The Mandi Project

The final part of any good organization system is References and Archives. A good ship’s captain has charts and tables for navigation as they plan their route. These are our References - bits of information we may need to refer to again and again. We also need a system for archiving what we have recorded. What is the point of recording it if we don’t have a system for saving it?    First, let’s define References. I often come across information or data that relates to a project or a future task. I don’t want to go hunting for it again, and I don’t want to loose it. So I file it in the References part of my notebook. A good example right now is paint color cards I printed from the Internet. I had color cards from the hardware store, but they got lost and I had to choose colors again. This time, I printed them and filed them in my planner so I could refer to them while at the store and when discussing the project with my kids. If I had done this sooner, I may also have included ...

Continuing with my ship analogy, any good freighter needs a solid captain. I talked about scheduling tools and calendars in my last post, but there are more commitments in life than just time commitments. Most of the time, we have items that need attention when we have time, and we need to remember them so we can choose the most important ones. I use my calendar as the bones of my day, but many times, other items creep up that need some sort of attention. Captain’s Log While I go about my day, I like to record things that happen. Sometimes they are thoughts I want to express, tasks I want to remember, or facts I need to process. I record these in a daily log - just a notebook with lines or graph ruling. Every day, I print my agenda from Google Calendar. This shows me my commitments for the day. Sometimes I will schedule the all day items, but most of the time I record the time I spent on it, and update the calendar later. Anything that does not get done today gets moved t...

The key to keeping my Mother-Ship afloat, is scheduling. Appointments, tasks, work, play - it all needs a place on the calendar. Two tools and some key habits make that happen. Tool 1: Google Calendar I know there are lots of great calendar apps out there (Outlook and iCalendar come to mind), but I am an Android girl, and Google Calendar is my go-to. I have tried other calendar apps. but not of them are as simple and easy to use as the Google Calendar app. Use whatever tool you are comfortable with, but use it. I have several Google accounts for various purposes, and I am careful about where I put things. My personal account also has several calendars for sharing. But I do not  share my personal calendar. Personal Calendar (me, only) Kids Stuff (family & kids activities, shared with them) Menu (also shared with the family) Blog calendars (one for each blog) Work calendars Each calendar has its own color, and each kid has their own color. There are a lot of gr...

Everyone has to find some way of staying organized. No one is exempt. And yet, some of us struggle. So many great systems exist. Some are born naturally organized. Some people only have one passion, one focus, and can keep track of their progress simply. I have tried Bullet Journaling , Franklin Covey - specifically, 7 Habits of Highly Effective People , Getting Things Done ( the book ), AutoFocus , Managers of Their Homes , FlyLady , Sidetracked Home Executives , and any other time management books I could find. And here’s the thing - they all work. Every single one of them improved my life in some way. But not a single one of them made me feel safe - like I wasn’t forgetting something. When it comes down to it, any system will work, but you still have to trust it completely to have staying power. I always trusted the system, but I didn’t trust myself to use it faithfully. So I’d have some super-productive days or weeks, then move on to another scheme or system. Or, when I get...