Monday Organizing

I've decided to dedicate Mondays to thinking about organizing life, house and business. For starters I've decided to come up with a short to do list. I used to make LONGGGGG ones and they were just depressing. I'm going to create a few categories and pick one item in each category to work on. Thank you to WAH Web Mommy for her link to "10 Easy Ways to Get the Most Out of Your Day" on Freelance Switch. It inspired me to create a shorter to do list for this week. One that is actually doable.

• Business - Work on the Ruby on Rails tutorial 1/2 hour day this week.
• Home - Get both cars emissions tested ASAP! (One is about to be overdue!)
• Personal - Do at least one thing relaxing just for me. Maybe reading in a nice bubble bath.
• Family - Pick out and order Claire's new bed & bedding so we can transition from the crib before she realizes she's tall enough to climb out. (ACK!)
• Family & Friends - Finish the photo book birthday gifts. Work on them 1/2 hour day. (Also very very late.)

For more organizing I'm going to start working on a set rotating menu schedule so I don't have to think so much about what's for dinner. It will be based on flexible categories so I can fill in the details based on what's available at the farmers market and store. I'm starting with breakfast:

• Monday - Hot cereal & Fruit
• Tuesday - Cold cereal, Yogurt & Fruit (Busy AM)
• Wednesday - Waffle or Pancakes & Fruit (Make or frozen)
• Thursday - Cold cereal, Yogurt & Fruit (Busy AM)
• Friday - Hot cereal & Fruit
• Saturday - Cold cereal, Yogurt & Fruit (Farmers Market Morning)
• Sunday - Something fancy, baked yogurt, dutch apple pancake, etc

Finally I'm going to start rebuilding my routines for dealing with stuff around the house. If you need help with household routines my favorite site by a million miles is Fly Lady. I admit that I protested against a lot of the stuff on her site at first but wow she knows her stuff. It's the first organizing system that has had a chance of working for me. For my daily routine I will:

• Get up showered and dressed first thing
• Wipe down the bathroom surfaces every morning
• Spend 15 minutes clean one cluttered are of the house
• Do one full load of laundry every day
• Pick up the toys right after my daughter goes to bed
• Finish kitchen clean up (dishes, sink, counters) before relaxing for the evening

For a weekly routine I've started to put tasks on some days:

• Monday - Errands (Supplement farmers market food from the co-op, dry cleaning, etc)
• Tuesday & Thursday - Work AM if Claire likes daycare again (Now that's another post), Garden & Play outside with Claire in the afternoon
• Saturday - Farmers Market Shopping AM, Family Time in the Afternoon
• Sunday - Relax, Check Calendar for the Week, Think about new goals

Ok, off to take that shower that should have been first. In my defense I was up most of the night with a sick child. There was no way I was risking a shower right next to her room waking her until she was ready!