What We Accomplished Wednesday: Cha Cha Cha Changes...

Don't miss my NEW linky party below!!

Change is in the air.  I've been needing to make some changes in my life.  From getting myself and my house organized and de-junked, to losing 30 pounds this year, I plan to use my blog to help me stay on track.  Cause if I put it out there for everyone to see...I just have to gitter' done (said as my knees are knocking together).

To make sure I stick to this, I am adding a weekly link party for you to link up anything that has to do with your resolutions or goals, be it organizing, weight loss recipes, projects, business, remodeling etc.  The only things I ask you not to link to, are direct links to your shop/etsy etc.

I did not post a New Year's resolution list immediately.  I've been working on a planner, tailored just for me, tweaking it here and there all month.  I also wanted to make sure it was something that would work for me, and that I would be able to stick to.

First I sat down and typed up a list of goals for 2013.  I also have a master to-do list with a column for general to-do's, projects and business to-do's.  I jot everything down on this master list when it comes to mind, so my brain doesn't lose it somewhere in deep space.  Some days I think that's all that is in there...space!

Here is a snapshot of a section of my Goals List

My Master To Do List (I print this one out and fill in by hand)

I also am taking on a major paring down, decluttering and organizing of our home.  I made a 100 list, of 100 areas I want to organize and dejunk. I broke bigger projects down into the number of sessions I think it will take me to get them done.  For instance,  I have magazines listed 5 times...it will take me all of that and maybe more.  Yes I have a LOT of magazines

Sample from my 100 List: 

All this is in my computer, because I'm anal and can't stand a messy list.  I am a list maker.  I cannot function without a list.  It's that brain space thing I think.

Past planners have not worked well for me.  They have all been paper documents that would get scribbled up or lost.  I also bite off more than I can chew and grossly under estimate the time things will take to accomplish, and over-plan my days.  Then I feel pressured to get it all done, which I never could. Then, rather than feel great about what I had accomplished, I would feel disappointed that I didn't get more done.

Here is where I might lose you.  If you are a psychologist, and need to study someone who is anal retentive...I'm your girl.  Yeah...

I created a planner template that I can fill in each week on my laptop.  There is a column for each day except for Sundays.  Using my goal sheet, and adding in daily things, I created a two page planner that I can print on one piece of paper, both sides.  Except I don't print it out at the beginning of the week.

At the end of the week, I start filling out next weeks planner, estimating how long I think each task will take, using my goal list and my to-do list to decide what I want to accomplish.  Here's the anal part. Each day I check off what I get done, and if there is something(s) I didn't get to, I cut and paste it sometime later in the week, or even put it on the next weeks planner.

At the end of the week, I print out the list and then I'm not looking at a list of what I didn't accomplish, but instead, I've got a clean copy of all the things I did do.  It has changed my perspective and eased my stress so much.

Here is a  3 day sample from my planner:

It is Tuesday evening.  You can see all the red checks that I've accomplished.  My hind quarters have been draggin' this week, so not a lot got done so far.  Wednesdays shows all the things I would like to get done.  I can guarantee not all of them will.  I'm getting a little better, though, at gauging how much I can do in a day.  The colored dots represent how long I think each task will take me.  Then I can estimate my total time for the day.  I try to only plan a certain number of hours each day, depending on outside commitments and appointments.  Eventually, when I get better at gauging how long tasks take me, I'll probably lose the color coded dots.  Right now, it's helping me be more realistic.

Disclaimer:  Some days I'm just worn out and hardly get anything accomplished.  One of my goals this year is to get enough sleep, and stop staying up so late (I usually don't get to bed before 1:30 a.m.).  If I'm tired, or sick, I can just shuffle everything forward by copying and pasting.  Now if I could just copy and paste these extra pounds somewhere else...I've lost 7 pounds this month though.  I'm pretty proud of that check mark!

If you want a copy of my master to-do list or a blank daily check list, let me know in the comments (make sure you are not set to no-reply), or shoot me an email.  I'll email you an editable Open Office or Microsoft Word document.  Let me know which you prefer.