for that time, I did find that I was putting extra inserts in to fill out those big rings.   And that was the entire point of trimming down to the compact, so that I wouldn’t have to carry things I didn’t need just to fill out the binder. The secret to my compact success is relying on other stay-at-home binders, as they house the information I need at hand for various things, but they aren’t binders that I ever take with me anywhere.   I have my Household Binder , my Happiness Binder (which is in the process of being updated), my Health Notebook , my Spirituality Book , my Knitting Binder , and my Gardening Binder (oh, how I miss flowers!).   All of these separate binders/books allow me to rea...

After last week’s gripe about crazy weekend schedules , I seem to be enjoying an ideal weekend.   I got my errands done early yesterday, I came home to plenty of time for cleaning , relaxing, and getting some necessary (paying bills) and extra (a project I’m working on) things done.   As stated in my post last week, this isn’t typical, so I have been enjoying every minute of my weekend. Since writing last week’s post, I have been very mindful about where my time goes—what I’m doing, both at home and outside of the house—and things I’m committing myself to.   Of course, the weekends aren’t the only time I see chaos.   The weekdays (lately) are just as busy, especially since taking on some volunteer activities.   I’ve had to reconfigure some of my “normal” weekly activities because of this, but that’s okay. Let’s look at a typical (ideal) week for me: Monday Alarm goes off at 5 am; out of bed by 5:15; enjoy my morning coffee 6 am – exercise 7 am...

…about time management. My perfect ideal weekend looks something like this: Saturday morning: get up early to prep for and complete errands Saturday afternoon: cleaning and various other chores around the house, perhaps a nap if there’s time or the need Saturday evening: dinner and a quiet evening at home watching a movie while knitting or dinner out or some other fun social activity with friends or family Sunday morning: a bit of journaling before heading out to church Sunday afternoon: blogging and catching up on other computer work, perhaps a nap if there’s time and/or a need, a bit of reading before prepping dinner Sunday evening: getting ready for the week ahead – weekly planning , ironing clothes – and relaxing The problem is, this weekend rarely—if ever—happens.   Life gets in the way.   Inevitably, something comes up that rearranges my entire weekend.   And I allow for that—after all, what good is life if we strictly live by our own rules al...