Welcome back to Mom's No Chaos Zone!
Day six is introduces the “Catch All Notebook”. This notebook system is totally different than other ways of doing planners/notebooks and it changed my life! I wrote a few articles about the catch all notebook earlier to give you a “crash course.” You can catch it here and see what the big deal is:
Part One — Part Two — Part Three
Try this out! You’ll be amazed! If you want to learn even more about the catch all notebook check out the Make Today Matter Membership site – they’re doing a 14 day free trial right now!
My catch all notebook has just about had it — only a few pages left. When I go running errands today I’m going to grab a new one and transfer my “stuff.”
Ok, day five is about “tolerances” — those little annoying things you deal with from day to day that stress you out somewhat but not enough to actually *do* something about them. They are usually easy fixes… For example not having a wastepaper basket by the desk where you pay bills and stuff and it very slightly irritates you that you can’t just dump the bill carnage as you go but have to stack it up beside you then haul it to the kitchen. Not a big deal, but if you have many of these little tolerances hanging around the stress can build up.
Today I made my list of tolerances. The good news is the list is different than the one I made when I first did this lesson because I worked through that list. I’m supposed to be making a list of these things on a regular basis but … haven’t. Actually the list wasn’t very long so I decided to get ambitious and tackle the biggest one today.
This is the mess on my bathroom ceiling. At the end of winter I noticed a couple little freckles on the ceiling and said, “huh, what’s that?” but didn’t do anything about it. Then the freckles had babies – then the babies had babies…. and so on until we had two large patches of inbred mildew freckle colonies on the ceiling. Not good for allergies or hygene in general. Every time I took a shower I got that twist in my stomach that said — eeeew, I HAVE to do something about that! Well, today was the day!
This is the solution. I looked up getting rid of mold/mildew on walls and ceilings. If you happen to have a similar “issue” in your home here’s the article with the instructions/recipe. So you mix up your solution, you glove your hands, and you scrub…and scrub…. After 20 minutes of scrubbing the ick, I decided I probably should have done this when I saw three teeny speckles up there.
I would post an “after” shot but photo of a clean white ceiling is kind of lame. The article I linked also has tips on keeping the stuff away. You can bet one thing — the first ceiling spot I ever see again will be mercilessly killed on site!
Suggestion for my friends — make your list, then start *small* – like placing a small waste paper basket by your desk. = )
This is a handsome patch of nettles. Roman soldiers would take these plants and smack themselves on their bare backs and limbs with them to help wake up and/or for more energy. The process was described as “stimulating.”
I’d say! Stinging nettles have teeny little hairs coated with formic acid – the same thing that makes ant bites burn. When you brush up against them… or whack yourself repeatedly with a bundle, the little hairs poke that acid right into your skin. Depending on the variety of nettle and your sensitivity you’ll experience a very annoying burning sensation for several minutes to an excruciating rash for several days.
I’m glad I’m not a roman soldier. I’ll take coffee over nettles any morning!
Day four is number crunching from day 2′s “snapshot”, determining what areas in your life you need to focus on this month. My top three areas, in order are my marriage, my health, and taking care of myself. These areas usually aren’t on my top three list of areas needing attention but I can see how they are there now with kiddo’s health concerns/appointments and such taking a large chunk of my time and energy recently. It’s good to know where the best place to start shifting some attention is.
What areas in your life need attention today/this month?
Step three is all about the “three step action plan”. I actually posted the details of this POWERFUL tool here on MNCZ last year. You can read the full article, “Powers of Three” here and start putting it into practice today!
Reviewed step 2, why our efforts/systems fail and what we can do about it and completed “The Snapshot.” For those of you who I’ve done a Life Balance Profile for, the Snapshot is similar to the first phase of the LBP but you do it monthly to keep yourself on track. It keeps you focused on what’s important to you at this exact season in your life. With all the craziness I haven’t done a Snapshot for several months. When I completed this one I compared it to the last one I did and it was much different. I suspected as much since I was feeling so off-kilter. I encourage you MTM-ers to NOT stop doing the snapshot monthly, or AT LEAST every other month. It really does a great job of helping you roll with the changes of life and keep your focus.
If you’re not a Make Today Matter member, think about what is important to you right now, not “in general” or what was in the past or future. Think about right now and this coming month. And think about what is currently NOT working for you in your life too. Write this stuff down! If you want to join me at Make Today Matter, this is a great time to do it. The folks at Make Today Matter just rolled out a 14 day FREE trial so you can see how valuable membership really is before you drop a cent. Click here to check it out.
I reread all the intro information. One of my favorite things about about Make Today Matter is it was created by someone who had tried “everything” and nothing worked for more than two weeks. Someone who’s not naturally “wired” to be organized. That is SO how I was. It’s a nice reminder.
My assignment for today is figure out and write down WHY I’m doing this. If you don’t know WHY you’re doing something, you probably won’t continue. My reasons:
I’m getting rusty in my weekly and monthly planning so things are getting lost in the shuffle. There have been a lot of changes in our family so the things that worked a couple years ago aren’t working as well now. With everything I’m having to juggle – family, school, medical stuff, home business, house, property… I’m starting to “drop” balls and that’s no good, especially when it happens with family stuff. I’m also starting to lose focus which makes my head feel fuzzy and I can’t focus/prioritize so I walk around in a “what do I do first of the 101 urgent things to do?” haze which gives me a slightly fried feeling.
I know things can work better because they HAVE.
Rebooting…..
Have you ever felt like you’ve been sideswiped by life? That’s where I am right now and it’s totally knocked me out of whack. Part of it is there have been major changes in our family that have made our old way of doing things not work anymore so it’s back to the old drawing board.
So… I’m going back to the trusty Make Today Matter membership toolbox and working through day by day like I did in the beginning but this time with the new circumstances in our family. Expected result — a new “system” if you will, for making sure all the most important things are getting done with nothing (and no one) left behind.
I’ll be posting daily on my progress as a means of accountability for myself and hopefully to give you some nice morsels you can use.
Today is Day One!
And you thought you had laundry issues!
Laundry for a family can seem like a never ending chore. There’s always something in the hamper.
But y’know, it could be worse! You could have to wash over 100 horse soldiers’ grubby clothes with one of these like the laundresses of Fort Scott. This picture was taken outside the laundress quarters at the Fort Scott National Historic Site. So the next time you look at a pile of clothes by your washing machine remember this!
One trick that has helped me keep up with the family laundry is putting in a load right before bed. It only takes a few minutes if you throw in something easy. The clothes wash while you’re climbing under the covers and when you wake up in the morning they’re ready to pop into the dryer. If you do this first thing, you’re already one load ahead of the day’s laundry by the time everyone’s done with breakfast! Dry, sort (or have the kids sort!) then have each child take their pile of clean clothes to their room. You might have to check in and make sure they end up in the closet, not piled on a chair – don’t ask my how I know…
If you sort the clothes onto the living room couch, it helps everyone remember to put them away. If a child goes to sit down in the living room you can say “hey, grab those clothes on the couch before you settle down.” Your clean clothes don’t end up piling up in the laundry room setting in wrinkles if they are in a place where they can’t be ignored. I’d love to hear your laundry tricks!
Things have been really quite here lately. I’ve been taking a break due to a family illness but plan to get things back on track here and with the newsletter now! Thank you SO much to everyone who has sent little encouraging notes!
Jenn = )
Here we go again! This Thursday challenge is going to be about spring cleaning and we have a really great prize.
The topic is “What is spring cleaning going to be for you this year?”
- A time do get a much needed whole house cleaning done to get your house under control?
- A time to do some yearly or infrequent chores and spring is just a good time to get them done?
- A time to dig into some exterior house/yard projects to get your home ready for spring/summer?
- Time to get some gardening started?
- None of the above?
Take some time to figure out what needs to happen for your “spring cleaning” this year. Make a plan and come share what you’re going to be doing!
At midnight I’ll randomly pick a winner from all commenters to receive a copy of Marica Wilwerding’s awesome new e-book The Spring Tea Planner so you can plan a celebration for all your hard work! This is a really great book – to learn more, check out my review of The Spring Tea Planner!
What are you waiting for? Get going! = )
Have you ever asked someone, “How in the world do you get it all done?” I get asked this question all the time. I just finished a new resource that answers the “how do you get it all done” question after thinking over the past 19 years of being a busy mom. (is there any other kind?)
You can get this resource for FREE – check it out here!
If you’re a MNCZ Newsletter subscriber make sure you take a peek at the next newsletter – I’ll have a linkie for you to download it too!
March is National Caffeine Awareness Month!
In honor of this observance, here are a few links to make you more aware of tasty ways to consume caffeine.
Want to save a few $$ on your fancy coffee treats? Check out this article on making your own at home. Starbucks beware!
Want your espresso to taste more like the storebought variety? Here are some great tips!
Not all coffee is of hot variety. Iced coffee is one of my favorites. Learn how to make it here!
Do you have a favorite caffeine source? Please share by posting a comment!
Not sure if this is the original intent of caffeine awareness month, but hey, we want to present the other side of the story, right? <g>
Ok, to balance things out, here is the Caffeine Awareness Site which has all sorts of info in caffeine, including how to tell if you’re overdoing it.
Family meal times are a great way for your family to connect at the beginning or end of the day. Unfortunately the dining room table can be a major clutter-catcher. How is your dining room table looking? Take some time today to clear it off and make it a pleasant place to have dinner tonight. If your table is already clean kick it up a notch and find something attractive for a table decoration. You don’t have to spend any money. If you’re lucky enough to have some blooming flowers already, pick some and put them in a pretty vase or a quart sized canning jar. (we use both!) Or recycle some decor from storage. Your imagination is the only limit!
When you’re done, come back and post a comment! If you have a blog feel free to post pictures and links. At midnight tonight (March 4th) I’ll pick out one commenter to receive a Night Owl Devotions package. I can’t wait to hear about what you do!
Have fun!!!
Have you ever wanted to have a fun tea party for just you and your little girls or for your ladies group but didn’t know where to start? This 54 page e-book is a well thought out, highly readable, practical, and attractive resource you are sure to treasure! I generally don’t print out e-books, but the Spring Tea Party Planner is going on my zip drive and down to the copy shop for printing. This e-book is worthy of printing and coil-binding. And it’s not just pretty – it contains all the basics you need to know to host any size tea party including recipes, suggestions for themes and decorations, and recreation.
