A Virtuous Woman Plans

• Who can find a virtuous woman?  her price is far above rubies
• She looketh well to the ways of her household and eateth not the bread of idleness

Hello again, you virtuous women! I finally get internet back at my house, start doing some blogging, planning some future posts, etc, and then---I disappear for a month!  Let me just say--life got in the way! You may remember me mentioning us having to get our heating and cooling system replace, including moving a closet wall 6 inches.  That turned into a bigger job than we had planned, we ended up having to replace ductwork in the attic, ceiling boxes, and register covers. I had workmen (and woman) in my house for three days, smack in the middle of the house,in and out of rooms, up and down ladders, it was controlled chaos, all of this right as I was trying to gear up for the holidays.  Then came the actual holidays, ready or not.  Next a little family mini-vacation to the city; then came some sickness, and now, I'm finally ready to get back to my planned post--on what subject, you might ask?

Planning, of course!

Last month I wrote about how I was trying to get myself into a new routine, one that accommodated the changes in our lives and our schedules, it just seemed that nothing quite worked. I just could not seem to get myself back on track.

So I started thinking about the times when I was on track,when I was productive and life seemed to flow better. One of the things that I realized about myself, is that if I don't have a plan, I will drift through days or even weeks at a time without accomplishing much of anything at all.

And whether it's a grocery list jotted on the back of a used envelope, or a carefully orchestrated weekly calendar, for me, that means written down.

On paper.

In ink.

You'd think that at this stage in my life I could just wing it and still get it right, still get things done.

U-huh.

Tried that.  Obviously wasn't working.

I've also tried using virtual/electronic calendars, but for me, they don't work well.  For one thing, I never seem to keep everything synced up--phone calendar, kindle calendar, laptop, I have too many options. And for another thing, most of my technology is not the latest and greatest.  I don't have a smart phone and my laptop is eight years old, which makes it a dinosaur.  I used to have a Palm Pilot, which I loved, but even that technology is outdated now.  None of my devices work with any of my other devices.

So I thought about what works for me and what doesn't work for me. and this is what works.

(All of the photos are clickable, which means if you click on them, you can see them larger if you need to)

Three items--a planner-sized calendar, a notebook, and a purse calendar.

For my to-do lists, etc, I like to use a spiral bound 5x7 notebook with lined pages.  These are usually sold as journals. I've been known to buy these 10 at a time when I find them at a good price, which for me is around $2.99 each. Around here that means getting them at a chain discount store that's basically sort of an outlet store, or a chain bookstores when they run them on sale.  I don't buy usually buy them unless there's a deep discount or I have a store coupon, but occasionally I'll find one that I just fall in love with the picture on the cover or the page design, and I'll pay full price.  Just not often!

.I use them as a list-planners and journals, as you'll see in another post later this week. I try to jot a daily "to-do" list on one side, usually the left hand side, as you can see above, then mark things off as I do them, sometime with a check mark, or a line through it, usually both.  And if I do something spontaneous that isn't on my list, I write it down and mark it off as done, as well.  

Yes, I do. 

 Anything left unmarked usually gets transferred to the next day. On the right hand side, I usually jot notes for  outside the house things--errands to do, appointments to make, a grocery list, things to buy from the the Dollar Store, etc.  

I know it sounds weird, but I do my daily lists from front to back, but sometimes I flip to the back and write myself notes about things I need to remember for the long term--that way it doesn't get mixed up with my short term lists.  When my short term lists and long term lists/notes meet, it's time for a new notebook!

My next item is a purse calendar, the size of checkbook.  I'm picky about these, too, even though I write small, I want one with decent sized squares, and I want one with a cover that I like! Right now I'm floundering along with out one of these, my last couple of these were two-year calendars, and I didn't realize I was going to need a new one back in the fall when everyone had calendars everywhere!

Any time I'm out-and-about, if something comes up about a future date, I can add it immediately, or check for conflicts, appointments, etc.  I love my little purse calendars.

And my third item is a larger planner.calendar. This one is about 9 1/2 x 7 1/2 inches, a good size, but not too heavy or bulky.  

First of all is function, of course, but I also want one that's pretty.  I bought this one last fall at Barnes and Noble, I don't remember the price off hand, but it was very reasonable. It's about 9 1/2 x 7 1/2 inches, a good size, but not too heavy or bulky.  I like the little elastic thingy that holds it closed, too, it's easy to slip on and off, but keeps it neat, as well. 

The calendar part is a two page spread, this gives me plenty of room to write.  In the back it has some address book pages and some tear off pages for notes and lists.  No daily/hour by hour pages in this one, that's not something I really need at this season of my life.

And there you have it---the three tools that help me stay on track--if I use them!

My goal for the coming weeks is get back into my planing groove

• writing things down
• checking them off
• using my calendars
• keeping my calendar and planner syncronized

What do you do to keep yourself organized?

Until next time...

This post is linked to:

Make Your Home Sing Monday at Moms the Word

Treasure Box Tuesday at Memories by the Mile