Systems....

Right now I am participating in a weekly challenge and accountability group with my director. It has really been eye opening for me! This week we wrote out Frustrations / Solutions lists for our businesses and personal lives. In doing that I realized that my most basic frustrations come down to not having systems in place for getting things done. My frustrations are not with the special things that pop up, but with the every day items that I can't seem to keep up on. Things like...

Laundry
Writing Thank You Notes
Dishes
Cleaning the house
Bible Study
Exercise
Meal Planning

... see where I'm going with this?

So... I need to build some systems. I say "build" because they will take time. They will grow into what I need them to be, but I need to get them into place first. So... back to flylady, methinks. I'm going to pick the 3 most important things to do every morning, day, and night and do them. Just 3 things, I think. Let's see...

Morning Routine:
1. Make bed
2. Empty dishwasher
3. Bible Study

Daytime Routine:
1. Exercise
2. 15 minutes of cleaning / decluttering
3. Laundry

Evening Routine:
1. Skin care
2. Dishes / Shine sink
3. Items for tomorrow in the car / ready to go

I'm fighting with myself over a physical notebook or this blog again... I get sucked into the computer when I try to use the blog, but a notebook is large and gets in the way and drives Leif crazy. So... I need to have a solution one way or the other. Perhaps I'll put it out here, then shrink the routine list and just have a copy of it in my MK binder to go off each day. Maybe that's a good solution...

Waking up and getting ready....

I've actually been waking up earlier lately, which is pretty cool. I found that I can use my cell phone as an alarm clock and I actually wake up to it, which is nice. I don't always get up right away, but I at least wake up to it at 6 and 6:30, which makes it easier to get up at 7 like I have been. Hooray!

And today I was reading on another blog this great little list of 24 tips to becoming an early riser. Some of them are pretty good and I have implemented in the past. It looks like it's time to start implementing them (one by one, slowly) again.

I need a new plan. Again.

Every time the seasons change I seem to need a new plan. The last few weeks have been busy as all of our Fall activities have started up and, unfortunately, the cleaning schedule that worked this summer is no longer working for me! So I need to come up with a new plan (or, rather, get back to the old Flylady plan, more likely) and use a little discipline to stick to it! Here's what I need to work around...

Monday:
10-11a Kindermusik in Bozeman
7-9p Craft Night (twice a month)

Tuesday:
10-12p Open for MK Parties as scheduled
2-4p Open for MK Parties as scheduled
7-9p MK Success Meeting in Bozeman

Wednesday:
9:30-11a Bible Study in Belgrade
6-9p Scrapbooking Classes (every other week) in Bozeman

Thursday:
10-12p Playgroup in Bozeman

Friday:
10-3p Zoe/Ellie Playdate (every other week I have the girls here - the off weeks I'm in Bzn)

Saturday:
Open for MK Parties when scheduled

Sunday:
10-12p Church

So... as you can see, there's not a really good day to call my "cleaning day". I realize that with Flylady you only spend an hour doing your weekly home blessing, and maybe I just need to get back to that. Maybe I need to get back in the habit of swishing and swiping, doing a load of laundry a day, running dishes at night and emptying them in the morning, and keeping on top of things. That's probably what I need to do. But it still takes some scheduling to make sure I get it done, especially on days I need to be in town in the morning.

To be in town at 10, I need to leave the house at 9:30, more or less. Assuming it takes me an hour to get ready, I need to be up at 8:30. Ellie usually gets me up around 7 or 7:30 anyway, so I really need to use that extra hour wisely. I should be able to use the following schedule, if I keep myself to it:

• Wake Up / Take Temperature
• Make Bed
• Get Eliana changed / milk
• Shower
• Swish and Swipe Bathroom
• New washcloth for tomorrow
• Get Dressed (to the shoes!)
• Open / Close Windows
• Eat Breakfast - record
• Read Bible / Do Study
• Laundry to washer
• Empty Dishwasher
• Clean Up Breakfast Dishes

On days that I need to get to town, the next steps are to put Ellie in the car, round up my stuff, and get in the car and go. On days that I'm staying home, the next steps are to transfer clothes to the dryer and do 15 minutes in my zone.

There is more planning to be done, but we'll see how the morning routine goes first. That's enough planning for right now.