Are you a list person? I sure am! I love the feeling of checking off a completed item, it makes me feel like I've accomplished something! Its also great motivation to get stuff done. I hate seeing those unchecked items, they just sit there glaring at me.
Anyways, recently I've come to the realization that my life was not happening exactly as I was wanting it to. Do you ever have that? I wasn't getting nearly as much done while I was at home with Piper, and then working part time the end of the week just meant the weeks were flying by. The house wasn't getting cleaned consistently, I wasn't planning out meals and therefore throwing things together at the last minute, and I had a head full of things that I wanted to get done but when I had free time I couldn't remember what any of those things were! Ugh, don't you hate that?!
What did I do, you ask? Took a trip to Staples and bought myself a binder and some other organizing goodies, and started what I'm now affectionately calling "The Hub." I'll make sure to do a blog on this at another time but its basically a place where I keep and plan, everything that will be going on during my week: my meal planning, my to-do lists yay!, my weekly & monthly schedule, coupons & recipes...etc, etc.
But alas, I'm not talking about all of that today, today is specifically for to-do lists, my favorite! Matt and I have found out by trial and error that the amount of work you can do in a day increases exponentially when you have a plan as opposed to just winging it! Now I'm sure as you're reading this it may sound like I have it all together and I'm a really organized person, but I'm not. Just ask my husband! I am slowly starting to get my act together though, and its making a world of difference!
So lets break it down. I created four different lists:
-Dream Big: This is for bigger purchases that Matt and I have agreed upon that will be made in the future. This works in line with our budget. If we have left over money at the end of the month we check this list and see if there is enough to buy and of these items. At least theoretically that is how it will work. Since we are
paying off debt at the moment all extra funds are put to that. Once our debt is done we will consider this list more often!
-Home Projects: Pretty self explanatory. I love this list! These projects were the primary ones that I would forget about. This list ranges from short term to long term projects so on any given Saturday, it we have some extra time and want to tackle something, out comes the list.
-I Really Want: I don't know if you have this problem, but when I have extra money to burn it just seems to disappear out of thin air. Then I look back and wonder where it went. This list helps me spend my money on things I actually want and have thought about, not just whatever is right in front of my face that second. Often times I'll look at this list and say... "oh yeah, I forgot I wanted that, it would still be really nice to have." And then I go buy it, instead of buying another tank top or blowing it on food.
-The Weekly Grind: This is my most used list. It is my running to do list for the week. The stuff I don't get done get's carried to the next week. I usually try and sit down and write this list Sunday afternoons or first thing on Mondays. It helps me stay focused for the week, and keep me from spending to much time on facebook.
3 reasons why these actually work for me:
- I designed them, and I like the way the look! Which means I actually want to pull them out and look at them. What good is a making a list if you aren't going to check it twice?
- I keep them all in the same spot and they are easily accessible, as opposed to my previous method of using scrap pieces of paper and loosing them!
- I don't really have a third reason, the number 3 just seemed legit. Anyways you should give it a try. Click on the link below and download them for yourself!
