Note to Self - You are not Super Woman!

Ahhhh it is Friday!  That is supposed to be a good thing, right??!! 

Last night, Friday eve, I was up late doing a load of laundry, so that my little one would have pants for school today, loading the dishwasher, putting away the sewing machine and various other supplies from a pinterest project that I got sucked into ... feeling really bad about myself because I hadn't got lots of the chores done on my list this week.  I needed a reality check!

I am not super woman ... I get accused of being this super organized person sometimes that gets so much done ... It makes me laugh because up until a couple weeks ago, I would be getting all of these comments while sitting in my home that was in shambles.  I was getting plenty of work done ... but not so much housework. 

Last night, after putting away all of my crafty stuff and putting the few dirty dishes in the sink, I realized that the house really wasn't in shambles.  If a friend walked through the door at that moment I wouldn't hang my head in shame at the craziness. 

Yes, the bedroom didn't get vacuumed, the shelves didn't get dusted, the windows and mirrors aren't spotless ... but that's ok ... it will get done ... Sleep is more important than any of those things.

It's Friday now, and I have another list of things that need to be done.  The important things have already been done before I write this post ... everything else is a bonus!

Have a great weekend! 

One Week In ... How are your Resolutions going? Have you started to Tweak them?

So, We are one week into 2013!  How are your resolutions going?  What have you tweaked?  What have you let go?  Are you still on track?

As some of you know I started back on my card system to keep me on track with time management and keeping my house in order.  I actually started a bit before the first of the year because I wanted to have my brain ready and my system in place.  I have started to tweak and change some things though.

I haven't changed much with my weekly, monthly, or quarterly cards yet.  Although after scrubbing tubs and showers last week I thought that weekly might be too often for that job ... I think this is more due to that I don't like doing that and I would much rather put it off and not do it as frequently.  For now, I am leaving it as a weekly task as I do think that it will be much less of a time consuming (and less work) if I do actually get it done every week.  I will be making some changes to my daily cards though.  For instance ... I need to change wiping counters and tables - I currently have them on my morning list and I thought they were on my afternoon and nightly list too ... but they are not.  I will probably take them off the morning and move them to nightly.  I also have sweep kitchen/dining on both afternoon and nightly and I will be moving that to only nightly.   

I have also been thinking about the things that I need to do that are not already in the system.  Thinks like vacuuming my car, washing the car, and outside chores ... like hubby and I were just talking about trimming our fruit trees and both decided that we needed to remind each other in late February to do this ... probably something I could make a card for and increase the likelihood that I will remember!  The car chores certainly need to be done ... and I am seriously considering treating myself to the local car wash once a month ... especially if I am getting all of this other stuff done.  It would be a nice treat not to have to do that!

I need to give more thought to my work chores and how I would like to add them in.  I certainly have things that need to be done on a daily, weekly, monthly and annual basis ... but I need to give more thought about how I want to get myself on track.  There are several things that I do for work that need to be done when the weather is cooperating ... and I need to get organized so that when the weather is nice, I am able to do them without being buried in other things that have to be done immediately.

Unfortunately I haven't figured out how to get the weather to cooperate with my schedule ... so until then, I need to be ready when the weather is cooperating!

So, tell me about your resolutions!!  Leave me a comment!

The Card System for time management - You expect me to do what, when, how??!!

If you read my first post and are thinking about starting the card system to help you get organized and better manage your time:

http://mooremagnets.blogspot.com/2012/12/the-card-system-to-stay-organized-and.html

You might be feeling a little overwhelmed ... asking me - You expect me to do what?  Exactly When?  How am I going to get this done?

I will admit that when you are first setting this system up, it is a bit of work.  Thinking of all of the things you need to do, and having a hard time getting it all done now.  Honestly, this is my favorite part of the card system, because I don't have to think about it all anymore.  I know that all I have to do is pull cards out, check things off, work a little each day, and it will all get done.  I also know that it isn't going to involve me rushing around and feeling overwhelmed that things have gotten out of control.

Today, I am going to take a closer look at my daily cards for you.  These are things that I do everyday to help me stay on top of things.  Your daily cards may look different as your problem areas may look different than mine.

The purpose of the daily cards is to maintain and to control your problem areas, and also to make the hard to keep clean areas easier when the day to clean them comes around. 

You may notice that I have a bit of overlap on my daily cards.  Like wiping counters, sweeping the kitchen and dining area, laundry and dishes.  The reason for this overlap isn't to make me do these things if they don't need to be done, but more to make me look at these areas and to be proactive in keeping them cleaned up.  About half the days of the week, I don't have laundry to do, but this way I am doing laundry one load at a time instead of 5 loads one day of the week.  In the past, I have set up my cards to only do laundry one day a week, but then I had to fold 5 loads of laundry in one day, and I hate folding laundry.  By breaking it up over several days, laundry doesn't pile up and I find it less daunting to fold them one load at a time.

Wiping the counters is also an overlapping task.  Keeping the counters cleaned off is one of the areas that my husband and I tend to bicker over.  He likes the counters clean and tidy, and I tend to pile things up there.  So, I try to focus on those as a favor to him.  It just makes the household more harmonious, and I know he appreciates my efforts. 

I have also made daily cards for my children.  Their cards contain their daily chores and we go over them each night.  At the end of each week we review and I hand out allowances.  There are other cards for them that they can do to earn extra money, but the condition is that all of their daily chores have to be met before they earn money for the extras ... if not there are deductions to their extra chores.  They know that they can't just skip picking up their dirty clothes and dishes to earn money from washing cars ... They also know that they can't just was the cars every day.

Since I made my cards, I have also found that I have some other tasks that need to be done less frequently, more frequently, and things I have forgotten about too.  So I will be adding those in.

Next time I will talk about some ideas that you might want to put as weekly tasks.

The Card System to Stay Organized and Manage your time

In keeping with my goal of accomplishing more in the new year,  I am finding a real lack of any sort of organizational system to keep me on track.  I need to stay organized and I need a time management system!  For the last several months I have done really well at staying on task with work and not letting the house fall into shambles.  However, I feel like I don't really have any sort of system that keeps me on track.  I'm just doing what has to be done everyday on an as needed basis, instead of being proactive and preventing messes along the way.  Over a year ago, I developed this card system to keep me on task and not let the house stuff get out of hand.  I've decided that it is time to bring it back.

I'm not a professional organizer, or time management guru, but I do feel like I am a fairly productive person who manages to accomplish a lot while still getting 7-8 hours of sleep every night.   There are certainly other systems that you can use, some are similar to this one and I was inspired by quite a few.  However, most of them require bulky binders or are a bit too complicated for my liking.  There are also others that seem to require lots of repetitive things to help you develop habits and I never felt like they were concentrating on my problem of maintenance versus just cleaning up messes.  Then there are systems that involve setting timers and cleaning like a mad woman ... and truthfully I don't want to work like that every day ... it is fine when I have company that is showing up in 30 minutes though!

This card system is designed to be used daily - and for everyday tasks.  This system is not designed to help you tackle large organizational projects at one time or within a short amount of time.  What it will do is allow you to complete what you need to do in your allotted time and then stop.  You can feel free to go about the rest of your day knowing that the other items are already scheduled and there is no need to eat your elephant all in one day. This system is certainly adaptable to other schedules, and adaptable so that you can accomplish those bigger tasks, although I won't be talking about that until after we are finished.

I don't do well putting off house cleaning for one day per week.  For me, I work better, feel more relaxed, and I am less likely to procrastinate if I know that I only have to do a little bit each day.  Using this system, I know that things will get done, and without me cleaning like a mad woman for an entire day.  If you do prefer to work that way, then I encourage you to read, adapt, and share what you will do differently than is presented.

This system takes into account that not all tasks need to be done daily, and provides a way to keep up with things that need to be done twice a week, weekly, monthly, quarterly, every six months, and even annually.  All you have to do is take cards out, check them off, and return them to their proper location.

So, now, onto the card system. 

What you need:
Colored note cards (I use the 3x5 colored index cards - you don't have to use colored ones, but I like the visual cues)
Dividers - I purchased a pack of abc dividers and put a sticker on top of the abc's (you need 19)
Something to keep them in - I use a recipe type box that is made to hold 3x5 index cards
A notepad or piece of paper
Pen or pencil

The first thing you are going to do is to make a list of everything that you need to do.  My system is to mainly help me keep up with household tasks and cleaning so that is a lot of what you will be seeing on my cards.  Take your notepad or piece of paper and make your list.  I found it easier to break my list up by room and then physically go into each room and look around while I made my list.  Once I was done with each room, I made a list of other general things that need to be done that weren't in a room.  My list looks like the picture to the right.

Once you are finish listing all of your tasks then assign a time that they need to be done.  Write your times as an on-going basis ... meaning that just because their are cobwebs in your corner, it doesn't mean that you need to dust that corner every day.  You are also not assigning priorities to things.  It will all get done, so don't worry about what needs to be done first right now, just write down how often you would be doing them in a harmonious perfect world.

Also, don't worry if you forget something.  This system is flexible and you will be able to add things later.  You can also cross things out and move them around if you decide that something is being done too often or not often enough.

Next you will want to pick one of your colors of note cards for Daily, Weekly, Monthly, Quarterly, etc.  You may also have 2 times per week (I use the same color as weekly for those), Every 6 months (I use the same color as Quarterly), and once per year (I use the same color as Quarterly)

For the "Daily" tasks I actually have 3 cards that are broken up into Morning, Afternoon, and Evening (or Nightly).  I found that it was better for me to work in small chunks of time a few times per day versus trying to do everything at one time or spacing it out throughout the entire day.

On your Daily tasks you will want to write all of the tasks that need to be done daily on the daily cards.  You may want to write down which room the task is for also.  I have columns with dates on them so that I can check things off ... I LOVE to check things off and feel like I have accomplished things, so this gives me a way to really feel like I am accomplishing a lot.  Perhaps it is bad that I have written down "Breakfast", "Lunch" and "Dinner" ... but really, sometimes I forget to eat ... not a good habit!

For the weekly tasks you will want to go by room - at least that has been the easiest thing for me.  Once upon a time, I did things by task - such as vacuuming all in one day.  However, I found that there were too many times that the vacuuming didn't get done because I had the pick up the whole house before I started and I used all of my vacuuming time picking up instead of vacuuming.  Now I just focus on one room at a time.

An Example of one of my weekly cards is on the left.

** For tasks that are done more than once per week but not daily, you will want to make one card for each day you will be working on that task.  For instance, if you need to vacuum the living room twice per week then you will want to make 2 cards that say vacuum living room.

Before we move onto the monthly, quarterly, and remaining tasks we need to go ahead and put the cards you have made into your card file.

Take your dividers and re-label them - one for each day of the week, and one for each month.

Once you have done that you need to give some thought as to how often you want to be cleaning.  Do you want to get it all done in 4 days, 5 days, 6 days, or do you want to be working on it 7 days per week?  I do daily tasks 7 days a week, and I get all of the weekly tasks done Monday through Friday.  Saturdays (or Sunday's if I feel like it) are for working on monthly and quarterly tasks (I don't currently have any that are 6 month or annual tasks, but if I did they would also be done on Saturdays or Sundays).

You will then want to divide all of your weekly tasks and put them behind the day of the week that you want to get them done.  I have tried to batch mine by the rooms that are close to each other and also batch the tasks so that I am spending about 30 minutes per day (or less) working.

Next you will want to make your monthly, quarterly, and annual cards (as well as other times that you have noted on your list).  I put one monthly task per card, and one quarterly task per card.  I write the months on the quarterly cards that they need to be done - Such as January, April, July, October is on top of the things that get done in those months.  If some of your monthly and quarterly tasks have recently been done then go ahead and write the date that you did them on your card.  Leave room for writing other dates, as you will write the dates that you do them in the future so that you know that those things are done.  If you haven't done something in a while then you will need to decide if it needs to be taken care of immediately or if it can wait and go in the rotation until next month. 

Once your quarterly and monthly cards are done, then you will place all of the monthly cards behind this month (or the upcoming month if this one is almost over), and your quarterly cards behind the first upcoming month that they need to be done.

Using your cards -


Your daily tasks should stay in the front of your card holder.  You will take these out each day and check off the tasks that you have completed.  You will also take out the cards that are filed under the current day and write the date on them (leaving room to write future dates) once you have completed them.  Once you have completed them they will be filed back behind the day of the week so that they are ready to do again the following week.  For monthly and quarterly tasks you will move them forward to the day of the week that you are working on monthly and quarterly tasks - remember, my day is Saturday or Sunday.  I generally like to get all of my monthly and quarterly tasks done in one Saturday of the month so that I can leave the others free for family and fun.

Accounting for vacations or other bumps in the road.  If I am leaving with my family then generally I will just skip doing the tasks that are scheduled for those days and come back to the on the next week.  I highly doubt that the house will fall in if I miss vacuuming ... especially if we are not here tracking in dirt.  However, if I find myself constantly too busy to get things done and putting them off ... then I need to re-check myself and re-evaluate what I am spending my time on.  I know that using this system really only takes about 30 minutes each day (sometimes more, sometimes less) - and really that is accounting for things that are going to make my house a better environment for me, my kids, and my husband.  I also know that most days it only takes about 30 minutes and that lots of these things will be done by boys that want to make extra money doing chores. 

I've read about other systems that claim that you can keep your house clean in 10 minutes a day ... but realistically I haven't found them to work.  I tend to skip over things when I have a timer set with the mindset that .. oh, I will wipe behind those canisters tomorrow ... and that is fine for one day ... but when you are doing it every day then it just doesn't work. 

Whew!  That was a long post!!  Please leave me a comment, if only to tell me that you made it all the way through!  Also, please let me know if I have made typos or not explained something ... I have been writing-deleting-editing-writing etc... so I am certain that I left something out!  I would also love to hear if you have adapted the system or have a different system that you use - I'm always open to making something better!

I will talk next time about adding tasks to your system, and also accounting for those big projects that need to be done.  I will also explain some of the things on my cards.

Shoe Racks as Toy Storage

I'm a little embarrassed to show you these pictures.  Our youngest son has an armory ... an armory of Nerf guns.  He LOVES his Nerf guns and I have become quite a good shot playing with him.

However, I can't say that Nerf guns are the easiest thing to store and find a place for!

So, a genius idea came over me!  I put an over the door shoe rack on his door to put the nerf guns in!  The pockets are the perfect size for many of his smaller guns.

He can't reach the highest pockets, so I'll be putting things in those that he doesn't use so often






We are hanging his larger ones on hooks around his room.

Yes, there are more than pictured here!

Oh, well ... at least he is not addicted to TV and video games!

Shipping Station!

During the time that I have been selling on Etsy and my website, I have come to appreciate the importance of having a dedicated shipping station.

A place where I can have bubble mailers, tape, bubble wrap, plastic baggies, ribbon, and all of those other things at my finger tips!

So, I have finally set up a dedicated shipping station in my work cabinets.

I have bubble mailers, and ribbons in the cabinet above.

I really like that this place is right next to my computer so that I only have to take a few steps to enter weights, print labels, and grab them off the printer!

Tape, baggies, scissors, pens, and also my scale lives in the drawer.

Bubble wrap, newspaper, and other packaging material lives in the cabinet below.

You may notice that I don't have a place for large boxes.  They currently live in my workshop outside since I don't really want them filling up my living room office!






Time to take these out to the mail box!

Fabric Storage

I have struggled with fabric storage for years now.  I have tried it in bags, in bins various ways, stacked by color, stacked by amount, folded in bins ... you get the picture.  Well, I have finally come up with a system that is working for me and I have been able to easily use it and maintain it over the last few months.  So, I thought it was time to share.

I am now storing fabric in bins, but rolled up.  Rolling the fabric is a much more efficient use of space, and when you have enough rolls to fill up a bin it is actually easy to remove and put back as the other rolls stay in their places.

Each Monday I take out the rolls of fabric that I will be working with for the next 4-10 days depending on how many orders I have.  Once I am finished I simply roll them back up and return them to their spaces.

I have them in separate bins depending on how much of a fabric I have.  One bin is dedicated to the fabric I have more than one yard of and are listed on my fabrics available page.  The second bin holds fabric that I don't have as much of but I will be using in the future.  I have finally managed to part with fabrics that I don't love, and were not popular.

Whew!  That was a lot of work! 

I am really happy that I don't have stacks falling over, and visually I can see each fabric that I have with out digging!

And, the bins fit neatly in my cabinet!

Containerizing

 I think containers are my absolute favorite organizing tool.  They come in so many shapes and sizes, and also made of different materials.  I often containerize things that I use at the same time, and I try to use pretty containers for things that need to stay out for a length of time.

I use a container to keep my iron, a bottle of water, spray starch, and some cloths for cleaning the iron in a bin.  It lives in my linen closet, but I just reach in and take the whole bin out when it is time to iron.  And with wire shelving I don't have to worry about the spray bottles falling over!  I use a plastic bin for these since they aren't left out all the time, and I am cautious to make sure that the iron is cooled down before I put it away.

I also containerize unmentionables.  All ladies need a basket like this.  I take it out for a week each month and leave it in our master bath.  Then it goes back under the sink for 3 weeks.

Extra toilet paper in our boys bathroom is kept in a basket on the back of the toilet.  I would never keep extra toilet paper on the floor next to the toilet in a boys bathroom ... and if you have boys then you know why I say that!

Organizing Task - Recipes ... and other foodie books

For a while now I have wanted to get my recipe's and cookbooks out of my bedroom and into my kitchen where I use them.  You see, we only have one bookshelf in the house for adult books (the kids each have one in their rooms), so all of my books no matter the subject are in my bedroom.  Which means constant tromping between rooms when I am looking for a recipe.

I was inspired to get this done this week by the 52 Weeks of Organizing on Home Storage Solutions - Here's the post in case you are inspired too! http://www.home-storage-solutions-101.com/organize-recipes.html

Several years ago I made 2 binders full of page protectors, photo pages, and made fabric covers for them.  The fabric covers are showing their age now, but that is a project for another day!  I love the page protector sleeves because when I find a recipe that has been given the husband and boy stamp of approval, then I can just drop it in the page protector.

Generally I don't have a lot of recipes that haven't been given the hubby and boy stamp of approval.  I tend to keep a bookmark folder on my computer with potential recipes, and then I print them when I want to make them.  If they are no good the paper goes in the trash, and if they are winners they go in the binder.

So, I decided to clean out one space in one cabinet for my books ... this is the cabinet that I chose to tackle

 I decided that the spinning thing for plastic containers needed to go.  Sure, it is handy-dandy, but several of the containers have broken, most of the small ones are just too small, and the larger ones are all being used by food in the freezer and can be easily stacked with the other plastic containers.  So ... it is gone!

Next, I gathered all of my cookbooks and recipe books.  I have a few other gardening books that are an excellent resource for canning and preserving foods that I pulled out also to store with the cookbooks. I also got rid of some of the cookbooks that I really just felt repeated recipes from the other books, put my recipes in the binder into the sleeves, and tossed the ones that I have decided I don't like or will never make.

Unfortunately there was a glitch in my plan ... because the books were too tall for my shelf!  So I opened the cabinet next door and a larger space that was occupied by the bread maker looked like perfect real estate!

In the challenge it also talks about organizing your recipes, but luckily besides putting some away in my binder, my recipes are fairly organized already!

I have decided that I use the bread maker a lot more when it is on my counter and not in the cabinet.  Cause really it is too heavy to be on that top shelf anyway. 

Resolutions ... and Plans to Make them Happen!

I've been working on this post for a couple weeks now. Like I said before, I don't like to make and start resolutions on January 1st. I like to take a couple weeks to really make a well thought out plan for resolutions and even give myself a chance to drop some that seem fly-by-night and don't have a well thought out plan.

So ... Here is the list!

Get the art and pictures out of bins, boxes, and files and get it up on the walls! - I am so terrible! I have bought several pieces, and even been given some pieces of art that are still sitting in bins and boxes and have not been displayed. All along I have been saying that I need to paint first ... cause our walls look terrible. However, painting hasn't happened either! At least the art would cover up some of the holes, handprints, marker doodles! So, as I am going through boxes I am getting that stuff hung!

Take more pictures of my kids! Seems that I am always taking pictures of products ... not so many of my kids. I am actually saving for a new camera - but that is no excuse! I have got to take more pictures! They are growing so fast!

Streamline ... everything!  I feel like I have to much stuff that does the same general thing.   There are so many areas of my house and life that this is relevant to that you will just have to follow along!

Make my workspace a more inspiring place. Right now it is so full of "stuff" ... all sorts of stuff ... I want a workspace like you see in a magazine ... which is probably not really going to happen ... but I can make it more desirable and less junky! Given some of my recent posts you can see that I have already started clearing out!

Increase my business - Business growth is always on my mind, I'll be spending more money on ads this year and really working on getting my name out there! I would also like to support some of my amazingly creative friends with this too, so I'll be asking them if they have a button or something to put on my blog! I have amazingly creative friends that can sew, paint, make toys, needle felt, draw, sculpt ... the list just goes on and on! And who knows, maybe they will return the favor! We have to support our friends! Love them!

Have fun! This is always a goal of mine, and it is funny that I feel the need to remind myself to do this. I had such a good time with my boys, my hubby, my friends - on beach trips, hanging out at pools, building forts, roasting marshmallows, going to the zoo, and generally just having fun. I am continuing my efforts to finish work by 5pm and take weekends off (except for craft show weekends). Life is too short not to have fun!

Organizing Never Ends! Revisiting Projects

 About a year ago my husband and I installed cabinets for my work in our living room.  I had very specific things in mind that I was going to store in each cabinet, and it was just going to be fantastic!

I still think they are fantastic, but with the addition of a new binding machine and color laser printer, the where I was going to put everything has changed ... seems like every week!

That's okay though - I really think that organizing isn't something that you do, and then you are done with.  I think it is an ongoing process that needs to be evaluated all of the time.  Let's face it, our interests changes, our kids' interests change, we stop doing things and start new things, and people and businesses grow!

So here is the newest arrangements of one of my cabinets.  I decided that I could really put some of the things I had out into a different place.  I wasn't using them right now, and even though I have plans to use them in the future, they don't have to stare me in the face everytime I open this cabinet up.  So, I've decided only to keep the things that I use right now in here.

I really love that I actually have some extra space too!  And I love having a basket that is just for fabric I have out for outstanding orders.  This will save me so much time since I don't have to dig through my fabric bins over and over again!

And, the rest of my spice racks turned paint racks came in!  The new ones that I ordered are actually a little deeper so I can even fit my spray can in there too!  I love that my brushes are there too ... they make me happy!

I am sure that some of you have tons more paint, but I must say that I got a deal on these spice racks on Amazon through ACE Hardware - They were less than $2 each!

Ok!  Back to work!  Hope you have a fantastic day!

If I could find my scissors then I wouldn't need 15 pairs!

So, I decided that it is really time to clean out my workspace. I am removing half finished projects and putting them in a bin so that I can come back to them later. When there are lots of little pieces for the projects I am putting them in baggies so that everything stays together. I am also putting all of the Christmas crafts in a bin so that I can pull them out at the end of the year when it is time to get started on them again.

However, what I have really found ... is that I would have a WHOLE lot more space if I just got rid of all of these multiples of things ... like sanding blocks, pliers, and scissors! Really - I would not need 15 pair of scissors if I could actually FIND scissors when I was looking for them ... This is what came out of ONE drawer!



Oh my ... I have a problem ...

Clear Jars - Saving me from madness!

I seriously only have 5 minutes of organizing time today ... I really need to devote more time to it tomorrow.

But ... each small step is still getting me toward that elusive goal of actually being organized! I do have my doubts that I will reach that holy grail at this point though!

So, today I grabbed some canning jars that weren't being used and seperated all my buttons! Some glasses are also handy for pens and paint brushes! WooHoo! I can see what is in them and they will fit nicely in my cabinet!

I just love using things for multipurposes!

Crafty Storage Ideas! Spice Rack as Paint Storage

So, I was cleaning out my spice/baking cabinet over the weekend and decided to finally get rid of some of those spices that have been in there for far too long. I also decided that I really needed to find a new spice rack since this one was a wee bit too big for the cabinet door causing it to not close all of the way.

This morning I realized that it would be the perfect place to store all of those paint bottles that are shoved in a basket in a closet! Maybe I won't have to dump out a whole basket of paint to find the right color anymore! Now I just need to add a dab of paint to the top of each lid so that I know what color is there!

They fit so well that I ordered a few more from Amazon for the rest of my paint stash! WooHoo! Gotta love repurposing your stuff ... especially if it isn't working quite right!

FYI - I do not know the brand of this rack as it was purchased many moons ago, but it is about 12 inches wide and 3 inches deep. It fits 14 of the small 2 oz bottles of craft paint.

I'm a paper girl ... I can't help it!

 I promised to come back today ... and really I tried to give Cozi another chance ... It is really a fantastic program that you can update online, on your smartphone, ipad, laptop, etc, but at heart I am a paper girl.  As much as I wish I could just give my life over to technology there is something about putting pen to paper that is so satisfying for my soul.

So, I actually MADE something for ME today - only me - you cannot buy it from me =)

It is a nice big weekly planner (8x10) with a pocket and a whole page for one week ... and get this ... a WHOLE page for notes and lists for that week!  I even gave Saturday and Sunday as much space as the other days cause we always have busy weekends!  Plus I put 40 more pages in the back for lists and notes.  The notes and lists pages are not all sectioned off, so I can put anything I want there without feeling like I am breaking the "planner rules".

Here are some pictures for you!!

This was not the easiest thing to make and I have not decided if I will put them in my shop yet.

Leave me a note and tell me what you think!

Friday - Wrap it up for the Weekend!

Another Friday has rolled around which means the weekend will soon be upon us. I've been focusing myself a lot more lately on having a work schedule and getting more organized.

For Fridays, that means wrapping up projects from the week and tidying up the house for the weekend. Since I won't be able to finish all of the projects I have started this week (and previous weeks) in one day, I think it is important to store all of the materials that I have gathered for those projects in one location so they are ready to pick up and finish next week.

Depending on the size of the projects you might be able to use folders, baggies, or plastic containers. Just make sure that you can store things and not squish materials that don't need to be squished.

I have other projects started that don't really need their own container, so they will just be stored and not containerized. I also have a dedicated cabinet for unfinished projects. The cabinet gives me a definitive space for unfinished projects and requires me to fit all of the unfinished projects in one space. Therefore, I can't start a new project until I have space to store it.

If I find that I have too many to fit, and I really want to start something new, then it is time to re-evaluate some of the unfinished projects. I will ask myself why I haven't finished these? What is holding me back? Is it likely that I will finish the projects soon? Do I have all of the supplies to finish the projects?

Often times there are projects that I started, that just didn't work out the way I hoped. For these I really must decide if I am going to finish them, or if they are just not going to happen. Often these unfinished projects are taking up valuable real estate in my creative brain, so getting rid of the ones that aren't going to be finished frees up space for me to come up with new ideas.

180 CD's on One Flash Drive

I've still been cleaning and decluttering around here ... just not being very good about updating my blog! Between taxes, spring break, end-of-school-year-craziness ... and regular work ... The blog has been a wee bit neglected!

But, for the last month or so, I have vowed to FINALLY put all of our music cd's on the computer, and on a flash drive!

180+ CD's later ... here I am!

Can you believe that huge stack of CD's fit on this little 8G flash drive!

I just want to find my keys!

I don't want to live in the neatest, most organized house on the block. I just want to be able to find my keys!

I have a lot of people fooled. They think I am so organized, so together. They think that I do as much as 4 people!

Well ... let me fill you in ... I am not that way at all! Really, most days I just feel like I am treading water in the housekeeping department, barely getting all of my priority todo's done, and running out the door without makeup on. Most days, I feel like if I have done those things then I am doing okay.

Well ... this year I want more than that. I actually want to keep the house clean, get more than just the priority todo's done, and at least occasionally put make up on and fix my hair.

How am I going to do that? Truthfully ... I have no idea! I didn't grow up in a neat house, my mom was the perpetual "run around like a chicken with it's head cut off" kind of mom. Now, don't get me wrong, I had a great mom! She was just busy, always busy, never ever do I remember when my mom wasn't busy, and now I know that she regrets being so busy.

I don't really want to be that busy mom. I want to have time just to sit down with my kids and play a game ... and I do ... However, I haven't escaped the nagging voice in the back of my head that is constantly reminding me of the 101 other very important things that I should or could be doing in that moment. I keep telling myself that the game IS a very important thing and I SHOULD be playing with my kids ... darned conscious!

So, how am I fighting off everything I learned as a child?

- Stop, relax, really look at my list and decide what is really important and what things do I perceive as important.
-Evaluating the time commitment of the things on my list and being choosy to what things I sign myself up todo.
- Remembering what I did in the past and deciding if those are things I would like to repeat, or if those things need to be eliminated.
- Be nice to myself and my children. Remembering that taking care of myself sometimes does mean that I am taking care of my children.

Organizing the desk ... continued

I am still doing my best to participate in OrgJunkie's 52 weeks of organizing challenge ... so far I am pretty happy with my progress. I haven't done as much as I would have liked, but I at least don't feel like I am backsliding too much!.

This week I took time to do something that few of us who make things to sell does anymore. I made something for MYSELF! Actually, that isn't the whole truth ... I already had a wall pocket for myself, but it had not been modified to hang on the wall since we got the new cabinets, and it had never been covered in fabric!

So - Here it is! All finished and covered in fabric ... and hung on the wall!

I am also still really diggin the containers under the cabinets!

I will be keeping all of the paperwork that I use on a daily basis here. Things that I always need handy so I don't have to dig in a file drawer for them.

I do need to make folders, but here is a list of the folders I will be making:

Outstanding Orders
Urgent

That's it! All other paperwork and files can be put somewhere else hidden away from daily view!

And yes, maybe I will be able to find those invoices that I have printed and not have to print new ones when the order is ready to be mailed!

If you want to participate in the challenge - head on over to Orgjunkie's website!

Organizing - Up and outa there!

So, since I missed a few weeks of organizing projects there ... I thought I should do a couple extra this week!

You may remember reading about my epiphany that I had on Monday - that my desk was always a mess because I was setting myself up for it to be that way ... So, I am doing something about that!

This is actually a picture of the Cleaned up desk ... but you might notice that overflowing basket of stuff I need to sort. Not the nicest thing to look at!

So, I found it a new home INSIDE the cabinet! I actually had another storage thingy in here before, but since I only use it a few times a year, I decided that it could live somewhere else!

Now my storage for important things and things I need to sort is right next to me when I am sitting at the desk.

I'll have to make sorting it a project for next week!


















Also earlier this week I came up with this fabulous idea to put magnets underneath my cabinets, and store some of the items I have for sale there until they sold!

However, I liked the idea so much ... and decided that I could use those containers for organizing ... I decided to just take some out and keep them for myself! So, now I have this whole little section where all of the different size buttons and grommets I need are labeled and in easy reach!

I think it looks pretty neat too!


Now I just need to get all of these photographed and listed for sale! I am going to see if I can round out the sets though and make them all sets of three! I think I will even include a magnet in case someone wants to put them under their cabinets too!