Time Management

I've recently taken over the kitchen desk as my own little "home office" space.
For the last year and a half it was Lexie's but she's only really used it as a spot to drop all her junk. So I've moved her junk to the scrapbook room - since I can close the door and hide the mess. (We'll get around to organizing it later.) I know it doesn't really look like much but I am so excited to have my own little desk to keep all my paperwork organized, etc. Obviously I still have some work to do - like buying a chair/stool instead of using our step ladder as a seat. :)

My only worry is that this beautiful clean desk will quickly become messy with my stuff if I don't work out a system for dealing with all my paperwork. But where do I start? The answer came while I was watching a decorating show yesterday. They were re-organizing a home office which of course turned out great. However, the best part of the show for me was when the personal organizer told the woman she couldn't keep the room neat without time management. She went as far as having the homeowner schedule time in her blackberry for all household chores including paying bills, grocery shopping, laundry, etc. When the organizer said that it was like a light bulb went off in my head! That's excactly what I need to keep my paperwork in order and more!

The idea of time management isn't new to me. I've written out my daily schedules a lot over the years, especially after I had Lexie. (Don't worry, I know I'm wierd.) However, I haven't done a new one since the summer. Of course a lot has changed since then, the biggest thing being my job. And since I've started working again, I've really struggled with keeping up on all the household chores while still finding time to spend with Lexie and Dave. And of course there's always guilt that goes along with either choice - "I should be doing that instead of what I'm doing right now."

So last night I sat down and started my plan - I went "old school" and hand-wrote it since I don't have a blackberry. :) First I wrote a list of all the tasks I wanted to get done during the week and then I wrote down how many times during the week I'd need to do each activity. (For example, I need to deal with paperwork once a week, make dinner every day and I'd like to scrapbook a few times a week.) Then I broke my day into 1/2 hour increments and plugged in the different activities to the times/days I thought they'd work.

So now I have a rough schedule and I'm excited to implement it! (I know, I know - wierd, that's me.) I'm happy that I now have a plan for all the chores that I never seem to find enough time to accomplish (like cleaning the house, making dinner, laundry, exercise, etc.). But what I'm most excited about is making time for the activities I like to do that I'm always trying to squeeze in but never seem to have enough time for (like scrapbooking, blogging and reading). I really hope this works! Wish me luck!