Every so often, I'll get a comment from someone -- on the blog, in the forums, during a chat -- and they'll ask me how I find time to do all the things that I do. I work fulltime, I teach classes or take classes at the university each semester, I design and blog and scrapbook, I have a busy family, and I still do things like read and knit and thrift.
The truth is, there are lots of things that combine to make it all possible. Chris and I split up when it comes to practices and games, just like we split up on household chores (though that involves the whole family, not just me and Chris). The girls are older, so they are able to do a lot more things for themselves, instead of needing me to do them for them (even simple things like baths, getting ready for bed. Then there's the fact that I'm a serious night owl, so a lot of work happens in the wee hours of the night.
But the biggest factor is that I have a pretty consistent organizational routine in terms of time management. I thought I would share it with you today. I know that time management is fairly personal, and what works for one person may not work for another. I share it in the hopes that you might find one or two little bits that could be helpful for you.
MY TOOLS OF THE TRADE
These are the things that are essential to the way I keep track of all of our obligations. Let me just say up front that, as much as I love technology, I just don't feel comfortable keeping track of everything with an online tool. Some people will claim it's because I haven't found the right app yet, but that's not it. I used my iPhone calendar and Google Calendar for over a year, and then switched back to paper. It's just a personal preference. Anyway, here's what I keep on hand:
- a variety of sticky notes
- a set of highlighters in a variety of colors
- a Moleskine calendar
- a set of Moleskin notebooks
I cannot say enough good things about my Moleskine calendar. It's actually a calendar and notebook all rolled into one; it contains a weekly calendar layout on the left side and a notebook page on the right side. It closes with an elastic band, and like all Moleskines, there's a pocket in the back for papers. (Side note: The first one I bought was actually the Academic version, so it was dated from August 2010 through December 2011. I've since switched over to the yearly version.)
For me, this is the perfect solution because I am a note-taker; it's my preferred learning style. The calendar sections offer me plenty of room to write down all of our responsibilities, and the notebook page gives me a place to record all the things that otherwise end up jotted down on scraps of paper -- Cassidy's stats for her cross-country meet, a reminder about what books I want to find at the library this week, a note about a funny thing that Cami said in the car. The best part is that all of this information is in one place, and I can store it on my bookshelf when this year is over, then take it down and look at it again later. I've actually gone back to my calendar multiple times while scrapbooking to find dates, notes, comments, etc. for journaling.
MY SYSTEM: CALENDAR SIDE
If anything has a due date -- soccer practice, a meeting for work, a digital kit release in my shop, a book due at the library -- it gets written on the calendar page. Then I bring in the highlighters. Each person in our family has a color assigned to them.
- Cami -- pink
- Cassidy -- blue
- me (work) -- yellow
- me (design/other) -- orange
- Chris/family/big dates -- green
The benefit of highlighting these items is that I can see at a glance what kind and how many responsibilities I have each day. I chose to use two different colors for my fulltime work and my design work, because I wanted to be able to keep those two things separate. I create my own design schedule, so it obviously can be more flexible than the deadlines and obligations I have for my regular job. To be honest, there's not much information about Chris that gets put on the schedule. If he's taking a class or having to work overtime (scheduled in advance), then I note it. Otherwise, green is reserved for family trips, big dates (like spring break, Christmas break, first day of school).
MY SYSTEM: NOTEBOOK SIDE
At the top of my notebook pages, I keep a blog schedule. I try to plan my blog posts a couple of weeks in advance. Of course, I might not actually get the post written until the night before it goes live, but I at least have topics planned out a couple of weeks in advance. For me, if I at least know what I'm planning to do, then I can be thinking about it in the back of my mind and by the time I need to create something, I have a pretty good idea of what I need to do.
If I have notes that need to be more portable -- that might need to be moved to a stack of papers, or a folder, or another notebook -- then I'll write them on sticky notes and just stick them to that note page. That way, I can move them around without having to rewrite them.
MY DESIGN WORK AND SCRAPBOOKING
I use a three-pack of Moleskine Cahier notebooks with kraft covers for my inspiration books. I have a simple label sticker on the front, where I wrote inspiration. However, these notebooks can easily be dressed up with patterned papers, stickers, and more, if you'd prefer.
Inside, I just make lists. I keep lists of scrapbook pages I need to make, photos I need to use, kits I want to design, quotes I want to use. When something is completed, I mark through it. A couple of times a month, I go through the notebook, page by page, looking at my lists. Sometimes I condense lists or move items to another list. Sometimes I decide that an item just isn't worth the effort, so I get rid of it.
So that's what works for me. My calendar is the first thing I look at each morning, and the last thing I check before heading to bed in the evening. When I sit down at my computer to design or scrap, I pull out my notebook. Both items fit easily into a pocket of my purse/worktote, so I can easily carry them wherever I go.
I'd love to hear how you keep your family and work life organized. What paper tools do you use? What digital tools do you use?
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