A New Year, a new resolve to try harder to stay on top of things and keep the 10 balls juggling in the air. :) Last year wasn't perfect - but I feel like I was able to stay on top of things better than previous years. Super-husband and I had the discussion the other day - it seems like the busier I am - the more on top of things I am - how crazy is that?! I certainly don't want to invite more "busy-ness" into my life, so for now I'll try to take advantage of some resources that have helped me. (Note: I'm not paid or compensated in anyway to say what I am about these services/products - but I thought I would share them with you) :)
Erin Condren planner: First off, I will say that I do think these are on the expensive side. For months, I read all the hype in blog land about how great they were; how beautiful they were; and then around March of last year I found a discount code and decided to go for it. I'm not sure if I used it because it was the most expensive calendar I had ever bought in my life & I didn't want the money to go to waste or because it really worked for me.
I like that each day is divided into Morning, Day, Evening -- 3 blanks boxes to fill as you wish - I like to put my "to-do's" for the day in those boxes. Additionally, on the side of the week lay-out, there is list for "to-do's" -- here I put my list of "would like to get done" -- it helps keep items on my "radar" and if I get to them great. It's a little on the larger size compared to another planners - but they have some really cool design and personalization options to make up for that. :) I didn't order one for 2013 but I put it on my Christmas "wish-list" and was happy to unwrap it from my brother.
Meal Planning: I did meal-planning
off and on during last year. I subscribed to
5 Dinners in 1 Hour. It was a great way to get a list of meals that weren't in my regular rotation. She includes a shopping list and directions to make the meals ahead of time. This was a huge time-saver when I was taking night classes. She offers three different types of menus: classic, clean-eating, and gluten free. Not sure if it is for you or not, you can view a
free week on her website. Not only does this help with meal-planning, but I found it helped with grocery spending too.
In addition, I came up with a list of around 32 tried and true meals for us. In October, I tried to meal-plan the entire month & do one big grocery shop. The one thing I didn't account for was how many meals would leave us leftovers, so on a good note - we didn't even go through all the meals I had planned. Pinterest was another source of inspiration. I had a
new recipes board of eats that sounded yummy & delicious, but I found inspiration for meal planning too and created a
meal planning board.
Household cleaning: Once again, PINTEREST helped me find a system that worked for me. I don't use it every week or follow it religiously. It's a very reasonable plan and time efficient too.
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| Not sure who to give credit too - the link on Pinterest is a dead link. |
Also, I try to email my pals (A&S) a list of to-do's that I would like to get accomplished each evening. Sometimes, this proves to be very productive for me and other times I'm flat out lazy - either way, I have to report back to them the next morning. Accountability! If you are looking to organize your home, I recommend
A Bowl Full of Lemons organization challenge.
These are just a couple of things that help keep me on-track. I can honestly say when I try to follow the cleaning plan or meal planning plan, I am less-stressed and more balanced. Do you have any tips for staying organized?
