Get Happy and How To Get STUFF done!

Getting Organized and STUFF done... with interruptions

So this past week Jan and Darleen have been attempting to get to happier state by getting house organized. We made lists, schedules for each hour of the day, with goals for end of week.

Challenges: Interruptions:

• Kids needing rides 
• Kids needing stuff
• Kids sick and needing care
• Stuff we forgot we promised to do
• Tied up 

NOTE: this is a joke

- we would never consider putting our children in a cage .. hmm might have worked tho :)

 

 Well maybe this didn't really happen - but was worth a shot.

TIME MANAGEMENT
Oh yes, we have read all the Time Management rules and advice. uh hum ... The 8 Minute Rule
as on how to: Get A Grip Get a grip on life
- take responsibility for yourself - be in control of your own life

"Most of the things that need doing around the house can be done in under ten minutes. That’s a really short period of time. If you have your snooze button set to ten minute intervals, you’ll appreciate just how little time that is.

BUT. It’s enough time to do LOADS of stuff:

• Taking out the trash – 2 minutes
• Loading the dishwasher – 4 minutes
• Hoovering one room – 7 minutes
• Ordering a crate of tonic water online – 4 minutes
• Ironing two shirts – 8 minutes
• Going around your bedroom, picking up every stray sock and t-shirt and chucking all in the laundry bin – 5 minutes
• Paying five utility bills – 6 minutes
• etc etc etc

If you’ve got young kids, eight minutes is about the maximum time you get to yourself anyway. Load the washing machine in your first eight minutes, and drink that gin and tonic in the second."

Ok ... for the most part this works, except when interrupted by children (even those not living at home) or now that we have menopause-induced-memory loss, we find we often forget promises we have made and suddenly our Blackberry signals a 15 minute warning.  So,, what's next ? Do we just give up, and throw ourselves on bed and take a nap?

Darleen & Jan Solution

 Eureka!! We managed to get stuff done - a lot of stuff done with PRIORITIZATION & chocolate!

Inspiration Visualization & through trial and error what REALLY do we have to get done?? - do it.

 

 Prioritization:

This is not much different than prioritization in the workplace  - but we are the BOSS.

 Jan's List 

1.  Walking 15 minutes each day
2. Laundry
3. Clean Bedroom that is full top to bottom in order that daughter that moved out can move back in. Should be easy, as 5 days to complete. 

We broke this down into schedule similar to Darleen's List below.

Inspiration Photos:
Imagine Laundry being COMPLETED

And Visualize the COMPLETED ROOM RATHER THAN THE OVERWHELMING MESS:

Incentive

- chocolate yummies to be delivered from Ontario to Alberta, and also special chocolate treat specially prepared by Darleen.

Darleen's List

Tuesday

 8 am - walk for 15 min8:30 - breakfast and laundry started  - bed made

9:00 am - Review Bills and mail that came while away  - apply for EI
9:30 - switch laundry to dryer and get 2nd load in washer
10:00  - 12:00  - start closet cleaning - watch laundry at same time 

laundry should be completed by 12 noon
Take break at  12:00  - lunch
12:30 - put laundry away and iron anything that requires touchup
1:00  - complete closet cleanout  and reorg

2:00  -- find home for shoes in front hall closet - or possibly over door storage?
3:00 - visiting parents for an hour
4:00 - 5:00 -- make supper or put it in early in morning before starting

Wednesday
  -- organize computer room >> remove all books and organize or set to send to used book store
obtain bins to store computer odds and ends with labels to put above cupboards in computer room
Organize Living room with books and load up bins for  - freecycle or give away

Thursday
Bathroom organize  - clean all junk out of cupboards in both bathrooms

Friday
Kitchen
-- remove all stuff and clean cupboards
- get rid of anything not required any longer
- clean windows
- wash floor if required
- wash out fridge if required
- organize front hall closet -- remove winter coats if can find some place to store ???

As well supposed to be spending time job searching .... hmmm

Inspirational Photos:

Incentive:

- One day in sun to do nothing.

SO ..... what was the Outcome ...

Please continue Reading 

By Wednesday it was clear that Jan was not about to get all done by Friday  & Darleen was not about to get done by end of summer! What went wrong ?

Many interruptions was true that did not take into account.

Other items not noted.

DID not priortize!!

What is the most important that MUST GET DONE?

BACK TO THE DRAWING BOARD

With slight modifications  we were on a roll. Jan's NEW LIST

ROOM MUST GET CLEANED OUT and ready for daughter to move in - other things can wait.

Laundry do if can get done - otherwise push into next week

Items removed from room can be boxed up and organized at later time - get out of room this week.

Darleen's NEW LIST
Gardening - front gardens MUST get completed - others do as can with weather

Laundry  - get done

General Sorting of clutter

RESULTS:
Jan - COMPLETED cleaning room and has things organized with some sorting still to be done.

Room is ready for daughter to move in.

BONUS: Laundry was completed by Saturday & extra work done on Sunday 

EXTRA BONUS: Started week with clean house, and laundry caught up.

Earns Incentive!!

Darleen - COMPLETED front gardens , laundry & decluttering started.

BONUS: After has decided that job search on hold - as will have job find her!

EXTRA BONUS: BOUGHT NEW CAR!! 

No Incentive required!

Morale of the Story:

Priortize and Visualize - focus on what you want, rather than what you do not have at the moment AND - make reasonable doable goals for timeframe.

More tomorrow regarding GET HAPPY made simple. 

...darleen & jan