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Dawn
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Posted: May 25 2006 at 6:06am | IP Logged Quote Dawn

What I really need are more hours in the day, but barring that, I need help getting a grip on the time I do have. I seem to fritter it away so easily. Well, not fritter exactly, I seem to be always doing something that needs to be done (blogging and this board are essential therapy IMHO ) but you know how the day can just get away from you? And then the week, followed by the month, then the year ...

I was thinking about this this morning because the long weekend stretches out ahead, a dumpster was delivered yesterday ( ) and I am making a completely unrealistic list of things to get done between now and Tuesday. At the same time, I am looking at a pile of overdue library books, a late fee on a bill due, a lesson plan that is weeks old, and a birthday card that should have been mailed last week.

I would be so interested to hear what you all use as a time management tool or system. Do you use a particular planner or have you found a particular system, book or website helpful?

Also, has anyone made their own planner? I am currently trying to do this as I can never seem to be satisfied with store-bought versions.

I know this seems more a topic for January, but with my eye on planning a new (academic) year, I need to get a better grip. It's an amazing responsibility we have as home educating mothers and household executives ... so much on our plate and so many plates to keep spinning.

Any ideas (or even just commiseration) would be appreciated.

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Posted: May 25 2006 at 6:31am | IP Logged Quote Bridget

My goal for the summer is to work on this. The whole key for me is to get up before the children and get OFF the computer as we start breakfast and the day.

I tell myself 'just keep plugging away, eventually things will get done'.

I would really like to try Managers of Their Homes. I ahve avoided it for years, but it's getting serious now!

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Posted: May 25 2006 at 6:52am | IP Logged Quote aussieannie

Sorry Dawn, I seem to be chasing you around the board at present!

I have had (due to ill health mainly) a terrible time trying to make what seems like 48hours of work needed to do into 24.... (this by the way is with my mother's hands on support too)

I have prayed and prayed over this serious problem and I know other dear souls have prayed from me too!

I feel in the last few months after having a 'dark night of soul' on the schoolfront & health-wise during Lent, Easter finally came and with it an unexpected change all round!

Health-wise I got onto a natural extract thyroid replacement instead of the artifical one that I had been on for the last 12 years (the walking dead you could call it ) but this of course is another story..

On the time/management, schoolfront, training children for jobs area, a book (protestant one though) called Managers of their Homes was brought to my attention for the first time ever - this has transformed our lives in a short period of time - praise to God! Thank you Our Lady!

The things that I have tried to rectify, change, tackle,    conquer,    wrestle, kick out the door-enter by the window type stuff    have seemingly melted - it has made me think of schedules in a totally different way, giving me the keys to trouble-shoot those things that usually cause schedules to de-rail.

Because I have 5 children, getting them to work their fair share in the house is important for their characters but for me it is essential in getting things done! This I also have had big problems with in the past - I'd start a new routine of jobs only to have my health weaken within a week or two, with me lying on the couch saying, "Whatever..." poor children, no consistency there!

So to get the children to work with this schedule the way they needed to should have also been a mamoth reason to go crashing quick.

But...it didn't! I found that by scheduling freetime as a fairdinkum freetime and schooling time to school, etc, ect I would now say to them, chore time up! Not done? Right! You can do that in your freetime! School work not completed? (I mean really - 2 hours to an exercise of maths! This is what I was dealing with in the past!)stop now, onto the next subject, you can do the rest in your freetime!

It defuses any situation for you to get angry and frustrated over as they do not like to lose their freetime. And so they are co-operating wonderfully!

So the schedule has even helped me in that area too! I wonder if there are any others out there that have had similar experiences with this program? Had you heard of it at all Dawn?

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Posted: May 25 2006 at 6:57am | IP Logged Quote Elizabeth

Bridget,
I think MOTH was good for me for one thing: It has you map out on little squares exactly what you have to do in a day. Then, you have to find a time slot for all those little squares. As you can easily imagine, all my little squares didn't find a home. It was a very graphic demonstration that I was trying to cram way too much into a day.

When I did work out the chart, I had to program every single minute just to fit in the fewer squares. THAT plan become bondage. You get off by ten minutes early in the day and the stupid chart hangs in front of you wagging its finger and clicking its tongue all day long. It made me angry with whichever child was not marching "in time"--gosh "keep up or we'll get behind!!"

I had first heard about pegs when my second child was preschool aged. He was in a "Joy School" co-cop written by Richard and Linda Eyre. On the parent tapes, the Eyres explained pegs and they went into far greater detail than in their books. Leonie and Lissa have explained this in greater detail as well. But basically, you still think out your routine and you still prioritize but you are not a slave to little slots of time; you're more focused on rhythm and the big picture.

No matter what the plan or system, it all comes down to adopting the Nike slogan: Just do it! If Mama doesn't "do it," no one else will either.

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Posted: May 25 2006 at 7:11am | IP Logged Quote Elizabeth

Lissa recently wrote about pegs in      The Not Supermom Series.

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Posted: May 25 2006 at 7:14am | IP Logged Quote Becky Parker

I have read both a Mothers Rule of Life and Managers of Their Homes. I gleaned good information from both. My dh recommends Time Management for Catholics. I'm going to read it as soon as I get through some of the other books in my "to read" basket"! If you've read any of the Covey books (7 Habits...), Time Management For Catholics sounds like the Catholic version. He starts with the need to write a "Mission Statement" and goes from there. I read Covey's books years ago and the Mission Statement thing really helped me put my life in order. Now that things have changed (I had no children then and was a principal) I think I need to read Time Management for Catholics to get things back in order. It's a never ending cycle for me. It seems like I get things "down to a science" and then, a few months or even years later things are way out of order.
There are little things that pull me away from what I should be doing like the computer as Bridget mentioned. I also like to plan, plan, plan. So, I'll spend hours planning my garden and then have no time to put the plants in the ground!! OR, I'll spend days planning a unit for my kids to do and then be so tired of the whole subject I lose interest before we start. SO, I have learned that I need to have a direction and discipline myself to a certain time of day to use for planning, then try not to think about it the rest of the day. I know I'm rambling here....Lots of topics at once. But right now, planning for next year is threatening to consume my very life. I need to let some of the planning go and start DOING it!
As far as a planner goes I have made my own. I can't seem to find one from the store that works for me. there are so many things specific to each family. Mine has my (old) mission statement on the first page, a page with a list of all my roles (Catholic, Wife, Mother, House keeper, Right to Life volunteer etc.) and I try to set goals each week for each role. Then I fill the goals into a calendar page so that I have a "due date" for each. (But as I mentioned above I need to quit planning and do the stuff I've already planned to do!). My planner is actually a binder that is pretty thick. Besides the calendar I keep a schedule, sections for menus and grocery lists, sections for other things I do like Right to Life and the Mom's Bible Study I've involved with. I also keep special occasion information there (it's nice to have a record of what we bought people for Christmas so we don't duplicate),etc. I could keep going but I realize this post is way too long. Sorry.
In a nutshell, the planning part is easy for me (I think I could be a professional planner/organizer!) it's the lack of discipline to follow through with my plans that I lack! I'm going to start a novena to the Holy Spirit which will end on Pentecost. I certainly need some grace in this area!
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Posted: May 25 2006 at 7:25am | IP Logged Quote Elizabeth

Just a little note about Time Management for Catholics: if your effort to do two things at once compels you to listen to this book on tape, you might be disappointed. The audio version isn't very good. If nothing else, it's read by a woman. It's written by a man, in the first person. So when the woman reads "my wife" it's a bit unnerving .

I appreciated the Catholic perspective but I thought Covey more comprehensive.

Dawn, I guess the question is whether you are looking for household/homeschooling management (ie large Family Logistics or FLYlady) or an overall time management/ life management philosophy (Covey, Durand). There's definitely overlap, but you're already out of time--you can't read them all!

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Posted: May 25 2006 at 7:26am | IP Logged Quote Becky Parker

I just wanted to add, after reading Elizabeth's post that I heartily agree with the "pegs" idea. I have read what Lissa and Leonie have written about pegs and it really brings a sense of peace to my day. I've re-written my schedule and really, the things "on a peg" seem to just naturally happen. I need to come up with a peg to get off the computer and on with my day!
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Posted: May 25 2006 at 7:27am | IP Logged Quote Elizabeth

Oh, and don't forget: Michele sells planners for Catholic Homeschooling moms at Family Centered Press

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Posted: May 25 2006 at 7:54am | IP Logged Quote Dawn

Becky Parker wrote:
If you've read any of the Covey books (7 Habits...), Time Management For Catholics sounds like the Catholic version.


I read the Covey books back when I worked (11 + years ago) and I used the whole Franklin Covey planning system. That wouldn't work for me now, but I liked how detail oriented it was. Scheduling tasks, assigning them the ABC priority, moving them along if they didn't get finished. I would very much like to read Time Managaement for Catholics.

Becky Parker wrote:
It seems like I get things "down to a science" and then, a few months or even years later things are way out of order.


Me too. One thing I forgot to mention is I have seen many books and systems like MOTH, FlyLady, Sidetracked Home Executives, MROL etc. and each one makes perfect sense to me as I read them ~ "A-ha!" I think, "This is IT! This is the ONE that will help me get my life in order!!"

So I make up all my lists, routines, control journals, what have you ~ but then I can't seem to stick to it. This goes back to Rebecca's Unending Quest thread.

Becky Parker wrote:
As far as a planner goes I have made my own. I can't seem to find one from the store that works for me. there are so many things specific to each family. ... I could keep going but I realize this post is way too long. Sorry.


Oh, I'm so glad you did Becky. It sounds like you and I are a lot alike. I looove the planning. I thrive on the planning. I have four lists sitting in front of me right now ~ daily tasks (broken down into early morning/late morning/afternoon/evening), weekly tasks, monthly tasks and seasonal/annual tasks. I wrote down everything I could think of, from the minute (make bed, start coffeemaker, brush teeth) to the big (morning prayer, spend time in nature, read aloud to boys). Then I look at my monthly planner and write it all in. The daily stuff won't fit but I do need to see it. So that's where I thought a planner would come in handy. A place to post my checklists.

I do need to work on getting the boys doing more along with me (definitely need to check out this Pegs system), but to begin with I'm trying to concentrate on things I must do myself. The nitty gritty stuff ~ I guess you'd call them desk tasks ... menu planning, coupon clipping, bill paying, correspondence (b.day cards etc.), appointment scheduling, etc. Calendar work. This is what is stumping me most now.

I am loving the responses here ...I'm so glad to find I'm not alone in this dilemma.

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Posted: May 25 2006 at 8:12am | IP Logged Quote Dawn

Dawn wrote:
I guess you'd call them desk tasks ... menu planning, coupon clipping, bill paying, correspondence (b.day cards etc.), appointment scheduling, etc. Calendar work. This is what is stumping me most now.


And this leads me to a related question ~ do you have a desk to work at? Right now I use a rather inefficient combination of tote bags, baskets and countertops when doing "desk" work.

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Posted: May 25 2006 at 8:40am | IP Logged Quote Becky Parker

My desk is my counter in the kitchen. Not a good system! I would love a desk but I don't know where I would put it at this time. Truth is, around here, everything happens in the kitchen (except sleeping, doing laundry and watching TV). Right now, I am at the computer (obviously)which is on it's own small desk, 12 yo ds is putting "stuff" on his mosquito bites , 7yo dd is doing some extra math at the table , 5 yo ds is playing "army guys" at the other end of the table and 2yo ds is coloring ... everything . So, I guess even if I did have a desk else-where in the house I would still do most of my work here in the kitchen!
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P.S. I told my dh the other day that since I'm such a good planner, I just need to hire someone to do everything that I have planned! He didn't think that was a good idea!
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Posted: May 25 2006 at 9:42am | IP Logged Quote lilac hill

I constantly come back to --It won't work if I don't do it! I am distractable and a perfectionist--great excuses and that is just what they were to me!
So I committed to Michele's planner 2 years ago and I do it.   It comes with me everywhere.
Bills--they hide so I pay they, write the check when they come in. If I do not have time to pay them then the mail stays in the box until I have the time. And if someone else brings in the mail, they do not get my attention until the dratted bills are made out. I have as many as possible on automatic as I can.
I will not get any big tasks done. Just a few parts of them so I do the 15 minute Flylady stuff.
What mess bugs you the most? I have to have a clean kitchen so that gets declutted and cleaned, just not the floor often. Clutter distracts me so I go for the sparce look.
I see how the pegs kind of suystem works. Flylady calls them routines and it makes sense for me in a very basic way.

I would like an alter-body without all my shortcomings so stuff would get finished.

Viv

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Posted: May 25 2006 at 9:56am | IP Logged Quote mary

Dawn wrote:
Dawn wrote:
I guess you'd call them desk tasks ... menu planning, coupon clipping, bill paying, correspondence (b.day cards etc.), appointment scheduling, etc. Calendar work. This is what is stumping me most now.


And this leads me to a related question ~ do you have a desk to work at? Right now I use a rather inefficient combination of tote bags, baskets and countertops when doing "desk" work.



i recently had a secretary made for myself. after years of dumping my stuff on the dining room table, moving it for dinner and feeling like i had to have an hour just to sort through it before i could even do anything with it, i'm thrilled. i got the idea from the book/video Organizing from the Inside Out. the author says that if your stuff has a home, you won't have any clutter. my paperwork needed a home! i've only had it a few days and so i haven't had a chance to do anything more than fill the drawers, but already i'm thrilled with the way this has changed setting the table.
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Posted: May 25 2006 at 11:25am | IP Logged Quote Meredith

Wow, what a great topic for me right now!! Having just moved and losing 2000 sq. feet of space leaves me with ZERO personal space right now I'm not whining, just realizing how wonderful it was to have my own desk built right in to the kitchen area which kept ALL of my school AND cooking organization right where I needed it, now I will have to be creative as there is just NO place for my STUFF, yet...

I've been winging my own planner/calendar system for the past several years and it seems to work as it's all in one binder, but Michelle's Catholic planner has me thinking this could be better, ah that never ending search for perfection, it plagues me too

The PEGS system is what we've been naturally sliding into over the past school year and I really like it.
Great discussion, thanks!

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Posted: May 25 2006 at 12:45pm | IP Logged Quote lapazfarm

I have never had a system that works for very long. It seems as soon as I get one set up we end up moving or making some other major change that throws it all off again.
Plus I am basically LAZY.
But adding a toddler and infant to our household has forced me to get my stuff in gear lately (in order to avoid going completely under!)so this is a topic I am actively working on now. I have never been the organized type, even at my best, but I am striving to improve.
I like the pegs idea as it seems to me to be the system that makes the most sense for our lifestyle. I have been applying it to keeping the house clean(er) and it is working well so far.
I think for me having a planner would be a hindrance rather than a help. For me filling it out would be just another task to do! I need a mental system, which is why pegs seem to work well for me. It ties things to activities even I can't forget, like lunch or bedtime.
I also think that trying to re-vamp the whole system is just too huge a task for me so I am going to try to add one or two things to the peg system at a time until I have it all under better control.
I do have my own desk with computer on it that is in the schoolroom so I can multitask if need be (like I am doing right now). I often pay bills during school time when dc are doing more independant work. I save my list making for evenings after kids are in bed so I can think more clearly!


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Posted: May 25 2006 at 1:23pm | IP Logged Quote MicheleQ

We are down with a stomach bug here so I've turned off the phone (it was ringing like crazy today and kept waking up my sick baby) and am lounging on the sofa with my son's laptop. I figured I'd go ahead and add my two cents since I've been giving a time management workshop at conferences lately.

First of all let me say that I believe there is no perfect planner or system. Everyone is different so you have to find what works for you and then (here's the key). . . WORK IT.

Planning itself is most often the #1 thing that keeps people from being successful in whatever system their using. Either they overplan (by thinking they need to plan for every detail of every day) or they put off planning until they have the time to "do it right" and hence it never gets done.

Planning IS important but if all you do is plan and never get to the implementing of things, you are wasting your time.

Here's some tips I give in my workshop. Take 'em or leave 'em depending on what works for you.

- don't attempt to make drastic changes all at once. I tend to be very all or nothing but I've learned that a little success is better than no success and my kids will only take me seriously when we make changes in small bites. I've done the "things are gonna change from now on!" thing too many times and fallen to know that less is more [effective].

- The key to change is habit. CM knew what she was talking about but I often have to remind myself that CM stressed the point that mothers couldn't foster habits in their children if they didn't first foster it in themseleves. If something needs to change it needs to start with me.

Good habits will help you gain a sense of control over your time. Mind you I said a "sense" because complete control is not possible and frankly the idea that it is is something we would all do well to give up. The goal is gain a sense of control so that you can manage your time more effectively, reduce stress and bring and atmosphere of peace to your home.

- Find ways to group things together and handle things as they come up rather than letting them build. For example, no one is allowed to get the mail except me or dh (though it's almost always me). I get it when I am ready and I deal with it immediately. I open it right over the trash can. Bills go right into my bill slot (arranged by date) and junk right into the trash.

Being able to effectively manage your time increases your productivity and allows you to accomplish more with less effort. I'm not talking about doing more in less time so much as accomplishing more by working less.

- stop overscheduling and overorganizing. A common pitfall of any time management system is taking a good practice to the extreme and making it a bad one. Overscheduling and overorganizing is the biggest one.

Overscheduling means trying to plans your days, weeks or projects with too much detail. If you know you eat breakfast and shower everyday it really doesn't need to go in the plan, and adding to many of these details tends to make the plan confusing and overly complicated - which is a sure fire way of assuring it doesn't get done. Over organizing is along the same lines and I wrote about it above. When you spend more time planning than doing you aren't accomplishing what you need to and if it's coupled with perfectionism it's a direct path to discouragement.

I know my planner doesn't work for everyone. Like I wrote earlier, there is no perfect system except the one that works for you. It does however offer some things that other planners don't like all the feasts of the Church as well as the daily mass readings and prayers. It even has a rosary mystery reminder for everyday. All these things are meant to help a Catholic woman (or man - we have men's planners this year too!) manage thier time while keeping the focus where it should be. We also improved the daily format this year and I think it's better than ever.

This wasn't meant to be an advertisement. Planning is just something I spend a good bit of time thinking about - obviously.

I have been seriously cinsidering the idea of a time mangement book for Catholic women because there's just some things I don't see addressed in other books. But whether or not that ever comes to fruition is in God's hands.

Ack! Sorry I went on so long. Amazing how much you can type while lounging with sleeping children.

God bless!




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Posted: May 25 2006 at 2:40pm | IP Logged Quote JennGM

MicheleQ wrote:
I figured I'd go ahead and add my two cents since I've been giving a time management workshop at conferences lately.

First of all let me say that I believe there is no perfect planner or system. Everyone is different so you have to find what works for you and then (here's the key). . . WORK IT.


Thank you, Michele.

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Posted: May 25 2006 at 7:15pm | IP Logged Quote Dawn

mary wrote:
i recently had a secretary made for myself ... i've only had it a few days and so i haven't had a chance to do anything more than fill the drawers, but already i'm thrilled with the way this has changed setting the table.


Oh Mary, this sounds beautiful! I would love to have a desk like this ... if only I could figure out where to put it!

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Posted: May 25 2006 at 7:21pm | IP Logged Quote Dawn

MicheleQ wrote:
We are down with a stomach bug here so I've turned off the phone (it was ringing like crazy today and kept waking up my sick baby) and am lounging on the sofa with my son's laptop. I figured I'd go ahead and add my two cents since I've been giving a time management workshop at conferences lately.


Michele, thank you so much for all your thoughts and ideas on time management ~ I'm printing this thread out right now! You have given me much to think about.

I definitely overplan (how could I possibly forget to brush my teeth? ) and it robs me of the time and energy to follow through. And yet at the same time I feel like if I don't write it down (not teeth brushing, but maybe like "put out newspaper girl's payment before bed on Friday night") I'll probably forget. I sometimes think I have too much going on in my brain! And not all of its constructive!!

I hope you do put together a book, Michele. Just from this message you wrote I have learned a lot and feel motivated to shape up. It would be a blessing to Catholic mothers everywhere! Now I'm off to check out your planners.



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