I don't know if anyone is actually reading this, but I needed a way organize my thoughts, process, and have accountability for these things. So, here are my life organization goals.
Step 1 - The Schedule: If I don't make a list and set aside time, it wont get done. A schedule also keeps me on track. I want to make a month schedule because somethings you only do once a month but I will start with a week long schedule that goes over each day.
- I want the schedule to include these things: wake up and bed time, all meal times, exercise, grocery shopping, times to plan meals, pay bills, clean, give Riley (our dog) his medication and baths, personal time, date night, family activities, food storage packing night, temple trip, time set aside to complete the other steps on this post, scripture reading, web designing, etc.
- Now I need to sit down with Tyler and come up with a schedule that we both agree on. We have started this part.
- The next part is to make the schedule visible. I have written down all of this on an excel chart but it is on the computer in a file that is not in constant view. I bought some poster board and we made lines with half hour increments. We just need to fill in the rest. I'll post a pic when we are done.
Step 2 - Meal Plan: If you aren't eating right, you don't have the energy and health to do anything. When I'm hungry I'm tired, cranky, and can't get anything else done so that is step one.
- First I made a theme for each day. Monday-Soup & Salad, Tuesday-Mexican, Wednesday-Asian, Thursday-Italian, Friday-Grill, Saturday-Home style, Sunday-Potluck (because my family gets together and the theme is never consistent)
- Then I wrote down every meal I could think of for each theme (that we will eat). Monday-Chicken noodle soup, Taco salad, etc.
- Next I made a pinterest board and pined all the recipes I needed from my brainstorming list and anything that looks good to the board.
- In the future, I want to buy the meal planning software from livingcookbook.com I have researched it and I think that's the best software for us.
- The next part takes a lot of time but will save so much more in the long run. It's importing all those recipes I found online into the software. This way I just drag and drop recipe names into the calendar day and export all the ingredients into a shopping list. I can even do this for the whole month! It will be a great time saver...when I'm done.
- I have also come up with daily themes for breakfast and lunch like omelet and pasta days.
- I will post the progress I make with this one.
Step 3 - Financial planning: This causes so much stress in our marriage and lives! I want to eventually have a budget, a emergency fund, all debt payed off except for mortgage, move into a house, have a vacation or large item fund, and have some financial investment and a retirement fund. I also want to have all the kinks worked out of my bank bill pay and emailed bills.
Step 4 - Exercise plan
Step 5 - Daily cleaning: to stay on top of the mess: this will include a weekly schedule where Mondays I clean the bathroom, Tuesday I clean the bedroom etc, etc. I also plan on having a caddy with all the cleaning supplies for each room and a laminated check list clipped to the handle (I know. I'm a dork). I also would like to incorporate home made cleaning solution.
Step 6 - Daily cooking: If I make enough salad dressing one day to last the whole week or month and then make something like tortillas the next day in the same fashion, then I only need to do a little cooking prep work each day for food items that are full of preservative if I bought them at the store. This would allow me to be that super home maker that makes all food (or at least some) from scratch without it taking up all my time and stressing me out.
Step 7 - Date, family activities, and FHE ideas: I want to place ideas in jars and draw an idea for each occasion.
Step 8 - Home based business (Creative Line Design): Eventually, we want to start having kids and I don't want to have to put them in daycare or something so I can go to work. So, I've decided to start my own web and graphic design business. Again, a lot of work but better in the long run.
Step 9 - Capsule wardrobe: I love the idea of having basic clothing pieces and accessories that you can mix and match to create tons of outfits without taking up a lot of space. I will be using a software program for this also.
Step 10 - Memory preservation: I am in the process of organizing, scanning, and scrap booking all our photos and memorabilia. This is a long process that will take a while but it will be so awesome!
Step 11 - Genealogy: I want to organize and convert both our families genealogy to digital. This way everyone can enjoy it and it is back up in case of a fire or something.
Step 12 - De-clutter and minimize: This probably should have been farther up on the list but I really believe in the minimalist values (even if I don't total believe in the whole lifestyle). I only want things in my house that have a real purpose. I also believe that a small amount of decorative items do have a purpose. We have moved so much and it has forced me to rethink possessions while I am packing all the crap we own. Anyway, I'll explain this further later on.
Step 13 - Organize spaces: I want to organize all rooms and closets so that everything has a place. This will include the fridge and freezer, linen closet, pantry, utility closet, decorations, sporting goods, laundry room, bathroom, cleaning supplies, and every room in the house.
I will be going into more dept on each step and pobably adding steps as the process goes along.
