The Bullet Journal: My Try

I am a list maker.

I love to make lists.

Long lists. Bulleted lists. Lists within lists. Great big mind dump lists.

The bullet journal was designed for people like me.

Here is a short little video which explains how it works:

Other than show up at my job, I almost never have to do any particular thing on any particular day--or at any particular time. All planners based on a schedule, even one with only a few lines to each day frustrate me. No room to make a list! But I need my lists! So I was making them on the computer--and printing them out. And I'd make them every few days--and keep the old ones 'cause, well, I hadn't quite finished everything up. I starting to get piles of lists. To Do lists. Piles. Stress.

Bullet Journal to the rescue!

I started using this system in a 40 page exercise book I bought for less than a dollar. I didn't want to invest in a fancy schmany notebook for something which may not work out. After finishing my first month, I've transitioned into a bona fide moleskin lined journal. The compact size and the fact that it is hard cover will be great.

A couple of caveats:

Its not a planner. No. This is a task management system. In fact, one of its drawbacks is that there is no way to capture events that really must be done on a particular day other than the Monthly "list view" page which isn't really large enough. It is also constructed as one goes along, so it's a bit of a problem to jot down an event occurring several months down the road. There are more than a few creative solutions to this which a little googling quickly revealed.

1) Create a "Future Dates" page as Kim Holmes explains in this post on the Bullet Journal.
2) A rather elegant solution (with a rather inelegant name): the calendex by Eddy Hope.

I did the former. I wish I'd done the latter. And the beauty of the system is that I can do the latter, if I want, when the time comes, later.

The absolute best thing about this journal, though, is that I can create lists of any kind--based on the quirks of my very own mind. For example, I have three lists which pertain directly to my goal to follow-up on Minimalist March.

"Items to Schlep" is a list of items I have to take to various stores to sell, "Items to List" is a collection of things I need to post on kijiji (our local version of craigslist), and then there's "Places to (which to) Schlep" with phone numbers and hours of operation.

It is too cool to be so organized.

Just a Pocketful of Time....

Ten minutes.

That was all the time I had before I had to go and catch my bus.
But I had it--and I wanted to use it effectively.

I'd been working on my living room. A few days before, I'd brought out my box labelled "drapery hardware" and found all the extra rings and the prongs I'd need to hang up my triple pleated fourteen foot long brown drapes.

I'd also taken down the drapes I had had up there.

I love the colour of these purple drapes, but they are really too small for the window

 

 

But, it was taking forever for me to find the time to put the new drapes up.
That day, with ten minutes to tick away before I left to catch my bus, I decided to just put the prongs into the pleats. One drape, fourteen prongs. I didn't even take them off the hanger.

Five minutes and I was done.

I had five minutes left.

I took out my step ladder and attached the prongs to the rings on the curtain rod, and bam! just like that I had one drape up and on the window.

(I didn't have time to take a picture.)

I left for work.

That evening, I had my daughter insert the prongs into the pleats and I hung them the next day.

The length of the pole was originally cut to fit these colossal drapes.

I took the same approach to weeding out the bookshelves in this room and writing this blog post.

the haul from the bookshelves

The single most effective way to take advantage of little pockets of time?

Have a list.
Use a timer if you're uneasy about losing track of the time.

Easy peasy.

Day 25: Write it Down

When it comes to writing things down, I rely on these two notebooks. The top, from the Martha Stewart Line at Staples I carry in my bag, the second, a planner, stays on my desk.

 

I sat there in teacher/parent conference with my daughter beside me while a teacher said, "oh honey, you've got to learn to make friends with a list."

And I thought to myself: I have not taught my daughter to make a list? I reached for my notebook in my purse to write down: "look up how to organize a teenager"--and I realised I didn't have a pen.

Making lists, writing things down is a fairly rudimentary task: and as I thought about it, I reaised my daughter has never really seen me make any--except for a the list of stores I want to go to when we run errands and, of course, the grocery list on the side of the fridge. I love this thing. Every time my son comes to me and says, "Mom, we need gala apples" or "Mom, we need bananas," (the boy loves his fruit) I answer him, "Go write it down."

The Benefits of Writing it Down:

• It helps you remember to do the right things at the right time.
• This is what my daughter needs.
• It helps you keep your commitments and so you can avoid letting down your teachers, your friends, yourself.
• (One of my daughter's friends needs to write things down, too.)
• If you write it down, you can put the "reminder" away.
• No need to keep the bill out in a stack of papers to remind yourself to pay it.
• It can help you stay focused and more efficient.
• For some reason, whenever I file paperwork, or fold laundry, a million and one things occur to me which need doing. I have a clipboard set up wih a blank piece of paper to capture my thoughts so I can continue to be on-task.
• It can help you create a batch of similar tasks.
• For example, a list of all the stores you need to go to, all the phone calls you need to make, a list of all the stores which may carry that extra hand-set for the phone you're looking for.

Select a System:

• Paper.
• Sticky notes, index cards, a notebook, a pad of paper and a clipboard.
• Electronic.
• Set reminders to check over your list.

Whatever you choose, make sure it is portable so you can carry it with you all the time.

Review Your List:

As my daughter said to me as she was heading out the door this morning, "How am I going to remember to check my list? I need a reminder for my reminders!"

She's right. She's setting up a new habit. Actually, she's starting several.
First, she'll have to remember to write things down as her teacher tells her things or she gets things. One of her biggest challenges is to remember to give me permission forms to be signed. I told her to write that down, "give permission slip to Mom."

Then in order to remember to check her lists, we need to incorporate it into her "after school routine." That is, we would, if we had one. So, I am going to create a checklist for her and post it in the front entry way for a while.

menu planning uses a lot of checklists

Make a checklist.

This is the next step in writing things down. Checklists are perfect for helping you learn to do new tasks or routines. They also help during times of high stress or for things you do infrequently.

I love checklists. I have one for the entire menu planning process, from what forms to run off to what websites to check for specials. (I used to do it once a month--infrequently enough that I needed a gentle reminder from time to time how to do it. As well, it was such a big job that I spread it over a few days: so the checklist kept me on track.) I have a check list for going camping: it lists all the gear, clothing, and other things we like to take with us. I update it every time we go camping! I also have a cleaning checklist which I print from the computer every Sunday.

Do you need to start (or re-start) making lists?
Would a checklist be useful?
What about an "organizing maintenance" checklist?

Edited to add: I just noticed: this is my one thousand and first published post. Talk about writing it down!

ETA: You can catch all the posts in the series here.

Day 22: Schedule Recurring Tasks

The last time my laundry room looked this good. June 2012

You know the saying:

a place for everything and everything in it's place

Well, what is that "thing" were a task and the "place" a spot in your schedule?

Assigning times to do recurring tasks gives structure and definition to your days and weeks and even your year. It is also another pro-active strategy.

For years, my children and I lived without a schedule of any kind. We didn't even have one for sleeping. I remember once being on the phone with our ISP troubleshooting a problem at two o'clock in the morning--and the technician remarked on the "noisiness" of the children in the background.

It wasn't the life of a free and easy spirit--it was a life of undisciplined free-for-all, otherwise known as h*ll.

But, don't go to the other extreme and think you now have to schedule every last little thing. (I tried that too. Perfectionism tends to extremes.) Flexibility is good, too. The challenge is to find that golden mean where you have just enough scheduled to stay ahead and feel in control--and stay flexible enough to respond to the demands of the day, week, season.

Ask yourself: what would be the consequences to letting let this fall apart (whatever "this" might be)

For example, if I let the dishes pile up, the consequences are pretty dire. Grumpiness, nastiness, filth, it becomes a struggle to cook. You've heard this before.

But what about sweeping the kitchen floor? Well, frankly, after about a week even I can't stand it any longer. So, I should put sweeping the floor down on the schedule for once a week.

But laundry?
How about cleaning the bathroom sink?
Putting groceries away?
Dealing with the mail?

Here's the thing: only schedule what, if not done in a timely manner, causes you to cross your clutter threshold quickly?

Some things you will get to when you notice them and that will be OK--or they'll be triggered by something else. For some, cleaning out the fridge may be triggered by going shopping, or, more likely for me, by garbage pick-up day.

You may change out you and your family's clothes for the season--and that's a great time to also clean out and reorganize closets, and, maybe, the laundry room. You can schedule these things rigorously, or you can do small bites at a time over the course of a few weeks: whatever works for you and your life, of course.

Just one thing: if there's something you really don't like to do: do it often! If you put it off (as you'd rather) it will grow into something horrible and overwhelming--and you really don't want that. So, tackle it early in the process and in bite sized bits.

Put this into action:

1. Identify and list those tasks which when left undone cause you to cross the clutter threshold quickly.
2. Write down your current schedule. Start with the daily, then move on to the weekly, then monthly, then semi-annual and annual chores.
3. Now, schedule in those tasks from step one into your current schedule.

You don't have to think of everything, now. Give yourself permission to discover what's what as you go. For example, when I first did this back in the Spring, my laundry room was functional. It isn't now. So, I know that it takes about five to six months for it to utterly fall apart. That works for me: I'll clean out and re-organize the laundry room every six months. If it bothered me, I might make straightening it up a monthly task.

Is there anything you know of right now that you need to schedule?

ETA: You can catch all the posts in the series here. 

Day 6: Time Dreaded Tasks

Yesterday, we talked about setting the timer for 15 minutes and letting it run down while focussing on one task. It's a great way to tackle tasks you don't have time to finish, may never, actually be finished, (laundry, anyone?) or tasks you dread doing.

Another way to tackle those dreaded tasks, though, is to time them. Just how long does it take, anyway?

I put off putting my new duvet cover on my duvet. It takes some agility--climbing inside the duvet cover to match up the corners is no feat for the inflexible! So, I timed myself.

That wasn't too bad, I suppose.

Even better, though, was putting away this basket of laundry.

I was thrilled it only took 2 minutes and 47 seconds.

And clearing this chair?

sorry for the blur!

It is great when something takes less time than you think it will. You now have a stick to beat back that dread. But even if the task does take a long time, like my duvet cover, you still have useful information. We'll talk about simplifying tasks later in this series, too.

Are there any tasks you dread doing?

If you choose to time any as you do them, today, feel free to let me know how long they took in the comments.

ETA: You can catch all the posts in the series here.    

Day 5: The Magic of 15 Minutes.

This is my best friend.

In fact, for years, it was the only way I could tackle any of my housework. I'd set my timer for 15 minutes and focus on one thing. Then, I'd set it again and do another thing. I'd go through whole days like that.

Remember we talked about what "being organized" meant to you? If it's finding something--anything--in less than two minutes as Nicole wrote, then I imagine that picking things up and putting them away would be a pretty high priority.

But what if the last few days have been an absolute whirlwind and you haven't had time to blink, let alone put things away?

So you have a disaster on your hands--and you have five minutes, ten, fifteen to pick up before you have to do something else.

Do you say to yourself, "I can't possibly get it all done. I'll wait until I can."

I used to say that, a lot. It was part of my perfectionism. If I couldn't sweep AND mop the kitchen floor, there wasn't any point in sweeping, was there?

If I couldn't wash ALL the dishes in one go, (and it is sometimes impossible to do that without a volunteer dish dryer) then why wash any?

If I can't sort and put away all these papers in 15 minutes, why bother?

So, I decided, just for the sake of this blog post, that I'd see how far through this stack of papers 15 minutes would take me. (Believe me, I am never motivated to tackle paper. Never. We'll talk about not having any motivation soon, too.)

Ta Da!

I swear it only took 15 minutes--and not all day as the lighting here would suggest. It just took me that long to get a decent picture.

I sorted out the coupons to clip--and put them in my coupon binder.
I filed some papers right away and put away page protectors.
Anything requiring scheduling, I tucked into my planner.

What's left just needs filing--except that I haven't got files for most of it.

Remember: progress, not perfection.

I see another 15 minutes in my future.

ETA: You can catch all the posts in the series here.    

Back to School: Scheduling Station

I'm not sure what else to call it. It came together quite organically.

Now that both kids are in public school, I need a place for their papers: A place where they can put them for me to sign--and a place for them to pick them up. Home "in" and "out" boxes, as it were.

I've been mulling this one over for a while. The logical place to put papers--my desk--is like putting them in a deep black hole.

 I decided to declutter this incredible hot spot as my William Morris Project for the William Morris Project post to link at Pancakes and French Fries, on Thursday.

I set the timer for 15 minutes thinking it would take me longer than that to get it done. It did: but only by 5 minutes--and I spent those five minutes actually cleaning the surface, not decluttering it.

I was thinking hard about creating a launch pad. One of the drawers in this dresser holds our winter gloves and hats. Right behind it is the coat/cleaning closet.

We used to keep our mail here, too.

One thing led to another and the next thing I knew, I was looking up projects from the old paper clutter course I took once at Simplify 101 and grabbing scrapbook paper and having a whale of a time. I didn't actually do anything with the folders other than label them. We'll see if the system is really necessary and whether it works before I invest any more time into it yet.

I just realised I need a file labelled "Mom"--so the kids will put what needs my attention into it. Then, I'll put the papers they can take back to school in the folders labelled with their names.

I started filing some of the papers and realised I had to write down when certain things were going to occur. I went to the kitchen. piece of paper in hand, to write it down on the calendar we keep on the back of the door. Then I back-tracked to get a pencil, as I always do. And that's when I got the great idea to move the calendar to this spot.

I added some pens and pencils in a jar and just like that I had something official.

We'll see how it works out.

Linking to The William Morris Project at Pancakes and French Fries.
Thanks Jules!

Menu Planning Time

And so here we are.

An explanation of how I plan my menus for the month is here.

I didn't time how long it took to do my pantry and freezer inventory. I did those when I was cleaning the pantry, but they really didn't take that long.

I used menu plans from Nov 2009 and last month to create this month's plan. It really saved time: it took only 30 minutes to come up with all the meals we'll be eating this month.

It took another hour and a half to look up each recipe and mark down what I needed on all my various forms. I even added an extra step: in the Time Management course, Aby hands out a weekly menu plan and shopping list combined. I filled it out (by hand) for each week and then wrote in the produce and other fresh food items I would want to buy that week for those dinners.


I filed each sheet in my Tickler/planner behind the corresponding Sunday (the day I like to do my weekly shopping). I will plan what we'll do for lunch then.

Then, I typed up my dinner plans onto the calendar (above). That took 23 minutes (and allowed me to add any items I may have missed to my various forms).

So, all in all, it took me less than 2 1/2 hours to plan my meals (and shopping list) for the month.

The ladies in my Time Management course are all raving about Ziplist, though, so maybe, next month, I'll have all the recipes inputted into my computer--and it will take even less time.

Here's hoping. I do not enjoy this task one bit.

AT Fall Cure: Days 1 & 2

Yep.

I know the website is on Day 9, today, but I only found out about the Fall Cure a few days ago. The format has been changed: from eight week to four. I don't know if I will enjoy this home cure as much as I have done others in the past. I'm combining it with the kitchn cure, too. I don't know why I think I have to keep myself so busy with these sorts of projects. But I do enjoy them. (And I'd just do something else, anyway. This way, I get to share.)


Day 1: Floor and Surface Clean One Room.

Not terribly exciting, this one, agreed, but essential. I decided to do my dining room office.



Because I am also taking Time Management at Simplify 101, I decided to see just how long everything really took.

Dusting, with a feather duster: 5 minutes
Picking everything up off the floor, putting it away, sweeping the floor and clearing the surfaces: (table and desk): 15 minutes
Mopping the floor: 6 minutes

I didn't time actually washing down the table, or cleaning the computer screen. I didn't time taking a scraper to the tougher bits on the floor (I think someone ground in red licorice. At least I think that's what it is.)

Ta Da!



All in all, I am pleased to know that in about 1/2 hour I can clean the room so that it is quite presentable. The shelves above the desk need a serious de-clutter and clean, though.

Day 2: Buy Fresh Flowers

I cheated and had hubby pick some up for me on his way home yesterday. I asked for "nothing dyed" and this is what they had. I put out one stem in a vase at my desk.



It makes me smile.

The Ultimate Planner

I am taking the Time Management course at Simplify 101. My session is nearly over--though there's another one starting soon.

This class has been challenging, to say the least. As a culmination of the course, as my graduation present, so to speak, I want to put together the ultimate Planner for myself, using what I've learned about time management in Aby's course.

There are many resources for a "Household command" book:

Organized Home has the Household Notebook: Planner for an Organized Home
Perhaps the most famous is Flylady's Control Journal

Then there are the "Mom Binders." These are mega Binders full of everything Mom might need for getting through her day. It is especially popular with homeschoolers.

• From one at Blessed Abundantly: The Home Management Binder
• Starry Sky has her Home Management Journal
• An extraordinarily extensive binder and super clear post (with lots of pictures) from Lizzie's Home: The Home Management Binder
• The Orderly Mom Notebook page has links to other planners as well.
• This Homemaking Journal is colourful.
• The Foss Family Home Companion book is both comprehensive and colourful!

But do I really need all that?
And if I do, do I really want it all in one place?

These binders above are mostly concerned with how to run the home. Nothing wrong with that. But I want my journal/notebook/binder to be focused on how I use my time.

There are essentially three things to capture when it comes to time:


1) Things to do at a certain specific time

• These can be one time events, such as attending a Girl Guide meeting, or
• they can be events for which you need to plan (like a Birthday bash).

2) Things to do later

3) Things someone else will do

4) Things to do regularly, over and over.


1) Tools to capture things to do at a specific time:

a) Calendar which everyone can use and see. This lives on the back of the door in the kitchen. Not too practical in the summer when the door is propped open: but it is BIG and everyone writes on it. Essential.




b) This, however, has a backup. It's something I put together in Aby's Paper Clutter course. (One of the best Simplify 101 classes offered.) It doesn't really have a name. It's a reference Binder: a place to hold Really Important Stuff. For example, my son's scout leader gave us an Agenda for the next few months--places and times they're meeting until Remembrance Day. After I enter all the info onto the wall calendar, I put the papers in this binder.

I could call it the "Ask Me" binder as it is used whenever someone want to double double check the info on the calendar, or someone says, "Hey, where's the soccer game this week?" Or, "When is the next PD day?" and even, "Where's that Scout Potluck this weekend?"

I also have a "Tickler." I use a binder. I put this together in the Time Management class as well.

Inside, I use tabbed dividers labeled 1-31, and monthly dividers, hole punched pockets to hold things like forms and envelopes I need to send in every month to our dental plan for reimbursement, and other things which can't be hole punched. I also use page protectors for smaller items like tickets.

As well, I also have a homeschool planner. That is a post in and of itself (and likely for another blog) but suffice it to say that I have plans in it for each and every subject we study, broken down. I make our plans weekly on a form I designed that captures six days on a two page spread. I love it.


2) Tools to capture things to do later:

In this category, I'm specifically thinking of things which you want to do, which you may need to do, but which do not have clear cut deadlines. For example, decorating the house for Fall. It sort of has a deadline, (I wouldn't want to procrastinate this and miss the season, for example) but whether I go get little gourds from Safeway this week or next doesn't really matter. More importantly, tracking what actions to take in order to move forward on my goals would fall into this category as well.

These are the worst things for me to capture and remember to do.

They need a system:
1) a place to capture these ideas and tasks, like a list in a binder or something
2) a dedicated time to plan when these items will be done

(These may also need boxes or bins to keep items related to the project at hand, for example, if I'm in the process of planning our vacation, I need something in which to capture the brochures, maps and lists of things to pack, for example.)

3) Tools to capture things someone else will do:

This is a toughie. My husband has his own list of things he wants to do in his head. This fall, for example, he wants to sand down one complete window and re-paint it (He wants to do one or two windows per spring and fall, every year), put up eavestroughing on one section of the roof and paint some house trim. I think. I don't know. I'm afraid if I kept track, I'd nag him, and that would NOT be good!

However, I have been wanting to train the children in household tasks and chores (as well as other practical things like teaching them how to change the furnace filter) for a long, long time. So, for now, this is a project. Once it is complete, then I'll have to have a place to keep track of their chores and responsibilities. It could be a clipboard on a wall, it could be a chart on the fridge. We'll have to see.

4) Tools to capture things to regularly, over and over:

The "Mom Notebooks" and "Home Companion" Journals excel at capturing this, I think.
I am in the process of making check lists for me (and my children) with the following headings:

• Morning Routine

(this is posted with a bull clip on the wall in the kitchen at the moment. Clearly, I need a more attractive option!)

• Afternoon Routine
• (After school routine for my daughter who is in public school)
• and Evening Routine.

I make supper every day, of course, and I have the menu planning and shopping thing worked out. The weekly shop for fresh food is being tweaked.

Other than that: what I need are planning sessions. I spoke about this before, but I didn't do it long enough for it to become a habit.

I'm really hung up, though, on whether I want to plan things for the week: or break it down by day. I'd rather do the former: but my "tickler" is set up for me to use every day which has its advantages. But it is a lot of writing and re-writing.

In either case, I need forms.

There are a kajillion at each of these sites:
Donna Young
D-I-Y Planner

How will it all come together?
I have no idea.
Stay tuned.....

New Habit: The Monday Morning "To Do" List

In Quick and Simple Clutter Control at Simplify 101, Aby defines clutter as lingering or incomplete intentions. I particularly like the way she put this aspect of it:

If we intend to get a project done, and we don't get it done: it's clutter.
(taken from Lesson 1 of Quick and Simple Clutter control)

A "To Do" list, then is a preemptive strike against clutter. Yes, as Brian Tracey would say, it is a clutter clearing device of its own: it clears the clutter from your mind of all those racing nagging thoughts about what you need to do. But it is more than that. Somewhere, in "Unclutter Your Life in One Week," Doland mentions sitting down on "Monday" morning and making a list of all the things you want to get done that week. It's one of those "doh" ideas--of course I should do that. Why haven't I done that before?

(To be fair to myself, I was in the habit of taking a day before our week began to plan our school week: what needs to be done each day and so on: but I've never applied that to my home life.)

Our "weekend" is Sunday and Monday, which makes "Monday" really Tuesday. So, without further ado, I present the Monday Morning "To Do" list (on Tuesday. Which makes perfect sense.) I plan to do my best to chip away at this list all week and present what I've managed to complete at the end, either of each day or on Saturday. I am looking after my 2 1/2 year old nephew Wednesday morning and from 8 to 5 (or so) Thursday through Sunday this week.


Take picture and list for sale: (Bargain finder, Craig's list)

• Tae Kwon Do sparring gear
• Dog crate
• Dog house

Freecycle:

• two large speakers with speaker wire

Schedule:

• Kids' dental appointments
• Chris and I for bloodwork
• kids' for swim lessons in August at pool
• sign up son for animation lessons at City Arts Centre
• kids' and Chris's eye appointments
• daughter for music lessons
  

Declutter:

• Rubbermaid kitchen drawer. Match lids to bottoms. E-mail Rubbermaid and see if they'll send replacement lids
• Kitchen drawer full of bags and tubes of wraps
• Spend 15 minutes of book sorting
• list everything to go to eco-centre. Start collecting items.
• remove rocking chair from kitchen
• supervise 15 minutes of decluttering in kids' rooms
  

School:

• Start planning next academic year
• have kids re-start their math today
• write out goals
• plan this week
  

Canadian History:

• pick a topic
• begin research

Errands:

• pick up drycleaning!
• shop for produce on menus
  
• see list
  

Housekeeping:

• see Motivated Moms list
• weed garden
• replace bunt out lightbulbs
  

oh what the heck, the Errand List:

Home Improvement Store:

• rubber feet for step ladder
• 8 hooks for hallway
• screen kit for upstairs bathroom window
• small extension cord for microwave

Other:

• 6 small buttons for shirt
• soap dispensers for hand soap and dish soap for kitchen counter

And there we have it.