Q & A: Daily Stuff
July 19, 2011
First off, I SO appreciate all your comments about the file crate system! I feel so encouraged, and I'm so glad this system is a help to some folks. I am also grateful to hear about your troubles and issues with the FCS - this helps me figure out how to make it work better! (And hopefully it helps me explain it all better!) I am making note of each question left for me in yesterday's post, but I still have a few more to get to from previous posts. I don't want to forget anyone, so let me backtrack a little and see what I can address while I have a few minutes online ...
From Leslie:
I love reading your planning posts, too. I haven't yet implemented your FCS but I keep thinking I might have to start... I did have a question, though: A year or two back, around the first of the year, I remember that you made a planner of sorts that had lists of all your daily chores for each day of the week. You had a few months' worth (or a years' worth?) printed and bound at your local office supply store. I was wondering how that worked out and if you're still using that in conjunction with your FCS or if it didn't turn out to be as useful as you'd hoped?
Leslie, in a word, it was not as useful as I'd hoped ... and I was really rooting for it to work, too! It was so pretty ~ *sigh* ~ but it was just so big and unwieldy. I did like having a page devoted to each individual day reminding me of routine chores as well as any activities or additional tasks for that day. As much as I love the FCS, I find I do still need a spot for daily planning - I need to see my chores and what needs to happen on THIS DAY.
For example, just this morning I heard about a neat show airing on the Discovery Channel tonight. I wrote it down in my planner with a note to set up the DVR. I haven't yet set that up, but because it's written in my planner, I should remember to get it to it sometime today.
I also realized a bag of dough I have in the fridge *must* be used today, so I wrote down "make calzones" to remind myself - or I should say, to remind Bill, as he's the pizza (and calzone) guy in our house. ;)
So currently I'm using a commercial (i.e. not homemade) spiral-bound daily planner (shown below) ...
... in conjunction with colored "routine" cards that I post daily to remind myself of where I'm at and what needs to be done. (I post them at eye level, next to my workspace and change them up daily.) That said, I may try making a daily planner again, but in a much more manageable size.
(In case you haven't guessed, I really enjoy making calendars, lol! Even the ones that fail I enjoy making and using - and remembering! - because they indulge my creativity and teach me something new about how I "work.")
Failed attempts aside, there are a few things I always stick with: the weekly file folders (the file crate system), my personal "hodgepodge" notebook (the clippings journal) and a large, two-page spread, month @ a glance planning calendar. These, along with a daily system of some sort are the cornerstones of my overall home/personal/family planning.
Must be off now, but there's much more to come ... thanks for caring and sharing, my friends!
I will be back again very soon!
:)