Stuff On Your Mind?

By mid-January I finally surrender to the concept that Christmas is over and all the details of life must be resumed.  But there are SO many details!

Definitely time for one of my favorite organizing exercises…”On My Mind.”  Here’s how it works…of course, I do it on paper but any other format would work just fine.

1. Gather supplies: I love to use a fresh white legal pad and made a trip to the office store to start with a new one.  The only other prop needed is a blank calendar.  I found a monthly planner at the dollar store and at that price bought three!
2. Get comfortable and settle in with a cuppa and some nice music.
3. Start emptying your mind on to the paper in what ever order it comes out.  In fact, pay no attention to the order, that comes later.  I filled nearly three pages with such items as:

• Find a missing sweater
• Buy new shower curtains
• Order a baby gift
• Make a blog schedule
• Get photos printed
• Update Goodreads
• Come up with a new plan for housework
• Think about a summer trip
• And many other items….

The immediate relief of not trying to remember all those details is very gratifying!

4. Get up, walk around, fill your cup and come back to the list.
5. By each item write a D (do), B (buy) P (plan.) Later you could break those down more if you like such as Call, Order, etc.
6. Pull out the blank calendar and start meshing the list with the calendar.  Not everything must be done this week or even month.  I do need to buy train tickets this month but planning a summer trip can wait until March. I’m going to Target this weekend so I will get the shower curtain.  Sundays would be a good time to update Goodreads.  Sometime in April I will get back to a creative project.
7. Keep the list handy to update.  Already I have added a few items today.
8. Cross off tasks when completed.  I found my sweater already and so enjoyed striking it through.
9. Repeat in a few months.  Usually by them the list is somewhat crossed off and time to re-do.

Let me know how it works for you!

Hope for the Best,

Tish

If you like my blog, please subscribe in the box on the top right, thank you!