Hello my friends, and Happy Sunday! I hope you are all doing well. :-)
I'd like to share a quick peek at a couple of things I'm working on this weekend, beginning with my file crate!
Longtime readers will remember this old workhouse - my plastic, tabletop file crate. In it I keep labeled file folders, one for each week of the year. In the back of the bin I store my clipboard and planning binder and in the front I hang a liturgical calendar. It's a "system" that has worked really well for me through the years, though depending on how consistently I use it, some years it's more productive than others.
🗂
So in my Tea post from January 26th, I shared a picture of my "Home Care & Comforts" calendar, which is a schedule I created for organizing our myriad household responsibilities. I have no idea if I'll actually be able to keep up with it all, but I needed to get ALL the things down and ordered in what I hope is a manageable way. I will say I did ok in January!
And now in February I'm tackling the updating and tidying of our household files. I do have a drawer filled with more topical files - things like "taxes," "education," and "auto" etc. - and I do plan to address those files this month too, but since I found myself the other day trying to file an important piece of information for the first week of March only to find I had no March 2020 folders available (!), I realized I'd better first tackle the more time-sensitive tickler files first.
Now I do love me some fresh file folders, but I just reused a set I kept from a couple of years ago. Not only were they still in relatively good condition, I had used erasable ink on the tabs so it was very easy to edit the dates for 2020. The first thing I did was to pull out all the old folders and then I wiped out the whole crate. I'll go through the old files tomorrow (or more likely sometime next week🤞🏻) to see what needs permanent storing, what needs recording and what can be tossed in the "to-be-recycled" paper pile.
Next, I labeled the folders with the dates for each WEEK of the year (underlining the dates in liturgical colors) and divided them into six hanging folders, one for each SEASON of the year:
Deep Winter: January-February
Early Spring: March-April
Late Spring: May-June
High Summer: July-August
Early Autumn: September-October
Late Autumn: November-December
I'm often asked just what-all I keep in my folders ...
... so here's what's stored in the folder for this coming week (pink), and the folder from last week (lavender):
In last week's folder I have:
call sheets for library books we checked out
paperwork from a recent doctor's appointment
printed receipt from some work I had done on my phone
printed obituary with wake/funeral information
🗂
In this coming week's folder I have:
a printed email from Little Bear's new speech therapist
Earlybird's IEP which needs signing and returning
a library call sheet for a book I want to pick up from an out-of-town library
paperwork re an upcoming medical test
printed email with info re ~ Little Bear's Book Group
printed info re ~ an upcoming Town Meeting
a BIG batch of library call sheets, for books I'd like to check out sometime, kept together with a large paperclip*
a cleaning supply list I found online (for updating my own supplies)*
paperwork from the local police department re a special needs database*
(The items that are starred* have been transferred from week to week. Once they are no longer necessary they will be filed elsewhere (or recycled). The rest of the items are timely to this coming week.)
Where do I keep my folders when they are "active?"
Well, usually (and currently) I keep them inside my homekeeping/planning binder, tucked right inside the inner pocket, along with the current PBS program guide:
By Friday afternoon I like to pull the coming week's folder and start moving things around. Some years I've used a planning sheet stapled to the front of the folder but that was an idea that never really too off.
So now how about a peek at my February calendar?
Below you see my two-page monthly spread:
I have found it convenient to keep my homemade planning sheets in my 3-ring binder. I keep this binder open on my kitchen counter throughout the day so I can quickly stop and peek at it or work in it as I need. Here is a link to the February planning packet: February 2020.
(You can find all of my seasonally-inspired planning materials in my Printables archive or check the post pinned at the top of my blog for my most recent uploads.)
The calendar starts out rather plain, so I have a little fun with it ... adding post-it notes, cute stickers and washi and a few seasonal quotations.
I use markers along the edge of the weeks for denoting liturgical seasons and erasable highlighters for indicating whether an activity is something Bill or one of the kids is doing (blue), something I am doing or attending (green), or something special such as an event we're hosting, etc.
Now, I'd love to share how I set up my weekly spread next, but in an attempt to keep this post to a reasonable size, I will save that discussion for next time!
Here's a quick peek at last week, though!
Well my friends, that's all for today, but I hope you enjoyed a little "planning" talk on this mid-February Sunday. I hope you all have a good week, and thanks as always for stopping by - I will be back here again very soon!
