BRAIN DUMP NEEDED...

Life is crazy, nuts, hectic...and probably at least another 50 or so synonyms that I'm not including!  When I was young I could multitask better than most.  It was my forte.  I was organized to the hilt and I loved every minute of my life.  The more "balls in the air" the happier I was!

Fast forward 30+ years and too many balls in the air is leading to stress and anxiety for me.  I have too much "stuff" in my head at all times...and I'm mucking it up badly!!!  I knew my limit had been reached when I sent my poor father to the wrong office for his doctor's appointment!  Never before in my life had I made that type of mistake...not in my work life nor my home life!

I've become adept at using my phone and computer to keep track of my schedule, but using technology to keep track of all of the things I have to do, all of the telephone calls I have to make and emails I have to send was cumbersome.  I had so many things written on one day that my digital calendar was showing "+4", "+5" etc on the date.  Sure, I could go to the daily view and see what those extra 4 or 5 things were, but it was annoying bouncing back and forth between the monthly and daily views.  Obviously NOT writing them down somewhere was taxing the hard drive in my head, resulting in my dad showing up at the wrong office.  I needed a brain dump!

Enter my planner above.  Last year I spent good money on a pre-made planner and it only fulfilled about 30% of my needs.  My life was not the same as someone else's life.  So this year I pulled out a Dollar Store composition book and began writing things down.  Now that I know my system is working well it's time to "pretty it up" a bit!

Using a cheap fat quarter I made a cover reminiscent of the paper bag ones we used in school.  Next, I wanted to be able to carry my pen and red pencil with me.  I fashioned a two sectioned pocket from another piece of fabric and folded it over the edge of the cover.  Easy, peasy!

As a quilter, I have AT LEAST 500 or so projects floating around in my head for future completion.  I decided to glue ideas, color ways, sketches and even quilt kits from my favorite catalogs etc. onto the pages.  They would be pretty and inspirational and would provide a "visual" of what I found appealing instead of a simple written description...which could be interpreted in so many ways two months from now!  I would store all of my inspiration in the white envelope and glue one per page.  My pages were beautiful...until my lists became cramped, squeezed and illegible around the pictures.  For now I will forgo the pictures.  My planner needs to be functional first!  Maybe what I need is another composition book to craft as an Idea Book.

As the household secretary, I make ALL of the necessary phone calls.  ;o(  While some call results can be documented simply in the "Calls" section, there are times where I need to make more copious notations on the things discussed.  In this case I jot my notes onto a separate sheet and place it in the manilla enveloped affixed to the inside back of the composition book.  I can then use my red pencil to check off the call as completed and write (DOC) next to it to signify that there is written information stored in the envelope.  SOoooo much easier than trying to remember who said what!!!

With retirement looming large for my husband I need a reminder to exploit every money making and money saving technique I can in order to build up our coffers before the big day hits!  While we are BOTH looking forward to the day he leaves the stress of the working world behind...we need black belt frugality to get there.  I review my separate To Do list daily to see if there is anything I can accomplish on the financial side of our household.

I also want to work on ME during all of this organizing.  I have developed a color key to represent habits I want to work on every day.  I track these habits in my planner as well.

Is it all running smoothly?  Mostly.  With my son's wedding coming in less than two weeks there are days when I don't get into my sewing room/office to do ANY of the items in my planner!  However, the closer we get to the event the less there is "to do" and the more time there is "To Be"...and "being present" is what life is really about!

Toodles...