Summer is here with a vengeance. Yesterday was the hottest day so far this year (unless mayhap today has topped it) and the indoor temperature leveled out at 81 degrees on the thermostat in the hallway--cooler in the bedrooms, warmer in the kitchen. It didn't help that it took me until today to realize that "fan" and "cool" are two different settings on the AC. At least it's working now! Our pool is finally open and James and I took the first swim of the season yesterday while my kind mum-in-law watched Emily. I love the water.
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Today I thought I would write about a few of the things that are helping me to stay more organized and less stressed these days.
This week I've gone back to one of my original ways of keeping myself on task: a simple little notebook. One page for each day: I write out my tasks in the morning and check them off as I finish them. I've tried using my phone reminders app for this, but I do so much better when my list is in plain sight and I don't have to remember to open the app on my phone. (Besides, a notebook simply doesn't have the immense capabilities of distraction that my phone has.) It's helping me to remember simple things (vitamins) and to be realistic in what I attempt in a day...helps me not to be disappointed when I don't clean all the kitchen cabinets and work on that photo book in addition to all of this. :) When I did this in college I would number tasks in order of importance, but at this stage of life I'm not sure that would make much difference. If something doesn't get finished it rolls over to the next day or gets dropped.
I'm definitely a list person. Writing out a tentative weekly menu has been helpful for me; it takes a bit of stress off of the decision-making each day, even though the plan gets changed up regularly through the week. I just bump things around when we end up eating elsewhere or having another, better idea (burgers weren't in the original plan).
I just updated my meal idea list. I have it categorized (pasta and random misc., meatless, chicken, beef) and I try to make sure that we eat a reasonable balance between all categories. I just scan the list till I see something that looks good and then I write it on the menu (taking into account, naturally, whether or not the ingredients are available).
As part of overhauling my cleaning schedule I made a list of household chores. I know that all these things need to be cleaned but if I don't have a framework for when it should happen it can all pile up in my brain and create stress. I wrote down all of the cleaning tasks I could think of and split them out by category (I went with Weekly, Monthly, Occasionally, and Very Rarely, thereby avoiding the pressure of having to remember things Quarterly and Yearly.) I aim for finishing the entire Weekly category plus one or two tasks from the Monthly category each Monday; time will tell if that's doable on a regular basis or not. :) This is still a prototype. I'm thinking that as I go along some things will be switching categories and I've already added some items that I forgot at first. It is certainly helping me so far though!
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The kids are awake. We're heading to Joe's mom's this evening for a campfire and hotdogs with the family. Hopefully the weather will cool just a bit; they live up in the hills so it ought to be more temperate there anyway. I need to figure out a topping for the chocolate chip cake I made and get us ready to head out once Joe gets home. All for now! Have a lovely weekend!
Rachel
Love this. Thanks for sharing Rachel!
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