Processing ... On Paper.

 

Does your life ever feel like the photo above?
It was an accidental photo, I didn't even know I had taken it until the other day.
But my life totally feels like that sometimes.
Like I'm just hanging on for dear life so I don't go flying off this spinning planet!!

There are a few things I find helpful when it does start to feel like this.
Or even ... before this, but to keep me from getting to this.
That is where I am now.  Feeling like if I don't get
things under control, it will all start to spin!

I'm am external processor.
I need to talk to process.  But sometimes
I can't.  I don't have a large group of people I feel
comfortable 'processing' with.  In fact, it's quite a small, very
select group containing less than a handful of people.

Sure, there are levels of processing. And if we're talking about what I'm going to cook for dinner,
I'm probably happy to chat to a stranger in the supermarket.

I have found, over the years, though, that with lots of things, I can 'process' my
thoughts on paper just as well as in a conversation.  It's almost like I need
to hear (or see) my thoughts to before I can decide if they make
sense.   If you are an external processor, you may know
what I'm talking about.  

Here's what one of my "processing" lists looks like.
It's simple.  Nothing complicated.
But so helpful. 

My next step is to put those thoughts on to a schedule.
I don't want to "fit" these things into my day, I want them to be priority. 
Having that in my mind helps as I go about looking at what other things take up my
time and thinking about if they should be cut back on or eliminated all together.

Two Hours One Morning :: Corner View {Home}

I had planned to write this post yesterday but the evening got away from me.   Luckily, the theme of this week's Corner View fits perfectly so I can  kill two birds with one stone, so to speak.  I would never
willingly kill a real bird.  I love birds.

Anyhoo ....

My house has been DRIVING ME CRAZY!
I've had a few piles of stuff laying around that I needed put away
or find "homes" for but just hadn't made the time to do it.

I had the day off yesterday, the children were home too, a fact that actually worked in my favor.  I set the timer for two hours, gave them a small list of tasks
and told them once those were done, they were free to do anything
they wanted, as long as it was quiet and in their individual
rooms.  They are great little workers, my two,
they set about their tasks and got them
done quickly.  I did not hear from
them much after that, but that could have been because
I had the music  cranked on the  surround sound and I didn't hear much else!
A word of warning, if you hear loud music coming from my house during the day, you should
never and I mean NOT EVER look in the windows.  The music
I clean to is pretty darn up beat ... hip hop sort of stuff ... and my feet, in the
privacy of my own home, can't help but dance!  Every Zumba move I have incorrectly interpreted is happening!  My kids think is it embarrassingly hilarious.
Seriously ... it is not something you want to see.  EVER. 
never. ever.
So ... I set my timer.



Two hours.

Before I started, I did a walk through and took "before" shots of all the
problem areas in case I got distracted.  I had to use the photos a
couple of times to get me back on track.

Here's what I accomplished.



I started by making my bed.  This always makes my room feel instantly tidier. 
I (almost) always make my bed.  I hate it when I'm too lazy and don't.



I tidied up Rory's music table and the floor beneath. 
Not much though, just enough to get the pedals up off the floor
and move the guitars out of the way of the bathroom door!



Laundry baskets full of clean laundry!  A shopping bag with toiletries to be put away.
Movies the kids have watched in our bedroom, an iPhone charger that needed
to go back to the docking station in the family room.  A library book. 
All of these things have homes ... I just hadn't put them in them!



Rory likes to refer to the elliptical as my coat rack ....
I won't lie, it's easy to hang my clothes there.
Although ... those jeans are his!



Cleaning stuff left on the bathroom sink after Alia cleaned the kids bathroom ... ON SATURDAY!
I went ahead and cleaned the sink and put those cleaners away!



Guest bedroom bed ... Alia pulled the sheets up a few weeks ago after she and her friend
had slept in there one Friday night but it was bugging me.  I remade the bed.  Baby clothes that I had to wash after the ants made a nest in the box they live in!
They are washed, dried and folded ... waiting for me to put them away. I'll get to it, that project is bigger than just putting them away!



Two boxes that I bought for the guest bedroom closet, and movies left out.
Putting the movies away was one of the jobs on the kids lists!
The boxes in the guest bedroom closet, they are a project for another time but at least they aren't in the family
room anymore!!



My sock drawer has been driving me nuts.  I had too many socks. 
The drawer wouldn't close.  I pulled out the socks that I don't
ever wear, put them in my 'to get rid of box' in the garage.
Drawer now closes. Job well done. 



Dirty laundry.  Now washed.



And dried.  And folded.  And put away.



And even a shelf labeled .... to avoid confusion with the kids. 
No-one wants to dry their hands on the dog's bath towel!



A bit of pencil art of the top of our side table.
Gone.



Junk along the top of the kitchen bench.  Gone. Except for the "junk" that lives there.

This little box sits beside my desk.  It's where I put tiny little things that need to be put away but I don't want to get up and put them away at just that moment.  You know, like things that the kids bring me or things that I had in my purse but took out.  Something I was planning to use but didn't.  Just little bits and pieces.  I just put them in the box until I have a day like yesterday and then I carry the box around and put everything away. Now, the box is empty and ready for the next bit or piece ....

The dining room table.  Most of the time it doesn't look like the first photo.  Most of the time
it looks like the second photo.  It's like my bed ... the whole house looks neater to me if the
table is clear!  Busyness had caused this little pile up ... but now it is gone.

As well, I had a pile of jackets and blankets on the back of my desk chair.  Put away.
The kids had think piled on my craft desk in the garage.  Put away.
The shoe shelf need organizing.  Done.

There were socks randomly scattered on the 'riding' toy shelf in the garage.  Put in the hamper.

On a hunch, I asked the kids to check their school bags for Tupperware containers
(even though school finished a week ago and I asked them to check then!)
They brought out 6 Tupperware between them,
complete with food and mold.
All clean now.

I needed to hang a hook in the bathroom.  Done. 

I needed to hang a fire blanket in the kitchen.  Done.

Seriously ... it was the most productive two hours EVER! Sometimes, that's all it takes!

**

Corner View was created by Jane at Spain Daily and is now hosted by Francesca.  It is bloggers from all over the world, posting photos of a specific weekly theme.  To join, just post to your own blog and then link up over at Francesca's Corner View for the week.  Then, visit the other Corner Views ... that's my favorite part !  Seeing the interpretations of the themes, visiting different cultures, learning something new !

Household Tip ~ A long long cord ...

One thing that has always driven me crazy is having to unplug the vacuum cleaner and plug it in somewhere else.  Crazy ?  Maybe, but it bugs me.  Or, maybe I should say, it used to bug me. A few years ago I came up with this very simple solution ...

An extension cord. A long long extension cord. I plug it into a socket at the centre of the house and then I can vacuum the entire house without ever having to unplug !  Seriously, this makes me so happy.

This extension cord is NOT EVER USED FOR ANYTHING ELSE !  It stays plugged into the vacuum cleaner cord and I never have to go searching for it when I need to vacuum. 

{soap and toothpaste no more]

i think i've mentioned already how well our charts are working

i'm not here to mention that again

i'm here for something else

a change

this is how the sink in the main bathroom looked every day up until a week ago

we have tried many things to get the kids to remember to wipe the sink

nothing has worked

until now

seriously, i can't believe how easy it was

the kids charts only go for three weeks

about a week ago it was time to print new ones

i simply added 'wipe sink' to the chart

alia in the morning

jono before bed

easy



so stinkin' easy

they do it every time

and the sink shines !

ok ... that's a stretch ...

but it is free of soap and toothpaste

and that is enough

more than enough !!

**

speaking of kids and chores ...

i wrote a two part series a while back sharing my thoughts on the subject ...

...........

if you're interested, the two black and whites of my dad as a kid are linked to those posts

as for me ... i'm heading to bed

i'm future dating this to be posted tomorrow while we are at a wedding

and then spending the weekend with grandma and grandad

a happy weekend to you all

i hope it's

great

!!

{home management}

My sister Ellie inspired me.
It's not the first time.
She has a tendency to be like that ... inspirational.

We were talking the other day about home management.
She has recently put some new systems into place that are working really well.

I'm not following the same systems as my schedule is different to hers.
But, listening to her enthusiasm inspired me to put my own systems into place.

We pack a lot into our lives.
Rory works full time.
He also plays futsal on two different teams.
I work part time
and spend half a day a week in a studio doing an art lesson.
We are both involved in music and missions at church.
Outside of school, Jono plays AFL and soccer.
Both kids take swimming lessons.

And that's just the stuff that's scheduled.

It's not too much.
We have plenty of time to relax
and enjoy being together.
We eat dinner together almost every night.
There are of course, exceptions.


BUT, what can happen, if I'm not careful is that I let the housework pile up
and then I spend an entire Saturday cleaning and that makes me grumpy !

There just had to be a better way ...

One of my biggest frustrations, when it comes to cleaning the house,
has been not knowing what my husband expects.
So ... first thing I did after talking to Ellie
( why did I not do this 12 years ago !? )
was have him tell me

EXACTLY

what his expectations are.

How often does he think the house needs to be vacuumed ?
How frequently do the sheets need to be changed ?

etc.

etc.

etc.

I thought his expectations were reasonable so I went with those.

I sat down and made a chart that lists all the cleaning and how often it needs to be done.
I added dates according to the frequency.
So ... this week, when I clean the toilet, I'll write the date it was done in the column for this week.
Make sense ?

I think it is going to be really good for me to be able to keep track of everything.
Also good for when Rory gets an inkling to help out, which he is very good at, to be able to
see what has been done and what needs to be done.



I also did a daily chart for each of the kids.



They love it.



I added the charts to the 'home management station' that I've been developing
on the inside of the pantry door.
It is the perfect location.
Seriously, how many times is a Mommy in and out of the pantry on any day of the week !?
I ALWAYS see it !!

I've got my calendar there.
The notes from the school.
Events, like a wedding we are going to in June ...
The menu.
And now ... the charts !

Can I tell you how much I love having everything in one place ?
I have always wanted some sort of 'home management system' but have never had a good spot for it.
I didn't want it on a wall somewhere where it looked 'junky'.
But, in the pantry ... with a door that closes.
Perfect, I tell you.
Just perfect.

So tell me ... do you have a system for getting everything done ?
Care to share ?
You can do it in the comments or post it on your blog.
If you do a post, be sure to let me know so I can come check it out ...