Weekly Planning

Weekly planning is essential for me.  Without it nothing gets done.  And even though I lay out a detailed plan for the week the actuality of it working out that way is pretty slim.  However, it does give me that solid base I need to get the things I need and want to do accomplished. 



Last summer I set up my Home Management Binder.  I had versions of this in many different books and binders around the house and I finally consolidated it all into one.  Although it took a little getting used to it is so much nicer having everything in one place.  I also like customizing my day planner pages for the month. 



I normally like to plan for the week sometime over the weekend.  However this weekend was busy from start to finish and I didn't get time to plan.  So, this morning after my quiet time I grabbed my Home Management Binder, a cup of coffee and headed to my office.  I updated my planning sheets for February and got busy planning my week.


Once I got my week fairly organized I decided to keep going.  I made a new section in my Home Management Binder called "Holiday Planning".  With Valentines Day coming up and then hubby's birthday and then our anniversary I wanted somewhere to put down all the plans I have in my head.  I started with Valentines Day and on one side I put down each person I was doing things for and what I was planning.  On the other side I had a running shopping list that I added to as I went through my plans and supplies.

Although I ended up spending a good portion of my day in the office it felt good to have a solid plan in writing.  Now that I have all my ideas out of my head onto paper I can start thinking and planning my next project.

"Organizing is what you do before you do something, so that when you do it, it is not all mixed up."
(A.A. Milne)

Scheduling Again

With hubby now finished his shift work for awhile and back onto a regular day schedule I once again had to revisit my daily schedule.  Sometimes I think I can get by without it, I mean by now you would think I should have mastered what needs to get done, when and how long it takes.  Well, I have discovered that without my schedule firmly in hand very little seems to get accomplished.  I really do not know what happens to the time but it seems to evaporate with nothing to show for it.  So today I sat back and revisited our daily schedule and once again revised it to loosely fit our ever changing lives.

There are many different ways to lay out the daily schedule.  I know some people who have a general list of things that need to get done each day.  I have tried this and it just does not work for me.  I tend to be overly ambitious with my list of things and never even get halfway through before I'm burned out and discouraged. 

So I have found that what works best for me is my day planned out in half hour segments.  It helps me keep my schedule realistic in what I can do.  I still have the tendency to overbook my days and not leave myself enough "down" time but I am learning.  The one consistancy I have found is that every time I revise our schedule I always wish there were more hours in my day.

"Time is free, but it's priceless.

You can't own it, but you can use it.

You can't keep it, but you can spend it.

Once you've lost it you can never get it back."

~Harvey MacKay~

A Little of This & That

After the busyness of last week I have to admit that I crashed this week.  Today is the actually the first day where I feel more like my normal self again.  So, today was a busy day with a lot of it being catch up.

While I was having some down time this week I did work on my schedule, tweaking it once again.  My daughter has been working for about a month now and there is a pattern to her work hours.  That has been most helpful in adjusting my schedule around her work and still being able to get her school work done.  As well, I had spots in my schedule for "extra cleaning".  That time was to be used for all those extra things like cleaning walls, cupboard, fridge, stove, etc.  Unfortunately, it just wasn't happening.  So now I have put the specific jobs into the schedule.  No more "extra cleaning" in the schedule.  Now there are specific jobs to do like dust blinds in the living room.  I am hoping this will keep me more focused.

I also cleaned up and put away all the outside fall decorations.  My house looks naked - lol.  I am hoping to take a day this next week and start putting up some outside Christmas decorations with hubby.  There is snow in the forecast though so I guess I will have to wait and see how it all works out.

Juggling

What a day it is turning out to be.  It seems that just as things are running smoothly and you're getting into a comfortable routine, things change.  Even with hubby on shifts we do get into a rhythm, but now with my son going from full-time to part-time work and our daughter starting a part-time job that rhythm has been disrupted.  I seriously think there should be a mandatory juggling course for mothers because I am going to have to become a master juggler of our schedule as we will be schooling around my daughter's work and activity schedule as well as juggling hubby and sons schedule.  To make it just a tad more interesting, hubby has been called in alot because of the many problems they're having at his job.  Like this morning, he ended getting called into work because of problems and they just have too many inexperienced guys who can't fix the problems.  They're learning but it is a process.  In order to handle all the changes to my rhythm I need to be diligent with my schedule but flexible in juggling things around.  It may mean moving things around, changing things from one day to another, and saying no to some other things.  This is not my natural bent, not at all.  It is going to be a challenge, a challenge that will make me a better wife, mother and person. 



Scheduling

Scheduling.  I love to schedule.  Give me a cup of tea, a pen and an empty planner and I am in a state of pure delight.  For me, planning and scheduling is total relaxation.   However, life doesn't always cooperate with my detailed scheduling and once my schedule gets derailed then, most times, so do I.

"Plan the work and work the plan."

I am not sure who said that but I am great with the first, not so great with the second. 

It is time once again to redo my master schedule as dear hubby will be starting shifts next week.  With his rotating shifts each week is always different.  The past few weeks I have been using a format that is less detailed and it has been working for me but with the upcoming changes I think I will benefit from the more structured approach for the next little while.

So, this is roughly what my schedule will look like for the week.

7:00 am  AM Routine (laundry, make coffee, dressed, devotions, etc)

8:00 am  Make breakfast

8:30 am  Breakfast

9:00 am  Walk dog

10:00 am  Clean kitchen / Make soup or bread as needed

10:30 am  Shower

11:00 am  School time

12:00 pm  Lunch

1:30 pm  School time

2:30 pm  Clean bathroom, Empty garbages, General clean-up around house

3:00 pm  School time (if needed) / Break

4:00 pm  Floors

4:30 pm  Supper prep / Bake

5:00 pm  Fold and put away laundry  

5:30 pm  Finish supper prep

6:00 pm  Supper / Clean up

7:00 pm  Extra household cleaning

9:30 pm  Tea Time

10:00 pm  PM Routine

10:30 pm  Lights out

Like, I mentioned, this is a general outline but it should give me a good framework to plan each day around.

While the sun was shining yesterday I went out and took a few fall pictures around the yard as we have rain in the forescast for the next 4-5 days.

I am thrilled this year with the vine as normally it gets eaten up by the aphids.  It is so beautiful in the fall.

Today was errand day but yesterday, as part of trying to make my evenings more productive, I baked a cake.  I let it cool overnight and iced it this morning.  Supper went in the crockpot and the breadmaker was set.  It was so wonderful to come home after a long, cool, wet day of errands and shopping to a hot, home-cooked meal, fresh bread and of course, delicious cake for dessert.

 

Well, it is time to start winding the day down.  I will light some candles, make some hot chocolate for the family and sit down for some quiet time with my x-stitch, or maybe my planner.

A schedule defends from chaos and whim. It is a net for catching days. It is a scaffolding on which a worker can stand and labor with both hands at sections of time.
(Annie Dillard)