Baby Steps and Basic Routine.
I confess, I’m a firstborn with a perfectionist, borderline OCD, box checker personality. If I don’t have a list, or a plan, or something in writing to keep me on track, I inevitably will spend most of my time “planning and intending” and very little time “doing”. So I need a list. And if I am ever going to have any success in following the list I need to start with a very BASIC list. A baby step “here’s what needs to happen in order for us to eat, sleep and stay alive” list. This list will save my husband and children from starving when I forget to cook because I am eyeball deep in a closet clean out (or a good read) when I should be putting supper on the table. So whenever my life is on the verge of (or fully swamped in) chaos, I go back to my “essential to survival” list. I tally the necessary tasks, come up with a guesstimated time each essential should require to accomplish, and order them chronologically in my day in the order they will most likely take place.
Here’s what I mean by daily essentials:
Devotions
Breakfast
everybody washed up
Quick house tidy
school
lunch
quiet time (yes, this is essential...to my sanity)
supper prep and meal
dishes
laundry
outside chores (feed animals, burn garbage, dump compost)
kids baths
These are pretty much the essentials to our daily life. If I can't get anything else done I NEED to get these things done. So they are the first things I must plan carefully and give priority to. I look at those things, separate them into morning, afternoon and evening slots and assign them a basic time frame (leaving 10% cushion or "padding" time in there to allow for unforseen cirucumstances and flexibility).
So my essentials schedule would read
7:30 devotions
8:00 breakfast followed by wash up (start laundry)
8:45 quick tidy of the main floor, everyone working together
9:00 school
1:00 lunch
1:30 quiet time
outside chores
4:00 supper prep, fold laundry
5:30 supper
6:30 read alouds
7:00 baths.
As you can see, the essentials take up a GOOD part of the day, but don't despair, split up over the week the other stuff isn't as time consuming as it at first appears. I'll post on weekly essentials tomorrow. Well, blogger will, as I won't be here... isn't technology handy?
This week I leave you with some great “planning” quotes, enjoy!
“Organizing is what you do before you do something, so that when you do it, it is not all mixed up.” A.A. Milne
“Happy people plan actions, they don’t plan results.” Dennis Wholey
“A good plan faithfully executed today is better than a perfect plan next week.” General George S. Patton
“To be prepared is half the victory.” Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra
“Proper preparation prevents poor performance.” Charlie Batch
“It is better to make many small steps in the right direction than to attempt a great leap forward only to fall flat on your (behind).” Chinese Proverb.
1 comment:
I have never seen myself described more accurately: "If I don't have a list or a plan, or something in writing to keep me on track, I inevitably will spend most of my time 'planning and intending' and very little time 'doing'. I am such a good "planner and intender".
I function so much better with my lists. Once I can organize all the things pressing on my conscience that must be done, it all seems doable. When it's all floating around in my tired little brain, it seems so BIG!
I'm not consistent enough about it even yet. Often I do and then make the list. So silly, but I like to see it all written down and checked off.
I'm also still struggling with using time wisely. I get side-tracked so easily.
Thanks for sharing your list!
Have a great weekend.
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