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We work more effectively when we preplan routines that keep our lives humming. We have a feeling of security when we know what to expect. You can simplify your time by creating a chart of those chores that now plague you. Then eliminate worry and guilt by completing each chore on the designated day.
Weekly Home Routines
Jackie and Bill decided they didn’t like letting grocery shopping, laundry, yard work and errands fill every Saturday. So they developed a system that allowed them to get the errands out of the way during the week, leaving more time for golf or snow skiing on the weekends.
Jackie and Bill started to expand their social network once their home and personal chores were under control.
A New Way to Keep Up
Instead of burdening your mind with reminders, such as “I need to sew on a button,” or “I wish I had time to pick up a few plants,” create a dependable schedule on paper or your computer — somewhere you can see it and refer to it. Reviewing to-do-lists from the last few weeks may help you see a pattern of general categories that need your attention.
3 Steps to Your Customized Schedule
Take a moment now to walk through the following three steps:
- Identify the regular tasks you are not currently finishing. Pick one area to focus on for the next two months until you have a comfortable schedule that works.
- Post a Monday-Saturday or -Sunday chart. Simply draw a chart on an index card and fill in with pencil what you think will work.
- Post the chart where you’ll be able to see it and act on it. For example, tape your personal chart to your bathroom mirror, and place your home chart by your kitchen sink. Keep the pencil and eraser nearby so you can adjust the chart as you live it.
Once you’ve established a predictable rhythm, you can toss the chart. Now you have one more way to start living with extra time savings.
Excerpted and condensed from Marcia Ramsland's: Simplify Your Time: Stop Running & Start Living! ©2006, W. Publishing Group, a division of Thomas Nelson, Inc., Nashville, Tennessee. All rights reserved. Copying or using this material without written permission from the publisher is strictly prohibited and in direct violation of copyright law.
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Marcia Ramsland is well known as "The Organizing Pro" for her practical skills and tips to manage busy lives. She is a speaker, author, and media guest expert appearing on TV, radio, and in national magazines for her popular books Simplify Your Life, Simplify Your Time, and Simplify Your Holidays (Thomas Nelson). Visit her website, www.organizingpro.com for free tips.
FEATURE ARTICLES: Marcia Ramsland, speaker and author, writes magazine articles for consumer and trade organizations. Request a special article by e-mailing or calling her through the contact information below.
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Everyone Needs a Planner |
| "If you want to know what day it is, any calendar will do. But if you want to gain control of your time, schedule priority tasks, and gain a reputation for getting things done, use a planner!” |
—Harold Taylor, Author of Making Time Work For You |
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Simplify Your Time
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"I have realized that the stress I have been feeling at work was because I hadn't fully implemented this system (Calendar file, To Do file, etc..) and I was getting majorly bogged down with paper. .. I'm feeling so much more successful and "together" because of your book. I remember you showing me how to do this and talking to you about it in person, but reading it and having it in my hands to hash over and highlight helpful parts has solidified it for me! I love having the reference at my fingertips."
~ Holly Sandefur, Teacher
San Diego, California
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| FROM ANOTHER READER |
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"Thank you so much for writing such an inspiring book!!!! My husband and I have been married for two years and unfortunately our parents did not teach us simple systems to run our lives. Thank you for inspiring me to de-clutter and organize! My husband got a bad cut yesterday, went into the bathroom cabinet and was pleasantly surprised to be able to find hydrogen peroxide, band-aids, and Neosporin- organized and ready for use! Thank you, thank you, thank you!" ~
Melissa Gamble· Tulsa, Oklahoma
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