I have added a new permanent page to the website to properly recognize January’s National GO! Month (Get Organized).  If YOU are looking for a Fresh Start on organizing this year, or just a refresher, take a look.

It is a link page to several articles on LPO.  Together the articles point you toward beginning a well rounded handle on life around the house.

Most have been up and active for a long time, but if you take a look right now you will get a heads up on some of the next few things that will be making it out of the draft folder. Stay Tuned!

Here it is.  The week my Hubby tries to ignore me. I pour over notebooks as if I am trying to write down every memory in my tired little brain before it poofs along with the last vapors of the New Year bubbly. I don’t care what he tells you, I do NOT mumble to myself all week. Let me tell you one of the things I DO do. (Yes. I have some New Year lists as cheat sheets to make sure I am consistent.)

Wrap It Up. I take some time to put last year behind me and gain some perspective.

Holiday Review. Usually the first thing I write down is a review of the holiday. Even before I start taking down any of the decorations, I do a holiday follow up to keep making next year go more smoothly, with less effort, more memories and hopefully more meaning. These pages have become a big packet over the years that are an immense reference.  I am guessing that the place in my head where my memory resides looks like Swiss cheese. From year to year I can not remember what worked what didn’t or even which ‘new’ idea I already had a few years ago. I use these pages to fine tune my seasonal plan. To tweak those ideas for success the second (or third…) time around. Small changes here and there make huge positive differences over the years.

Reflection. Then I look back at the last year as a whole.  I count the blessings we have received.  I pat myself on the back for progress I have made on my goals.  And look at the areas of my life where I would like to make changes or improvements.

I ask myself one simple question with a ton of short and essay answers. What did I learn?

These couple of exercises give me the perspective needed for the next one.

Take A Picture. I take a mental snapshot of the present.

I reassess my personal life priorities.

A few more questions. How is my heart? How is my spirit? Am I more or less whole? What do I need? Family is very high on my life priority list so next I ask the same questions for each family member. Is there anything I can do to figure out what each of them may need then assist them in getting it?

Then Move On. I look forward to the future. (OR Effective Goal Setting.)

I do not make resolutions. I do not do well with ideas of having to give things up even when it may be good for me. Let me tell you how I set effective goals instead.

Like a greedy kid, I do much better with a list of several “I wants”.  I write out as many as possible taking several days to keep adding to them. The things that are weighing on me or bothering me always show up first. After that, tangent after tangent hits the page. Some always surprise me. From this alone, I find out a lot about myself.

Once done, I put the list out of sight for a few more days. Usually that is all of the time it takes for the New Year ambition rush to settle. I read it marking out all of the things that already no longer interest me. Maybe next time. The rest are sorted out.

Any wants that are materialistic I put aside. Some I add to a wish list. A few I will add to my shopping list. Some I will change to “I want TO SAVE for…”. The rest I just let go.

You see, I focus most on the ones that say “I want TO…”. Those are action items. In some way I could take action on all of them. It is just a matter of deciding the ones that are most worthy of investing in right now. I transfer all of them to the computer into a spread sheet. I spread them across four columns based on the time that would be needed to act on them because time is always one of our biggest constraints. It is a very valuable resource.

Setting Achievable Goals

Let me back up a minute. Before going on to telling how I pick my goals from the rest of the list, I guess some of you might need some guidance on goals in general. We all know that our goals are things that we strive to achieve. The trick to actually achieving them is to set realistic AND attainable goals.

It is not enough to just say I want to. I want to learn to play a guitar. I want to lose {mumble mumble} pounds. I want to be completely debt free. I want  to learn to fly.

Possible Goals. Some of the want to’s are far from realistic. No matter how hard I flap my arms, I am never going to fly. But I do not have to remove it completely from my dream list yet. Would alternatives be satisfying to me? I replace “Learn to Fly” with “Research Alternatives to Flying”. However, “I want to time travel” is one that should be marked out completely. Unless… What do I really mean? Am I looking to find more time in my day? Is there something from the past I want to rectify or regret that I may be able to do something about now? Is there something specific in my future that I would like to make happen? Maybe instead of an innuendo to something else, I really would love to become more knowledgeable in the field to try to make advances that would make it possible some day or be able to converse with the people that are?

See? Being specific is important.

When they go into the spreadsheet, all of my wants have been changed into possible AND specific statements. If they can’t be, they are let go.

Now to make sure they are attainable.

Recognizing Stepping Stones. Back to time constraints. When looking over the columns, a lot of things are one step tasks that I just need to remember to do. These are most of the things that are in the shorter 2 column’s of my spreadsheet. All of those items get transferred to my master to do list.

If you read the article I just linked to, I talk about the difference in a task vs. a project. A task is something that is simple, usually only taking one step to do. That step may be repeated over and over over in blocks of time, but it is a single task. Projects are things that need many steps. The small ‘want to’s’ are often tasks. They are more about just digging in one day and knocking one out as much as possible. These are the things I go to whenever I don’t already have plans for my Project Days or for when I happen to find small chunks of time on my hands. Simply because they were added to my to do list, when the end of the year comes most of these will either be done or will have been rejected based on what the year brings.

Then there are all of the the things that will take longer to do. Take “get debt free”. Or how about I use one of our DIY projects as an example like “Redecorate the Family Room”. These are bigger projects. If I leave these things on my list open ended, they may or may not get done.

Many can be broken down into smaller steps. For the redecorating project, most of those steps do not need to be done in any specific order. I break down the steps like “paint the family room walls” and “change the fabric on the family room chairs”… Then again just add those to the master to do list as tasks as I take them off the spreadsheet.

The rest of the list is where most of my true goals for the year come from. They are all more long term achievements with lots of stair steps to reach before achieving the whole.

Before they can be done,  we need to set the stepping stones out into a specific order before acting on them. They are not one time tasks. They have to be done step 1, then step 2, then step 3…

With becoming debt free and losing weight, they may seem like single steps repeated, but in reality they DO have many steps. You have to lose that first pound and keep it off before you can lose the second. You have to pay off that first dollar of debt or first small debt before you can pay the second. Often you need to do some research, get educated, make several small lifestyle changes, or other work first.

Allocating Other Available Resources. Don’t go spending your time figuring out the steps for any of them yet. Just recognize there is more to them for now. There is something else you need to determine first. What other available resources in addition to time will be required to climb those steps? Money? Support, understanding or hands on assistance from others? Days of warm weather?

Your other available resources may be just as limited as your available time. Being debt free and wanting to save for things both require money. They usually can not ALL be done at the same time. The top one or two need to be selected for each resource and the rest need to be let go. If there is something in these categories that feels like a real sacrifice when letting it go, you need to increase the needed resource. THAT is what you add back to your now shortened “Want To” list instead of the original want. You “want to increase (insert resource here).”

More Conflicts. Look at the revised list again. How many conflict with another? For example, finding a second job/job which pays more might conflict with spending more time with your family. You need to pick the most important to you and eliminate the conflicting item, adjust your expectations or come up with a compromise. Coming up with a workable compromise would get added to the list if that is your choice.

Writing Out The New Goal List. There are four more things I do before formally writing out my new goals.

1. Look at any uncompleted goals from last year and decide which ones I still want to keep. Are there any of those I want to adjust in some way?
2. Decide how many of these goals I can REALLY simultaneously or serially work on over the year? Make the hard choices and let the others go.
3. Figure out the first step for the goals where applicable.
4. Determine quantities where applicable for each of the goals. For example, I will save {X dollars} for {item/cause}  each paycheck. – I will put {X dollars} toward {a specific} debt each paycheck. – I will exercise {X time/frequency} each {time}….. You get the idea.

DO Formally Write Out Your Goals. Just the act of physically writing them out will make them more likely to happen.

Personally, I find a pretty piece of scrapbook paper and print my goals in a pretty font.  The goal sheet becomes the first page of my most frequently used planner. I also shrink the list down to the size of a credit card and print several more. I put one in my wallet and a couple in my desk drawers and one on the inside of the door of my medicine cabinet. Several places where they can be seen. Often. Places where they may keep me from diverting from the goal. The one in my wallet is especially helpful in making me think before I make unnecessary purchases.

The printed pages turn in to constant reminders, cheerleaders to keep me focused toward my goals. Whenever I catch myself headed in a different direction, they remind me I can start again. Anytime.

Next year I will claim all of the progress I made, not condemn myself for falling short. Remember, it is not about that unattainable perfection. It is about trying to do or be better tomorrow than yesterday.

Also remember that your goals are written on paper not blood on stone. You can change them or adjust them any time you need to.

This is the method that works for me. Are you going to try it? What are some of your goals? Tell us what you do instead?

Get Organized In January

Did you know that January is National GO Month? GO for Get Organized. I am not the only one that gets the fresh start feeling after Christmas!

Many of the stores have had their containers and office supplies out in full view rapidly filling the spaces the Christmas decor has begun to leave. Right beside all of the Valentine stuff already beginning to line the shelves. Before you get excited and start shelling out your hard earned cash for all of those pretty boxes and bins, please take a minute to read Container Confusion.  Slow down and make a plan. Know exactly what supplies you need to get organized. Do not put yourself in a place where your organizing boxes are unused and become additional clutter for you to deal with.

I will be glad to try to answer any specific organizing questions you have so ask in any of the comments or feel free to send me an e-mail if you are comment shy. Organizing is something I am very passionate about. I spend a lot of time keeping my eyes open for all kinds of ideas. There will be times when I will not have the answer for you, but I probably can point you to several good sources to save you search time.

It takes time to get organized.  You will not accomplish it in a day.  Probably not in the month of January.  Keep your chin and your spirits up.  Any progress you make regardless of the day or month is progress.  Claim the accomplishments instead of beating yourself up with the things yet to get done.

Welcome to the Laurel Plum Online Clutter Scavenger Hunt.

Okay. This one is not really what I would consider a LPO Clutter Scavenger Hunt item. I’m choosing to include this one because without scheduled Project Days, I know I would never get much done.Hang in there with me. This one is going to be a long one. It will be worth it!

I want you to go through with this one if for no other reason than because giving yourself project days will make sure you are able to do the other things in the LPO Clutter Scavenger Hunt. So, today I ask you to grab your calendar and block some project time.

Opportunity Costs

Sure, I have routines, methodologies and have become ingenious with finding shortcuts around my own house (if I do say so myself – Hey, if I don’t maybe no one else will!), but it seems when it comes to home making, most of the time I am doing the same things over and over and over and over and over and over ……  It’s very easy to get caught in the repetitive cycle. (Or to give up because you’re tired of the whole rinse and repeat thing. Why bother when it all has to be done again tomorrow?)

So let’s talk about it and see if we can all jump out of the never ending loop.

Consider this as Day 1 of your business education. (You do know that running a Home effectively requires a good Manager just as much as running a company. Right? The only difference is when running a home instead of a business, you don’t often get the payroll to hire all of the help you need…. nor the appropriate monetary compensation. We take our pay in hugs and kisses if we’re lucky.   …  But that’s another story for another day.)

Ever heard of an opportunity cost? It is a term that simply means that for every opportunity taken, there are a lot of other things that can not or are not chosen. Here is another phrase I bet you are all sick of hearing. Finding balance. As a Home Manager, you need to learn that these terms really do go hand in  hand. I really think the people who are closest to finding that elusive balance are the ones who have figured out their own opportunity costs then switch things up frequently.

Priorities

You see, it may not be enough to just prioritize. By setting priorities, we can get stuck in the cycle I was talking about. The same things keep presenting themselves to be done.

I am going to walk you through a typical basic prioritizing layout that most successful business people have learned so you will see why Project Days are really so important to us as Home Managers.

Type A Priorities. Most of us wake up in the morning and focus on making it through the day. We have a whole list of things that have to be done. Now. We’ll call these Type A Tasks because they are Important AND Urgent. They typically are focused on the short term. Now, there is something very important you need to know about Type A priorities. Years can pass quickly by when you spend your days one day at a time on them. If you let these things go, the business will probably quickly collapse. Or in our case, our homes. Around your house, these are the clutter monsters like dishes, laundry, grocery shopping, etc.

Type B Priorities. Then there are Type B tasks. These are the things that are Not Important AND Not Urgent. Around your house, they are the little things that we reserve only for Spring cleaning. It would be great if they were accomplished, but if we never get around to it, no big deal.

Type C Priorities. Everything that is Important BUT NOT Urgent. They are typically more focused on the long-term. Even without set goals, you easily know them. They are all of those things that you will do SOME day. These are the tasks that keep nibbling at you. The ones you can’t seem to get off your mind NOR get done. These are all of the things we want to do, but never seem to find the time.

This is where you learn the importance of Project Days. The Type C tasks are the things that have the ability to bridge the gap from harried human to balanced individual. Project Days give you the opportunity to do them.

Type C’s are all of the opportunity costs that can be really big for us as Home Managers. How many times have you caught yourself saying to your child that you will spend time with them as soon as you finish some Type A priority? How many systems or spaces around you need revamping to really save you a ton of time regularly on some Type A yet you can not find the time to do the revamping part?

If you make the time to do the things on your Type C list, you could really save somewhere else whether it be in time, in money, in heartache….

If you want to make some A, B, and C priority lists to see the whole picture, go ahead. But it is not at all necessary right now. Most of them you already really know. The trick is to make yourself find that elusive time to just do those important but not urgent items.

Your Priorities

Regardless of the type of person you are, making a point to switch it up will help you become more balanced. If you’ve thrown in the towel on a clean house because spending quality time with the kids is your highest priority, project days can give you an opportunity to regain ground on the house. If you seem to never find time with the family because of the busyness life keeps presenting, project days can give you an opportunity to give yourself permission to let it all just slide for a bit of time.  If you are normally over social, these days can give you some solitude. For a home body, they can give you days to connect with others.  There are a million other examples, but you get the gist.

Project Days have given me specific and frequent times to juggle the priorities and choose all of those things that are not normally seemingly urgent enough to make the top 10 on any given day.

Project Days

The real nitty gritty.

So, today I obviously want you to to get out your calendar and schedule some Project Days. You can decide how many and how often. Just make them, keep them, and repeat on a regular frequency. You can take them every other day, once a month, or anytime in between.

If you’ve looked at my cleaning routine, you’ve seen that every Friday and every 5th week I have designated for special projects.  For me, that means that there are approximately 93 days each year that are already set up to push me to make progress instead of just getting stuck in the cycle.

I remember many a New Year’s day where I sat there trying to figure out any way I had made any progress from the year before. Now, I have no problems giving myself permission to let the dishes and other things go on scheduled project days. Sometimes it takes that little conscious shift in priorities to get ahead.

You know that 10 minutes at the end of the day when I pick up or “reset” the house? Project Days are days to reset things on a bigger scale and to keep us moving forward. I will not promise you they will keep you ahead of everything, but next New Year’s, you will be able to list several ways you made some sort of progress.

Rarely I will plan a whole day. Usually it is just 10 – 20 minutes of focusing on something off the regular plan. I use Friday for small projects and really unusual quick treats with the kids – you know those memory makers. Since we often have big projects that are bears when you drag them out, the 5th week helps our family a lot even when we only spend a little bit of time each of those days.

Things To Do On Project Days

So you are not a crafter or into home renovation. I do not always work on our standard projects and you don’t have too either. I’ll list some of the other things I and you can do.

• Take the time to organize that one drawer or shelf that we keep meaning to straighten up.
• Put on the tool belt and hang that shelf, rack, hook, whatever that will make your life just a bit easier.
• Take ME time to be good to yourself. Ahhhh…..Peace. Quiet. Maybe some pampering? A bubble bath sounds lovely.
• Take Family Time or let the kids plan a day. When looking back at your childhood, it is the little things that make the best memories. Give your favorites to your kids. Maybe let them plan a quick activity, an afternoon excursion, or a whole day. When mine have made the plans, it opened up my eyes many times to their unknown interests or talents.
• Take COUPLE time. It is so important to spend time one on one without kids and other distractions to continue to reconnect. Try to spend a few minutes talking. About nothing at all. Go to lunch together alone or, ahem, take a [blush] lunch. date.
• Take time to meet a friend for lunch. Any friend. Find friends you haven’t seen in years and reconnect. It’s a meal not a commitment. Nurture relationships outside of your household. It is SO important to keeping us emotionally stable and pleasant to be around. A wide acquaintance circle keeps our view from becoming skewed by our immediate situations to the exclusion of other things. It also reminds us that it really is a small world.
• Take a nap.
• Volunteer.
• Clean that thing you never get around to even if you do Spring Cleaning.
• Do the seasonal thing. Whether it be decorating or maintenance.
• Get that one thing you have been procrastinating off of your back. Finally.

What things immediately come to your mind to do on Project Days? How often are you going to try to schedule them? If you are already taking the time, how is it making a difference for you?

I wrote out several articles that detailed my entire Thanksgiving routine last year. Maybe some of you might find them helpful now.

It took me several years of writing down everything and then doing a written follow-up sheet each year before I was able to get this down so everything worked well for us.

One of the most important things to remember is that none of this is about perfection! Think of the Norman Rockwell paintings. Part of what makes them so charming is they show some imperfection about humanity in each of them.

Each year I give myself permission to skip something I am not in the mood to tackle even if it is putting up a Christmas Tree AND to know in advance that something I cook is going to be burnt or taste awful.  (I DO keep getting the slightest bit better with cooking as I keep getting older.)

RELAX! Enjoy the people instead of being worried about your image. Besides, the way to make the best impression is by being truly comfortable and letting down the expectations you have on yourself. You will some across as confident and self assured when you seem to keep your cool in spite of any disaster.

I usually start a bit here and there toward the first of October so that most of what I need to do for all of the Holidays is done by the end of Thanksgiving weekend. It makes a big difference in how much I enjoy the whole season!

If you will write out your shopping and to do lists, menus and recipes, then write out all of the afterthoughts you can think of as soon as you can after all of your events end, you will have a HUGE start for next year.  Use all of it to start a Holiday Planner for yourself. After a couple of years making little adjustments you will be blown away by how easy all of it will seem to be!

Here is the index:

• Ready to Get An Early Start for Thanksgiving?
• More Thanksgiving
• My Thanksgiving Daily To Do List – Monday
• My Thanksgiving Daily To Do List – Tuesday
• My Thanksgiving To Do List for Wednesday
• My Thanksgiving To Do List for Thursday

And Happy Holidays from me to each of you!