How I Get Sh✥t Done
I am by no means an expert at this. Not by a long shot! But I do have a few decades of calendaring under my belt. Way back in high school, I used a mini little spiral notebook to keep track of due dates for assignments, stuff with friends, and youth group activities. I used that little notebook method all the way through my third kid’s preschool years!
Since then, I have tried several different calendar methods to keep track of all our shenanigans. Now that Katie is out on her own and we’re down to four, I’ve settled on the following:
Use these simple tools, follow the basic strategy, make the tips your own, and then JUST START!
Tools
Google Calendar – This is our FAMILY calendar where I keep track of everyone’s appointments and commitments. We can all see this calendar on the computer and I have it up on all my devices. It’s a sanity-saver when I’m out and need to reference it. No more trying to “see” it in my head (which never ever worked anyway)!
My “Living” Calendar – This is my desk-style calendar where I plan out EVERYTHING in pencil. I call it a “living” calendar because I’m always making changes and updating tasks. I reference the Family calendar when I map things out on my Living calendar, but the main point of it is to plan out all the bite-size pieces of projects as I work to accomplish ALL THE THINGS!
A “House” Calendar – This one is simple. We have so many projects here around the house and on the property that we just needed to literally get on the same page. I printed out a year on a page, front and back, with lines next to each month so we could write in what we plan to tackle each month. This could easily be done list-style on a plain old sheet of paper, but it helped for us to see the months laid out, including holidays and other significant times of our year.
Strategy
Like every good party, you have a theme and the details to support that theme. To keep up with our calendars, I use an ongoing list of 12 themes (one for each month). My themes are the big projects that I want to make sure are tackled. Usually these are projects that won’t be completed in one day, but by assigning them each to a month, I know how to schedule the tasks within the project and what to chip away at when I have chunks of time. Here’s what this looks like:
Each month has a theme (e.g. the boys’ rooms)
Each week within the month contains details to support the theme (e.g. strip walls, paint, window treatments, new mattresses)
Then, I go about scheduling in the pieces for each detail (e.g. If it’s the “strip walls” week, Monday night the boys help move their furniture to the centers of their rooms; Tuesday, when hubby is home, we can do the stripping of the walls; Thursday, when we’re both home again, we can clean and prep for paint. Then we’re ready for the next week when we’ll actually paint.)
Tips
I’m never done figuring this out, learning lessons, and making improvements. Recently, I’ve had to remind myself, DON’T OVERTHINK IT!!! Most of the time, I’ve done plenty of thinking and planning; now it’s time to just do it! Thinking more and more about what to do when and in what order is not going to help. Melanie, pick one and start. No back-talk!
Some good advice from Rachel Hollis, from her “5 to Thrive” list: I follow Rule #1 and get up an hour earlier than usual to do MY THING. This could be reading, writing, creating… Feels so sneaky, which only adds to the satisfaction! (BTW, I adore Rachel! I’ve read Girl, Wash Your Face twice and have already pre-ordered her next book, Girl, Stop Apologizing. Get them and devour them! I also, of course, own two of her cookbooks. Get those too!)
And from Corie Clark, I clear some clutter! She points out that “physical clutter = mental clutter”. So as she suggests, when I’m feeling overwhelmed, I take 15 minutes to clear the clutter around me for a little peace of mind. I set the timer and it really does help to shift my brain from out-of-order to orderly, so I can then go tackle something else. (Another BTW, Corie knows her stuff! Her book, The Simplicity Project, is the best go-to guide for decluttering. You can even participate in one of her challenges to really get the job done! Plus, she created the rock star of all planners: The Purposeful Planner. Get one!)
Finally, here’s three from me:
Backward planning – duh! From the date by which something needs to be completed, map out the tasks backwards that will lead to completion. DONE.
Forever birthday calendar – I love this little ditty from Anne Taintor (one of my fav artists cuz she’s so cheeky!). The trick is to fill in those birthdays when they happen. At this point in our lives, precious little grand-nieces and nephews are arriving and I have to remember to write in their little birthdays when they happen, including their birth years! Then I fill in the birthdays on my Living calendar each month and schedule a day to take care of cards and gifts.
Sticky notes – I’m a wife and a mother, so of course, within each day, I work around roughly 798 tiny things (you know, like gnats) all the time. Great. Enter the sticky note. Every day or two, I stick one on the counter where it’s noticeable. While I aim to accomplish the things mapped out on my calendar, the sticky note helps me stay on top of all those other little things. (e.g. iron that tablecloth, remember it’s garbage night, Ryan needs to vacuum his room, return the RedBox movie). You know!
Bottom Line
Just start! I'm an only child, but I have been blessed with amazing sisters-in-law. One of these gorgeous women once told me how she does it. She said "I just start." Yeah, that's it. That's what she does and she gets sh✥t done! Those words are with me every dang day. While I don't obey them as much as I should, they do in fact drive me to always do better.
In the spirit of getting sh✥t done, here's some freebie 'reminder art'. Three styles in 8x10” size so you can frame them if you want! Print and hang the one that speaks to you, or heck, print and hang all three!
Download the PDF 3-pack of the Just Start reminder art HERE.
I hope this gives you a little insight into how I get sh✥t done. I’m always curious how everyone else does it! Comment below if you have a tool, strategy, or tip you stand by.