Organizing Your Calendar Part 5

This is the fifth and final installment of my time management series. Today, we are going to put it all together for a complete comphrensive time management system.

1. We started off with Part 1 writing or typing everything we did to gain awareness on how we spend our time.

2. Part 2 looked at lining our time up with our values.

3. In Part 3, we broke down our calendar into usable chunks and

4. Part 4, we talked about the difference between our calendar and our to do list.

Now, that you have all those piece in place, we have to put it all together. Remember that picture of my calendar I posted in the first post?



If you look closely, you will see that each piece of my advice is in play on this calendar. I have everything I do listed on the calendar. I have different colors for each family member and for the different things that I am involved in. I know when and where I can fit in to do list items. The last thing that takes it to another level...

You can import calendars into yours too! You don't want to schedule that romantic dinner right in the middle of the Super Bowl. So, import your favorite sports team calendar. Vacation planning helps when you know the National Holidays with a holiday calendar. And, if you are planning on gardening outside, wouldn't it be nice to know if it is going to rain that day or not? Import a weather calendar for your area to help with this. Keeping track of these details will prevent you from getting double-booked and you will use your time wisely:-)

I hope you found this series to be useful. If you have any questions about managing your time better, feel free to leave a comment here and I will get back to you as quick as I can. Better yet, I started a thread in my Blog Frog Community so that everyone can benefit from the answers to your questions.

Playing along with Wordless Wednesday at 5 Minutes for Mom and Wordful Wednesday on parenting By dummies:-)

I Am Testing

I am testing my seeds today to make sure they are viable for sowing.


If you want to know how to test your own seeds, check out this post:

http://susieshomemade.blogspot.com/2010/01/testing-garden-seeds.html

My Little Star

This week, my youngest was star of the week in her classroom. She played her keyboard for the other children and they loved it! She played every song she knows and they were still asking for more:-)

Playing along wit Wordless Wednesday at 5 Minutes for Mom and Wordful Wednesday on parenting By dummies:-)

Organizing Your Calendar Part 4

We are winding down our series on organizing your calendar. Today, I would like to talk about the dreaded, To Do List! If you are anything like me, it is a mile long. The common question that I get is, "Where do you find time in your busy schedule to even make a dent in your to do list?" My answer is that if your calendar is organized, you will know exactly when you can get stuff done.

Let me start by saying that the words calendar and to do list are not interchangable. Your calendar holds the events of your life and things that you have to complete daily. Your to do list is a collection of tasks that you do periodically or not often like cleaning out a closets or doing your taxes.

As with my calendar, I have my to do list separated into different categories. I have a different list for cleaning, family, gardening, baking, volunteering and business. Then, it becomes a matter of priorities. In the spring, my cleaning to do list takes center stage. Conversely, fall is a big baking time and summer has a lot of gardening. For these priority times, I usually set aside a day to knock those jobs off. For the other items, I fit them in where there are gaps in my calendar. That's why it is important to know when you have time and what you are going to do when those times come.

Lastly, be realistic about how long things take. If you have to completely dig out the mess in your basement, it isn't something you can fit into the 5 minutes before you pick up the kids from school. Set aside a day to knock some of that project off. Be aware of the things that you can get done in 5 minutes. There is nothing more satisifying then marking something off that list but know what you can do and when.

As you can see, tackling your calendar isn't an exercise in futility. It is definitely a necessity and a happy Tackle It Tuesday with 5 Minutes for Mom ! Next week, I am going to finish my series with an advanced class. If you want to take your calendar to the next level, come back then:-)

Speaking of Blow...

My transformer on my giant grow light in my nursery blew!!! I hope my plants can wait for the new one to get here!!

I Blow!!

First time unsupervised with the snowblower...succcess!!! I don't blow, I rock!!

Playing along wit Wordless Wednesday at 5 Minutes for Mom and Wordful Wednesday on parenting By dummies:-)

Organizing Your Calendar Part 3

Last week, I talked about changing your perception of your calendar to help with those emotional barriers to good time management. This week, I want to get back to the practicalities and expand your calendar a little bit to include all that you are responsible for.

Part 1 of this series showed you how to add everything that you do to your calendar. Now, let's break that calendar down into manageable parts. Here is the week view of my basic calendar:



Any events that I share with the family like meals, I put into a family calendar. Simply click "Add Calendar", name it Family and click ok. Then, go into those shared events and change it to the Family calendar. It will look like this:



(If you are doing this with pen and paper, you can highlight the shared events in a different color.)


Now, you are probably asking yourself, what is the point of this exercise? I am an extremely visual person. Therefore, having the different events for different things in different colors, really hits it home with me that certain things take a certain amount of time. When a task is done, it is time to shift gears and do something else. The biggest time highjacker is not letting go and not moving on to the next thing.

So, I guess the message here is make sure that whatever method you use, allows you to see a start AND a finish to all your events and tasks.

As you can see, tackling your calendar isn't an exercise in futility. It is definitely a necessity and a happy Tackle It Tuesday with 5 Minutes for Mom ! Next week, we will tackle the To Do List portion of your calendar.

Winter Parsley?

Riddle me this...

Why is all my indoor parsley dead while my outdoor garden has parsley alive and well under snow?

Out with the Old, In with the New

Don't forget, now is a perfect time to do your year-end filing. I did mine this weekend and I am all ready to start chomping away at this year's bills:-)


Here is what I do:

• I empty all my files into one big folder and label it with the year that just past.
• This folder gets placed in an archive box with the last 6 years of documents.
• Then, I remove the oldest file in that box and shred it.

Now, I have all the documents that I need to retain for the IRS-required amount of time and a filing system that works:-)


This was not so Wordless Wednesday at 5 Minutes for Mom today but more Wordful Wednesday on parenting By dummies:-)

Organizing Your Calendar Part 2

Inspired by my friends, I started this series with Part 1 last week with a look and a start to your calendar. Today, is Party 2 and I would like to focus looking at your calendar in different way. Often, we perceive our schedule as restrictive and something that is just to hard to maintain. However, by just shifting our perception a little bit, time management can actually be freeing and help you to get you what you really want. A well organized calendar will:

1. Show you inconsistencies between your values and how you actually spend your time. Just like other areas of your life (i.e. losing weight, budgeting, etc.), your calendar is all about awareness. That is why I had you go through the exercise of recording everything you do. Once it is laid out in black and white (or in colors:-), you can see where your priorities lie. The key is getting your calendar in line with your values. If a clean house is your priority, that is what will show up on your calendar. If you value your job, your time will be consumed by your career. If your kids are number 1, guess who will be on your agenda? The problem with those who are unsatisfied with their time management is that their values do not line up with how they are actually spending their time.

2. Help you with emotional barriers. Often times, I will sit down at the end of the day and feel guilty about everything that I didn't get done that day. By having a well-organized calendar, you can reflect on your day and really see that you didn't waste a day in your life. Maybe, you planned to clean the basement but instead, cruised the net all day. What a waste, right? Maybe not. Go back and look at what you really did. Maybe you really needed to brainstorm a project for work. Or maybe you had an idea that you really needed exorcised. Or maybe, just maybe...you needed a break. Which leads me to my next point...

3. Ensure that you show up in your life. A well-organized calendar will show you how much you do for others but, what about you? Make sure that you are on your calendar. A work out, a mani and pedi, or lunch with a friend are great ways to refuel your mind and spirit. I can hear the objections right now. "Yeah, I wish I had time for a mani! I have to many responsibilities" As a wife, mother, sister, friend, caregiver, volunteer, businesswoman, gardener, baker, I am completely in touch with that emotion. However, may I suggest that you cannot afford NOT to make time for yourself? Along with all of your other responsibilities, you are also charged with keeping yourself going. So, look at your calendar and find a pocket of time for you and DO NOT feel guilty about it! It is your responsibility:-)

4. Empower you. If knowledge is power, then a well-organized calendar is a turbo blast to your life. If you know how you spend your time, you can confidently turn down requests that do not line up with your values. The next time your neighbor asks you (the stay-at-home-mom) to pick up her kids for the third time this week during your afternoon meditation, you can say, "I am sorry. I would love to help but, that just doesn't work for me." You can say that confidently because you know that you aren't just "lying around doing nothing". You are honoring your body's request for rest and it is your responsibility to take care of yourself!

As you can see, tackling your calendar isn't an exercise in futility. It is definitely a necessity and a happy Tackle It Tuesday with 5 Minutes for Mom !

Shrimp Pesto with Whole Wheat Pasta

This light dish is perfect for New Year's resolutions that revolve around weight loss! You won't feel deprived with this one:-)

I am doing more menu planning with I'm an Organizing Junkie. Here is my menu this week:



Also, $5 Dinners inspires us all to make low cost dinners. In that spirit, I am taking what Pick N Save has on sale, pairing it with coupons and coming up with the tastiest money saving around! This week, they have ground beef on sale for $1.88 lb. (normally $2.93/lb.) I bought a bunch to make my spaghetti and to freeze for later.

But my recipe has nothing to do with beef. I picked up some shrimp when it was on sale over the holiday and made this little number:

Shrimp Pesto with Whole Wheat PastaIngredients:
1 lb Whole-wheat spaghetti
1 ladle cooking water
1 tbs olive oil
1 cloves garlic
1/2 lb Shrimp
1/4 cup Pesto

Directions:
1. Make the pasta per the package directions. Reserve 1 ladle of the cooking water for the sauce.

2. Add 1 tablespoon of olive oil and 2 cloves of garlic to a large skillet over medium high heat for one minute. Add shrimp and sauté until pink.

3. Add the reserved ladle of water and the pesto to the shrimp. Toss with pasta and serve.

Servings: 6

Cooking Times
Preparation Time: 10 minutes
Cooking Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 20 minutes

Nutrition Facts
Serving size: 1/6 of a recipe (5.9 ounces).
Percent daily values based on the Reference Daily Intake (RDI) for a 2000 calorie diet.
Nutrition information calculated from recipe ingredients.

Amount Per Serving
Calories 236.79
Calories From Fat (31%) 73.01
% Daily Value
Total Fat 8.28g 13%
Saturated Fat 1.31g 7%
Cholesterol 58.37mg 19%
Sodium 86.06mg 4%
Potassium 229.47mg 7%
Total Carbohydrates 28.95g 10%
Fiber 4.14g 17%
Sugar 0.88g
Protein 13.83g 28%

Recipe Type
Harvest, Light Meal, Main Course, Pasta, Published, Seafood, Simple Supper, Summer

Reviews
5 stars - This is a family favorite. - Susan Ewing 6/21/2010

Source
Author: Susan Ewing
Recipe Cost: $5.26
Serving Cost: $0.88



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