Back in 2012 I was able to “retire” from Nursing as my son entered into kindergarten and I was about to embark on homeschooling. It was such an awesome feeling to be able to focus solely on my home, my oasis! And how I did! I went through EVERY cabinet, closet, room, drawer in my entire home and purged like no one’s business! It felt amazing to know where all of my stuff was! And it was sitting in the cabinet in a tidy fashion! Still makes me smile to think about this process 😃
In 2017 I was back at work, homeschooling, and taking care of all the things when my husband was out of town…I no longer had the time to be tidy…I just let life lead me where it wanted to take me.
I got tired of this feeling that things were out of whack… I felt I had no control over my stuff and the many projects I wanted to do. Let alone knowing when was the last time I cleaned the toilet? What was my awesome idea for a homeschool field trip? When was the last time I journaled anything? I think many of you know what I am talking about. But above all I wanted to strengthen my walk with the Lord and I wasn’t organized with my time enough to make Him a priority.
I sadly, do not have the memory of an elephant and if it isn’t written down, more than likely I will remember it after the fact 🙃 I needed a system to get myself under control. Because that’s what it’s all about isn’t it? The feeling of being in control? Well…a topic for another day…
I wanted a place I could keep track of all my prayers and “To-do’s” and “Wishes” and “Atta boy” lists.
I made it my mission to create a system that worked and that I loved. I looked into day planners, but they were always missing something that I was looking for. I will admit here I am a rebel at heart (not something to brag about…but it has to be said…) I didn’t wanna do it the way everyone else did…I wanted it to be MINE. I wanted a prayer journal, calendar, to do list, cleaning list, organizing list, and any other list I could think of all in one place and I wanted to pick the color of the cover too!
Gotta love pinterest…this is where I discovered bullet journals. The bullet journal hit the mark. I could make it whatever I wanted, and it worked! I was able to start being intentional with all the plans I had for myself and my family. It lasted for 5 years…
Then this last year came around and my needs changed. I love this journey of entrepreneurial-ism but there are a lot of aspects I have to juggle and, honestly, I didn’t want my prayer list and personal thoughts to be next to my calendar that I may have at a client’s house…awkward …
I looked into digital calendars and production apps that could help, but there is something about paper and pen…how about you?
In case you are curious what I use now, I found a company called The Happy Planner. It is a disc system and it feeds the rebel part of my heart that lets me add or change whatever I like!! There are so many other options out there. I’ll let you know next year how this one worked for me.
I encourage you as this New Year starts, sit down and think about what aspects of your life you would like to change that would lead to fulfilling peace and joy… then come up with 2 or 3 actionable steps to get you where you would like to see yourself be.
I believe the best way to get organized is to start by writing it down! So start with a planner. When you see it on paper you can figure out where you are and where you want to go…and keeping track of these things on a daily or weekly or monthly basis will help you succeed in your goals.
There are endless possibilities of how to keep track of things. Your imagination is the only limit!
In conclusion I hope to be an encourager for you to start somewhere, take the first step! Don’t let life run you around! It is short, and precious, and is meant to be lived to the fullest!
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
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