1.21.2015
Planner Hack- How to carry over weekly appointments
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12.05.2014
Planning ahead
- My Documented Life Planner- is a Moleskine planner that I use for art journaling. I'm doing the Documented Life challenge where you get a different theme to incorporate each week. There's a free FB group to join, and they do try to sell you stuff.
- Next is a regular composition book that I use for notes. I spend most of my time at my desk and I just grab it and write- not very organized or efficient. At the moment I'm using it to track Holiday shopping and wrapping so things and people don't get lost.
- Then, there's my DayRunner planner with DIY inserts. I use this for detailed scheduling and general to-do's. I also track chores (when I do them) and exercise, water intake, weight, and time spent being creative or learning something new.
- Last, is a print-out of my Google calendar for work. It's got all the schedules for people I work with and isn't very efficient for personal planning. I do update all my appointment on here (set to private) so I can get notifications on my phone.
- Not pictured is a Life Book art journal (which I paid a boatload for and they still try to sell you stuff, so I won't be doing that again) and journal pages based on the Artist's Way process, which is three hand-written pages of brain-dump/free-writing each morning (sporadically, when I'm stressed or having a manic episode.) I never go back to those pages except to reflect on how things change and I don't consider them part of my planning or journaling. Also not pictured is Project Life. I bought all the supplies and only completed about 3 weeks worth out of the whole year. That one is supposed to be for scrapbooking and journaling.
Posted by Unknown at 9:40 AM 0 Comments
11.18.2014
Planning for the Holidays
- M- Sing carols (French)
- T- Pancakes for supper
- W- Hot cocoa and marshmallows
- TH- Color Christmas pages
- F- Family Movie Night- Elf
- SA- Christmas in the Oaks
- SU- Sign/send Christmas cards
- M- Play Christmas songs and dance silly
- T- E’s choice
- W- J’s Choice
- TH- Bake cookies
- F- Family Movie Night- Frosty
- SA- Camp out by the tree
- SU- Make ornaments
- M- Make or wrap teacher gifts
- T- M’s choice
- W- Shop for siblings
- TH- G’s choice
- F- Family Movie Night- Rudolph/Peanuts
- SA- Make gingerbread house/cookies
- SU- Decorate gingerbread house/cookies
- M- Read Cajun Night Before Christmas
- T- Make smores
- W- Pictures by the tree with new pjs
- I make sure to put the more complex activities on weekends and really easy things on days where we are more busy.
- I give each child a "choice" day where they pick what to do (it's always cocoa by the fire.)
- I keep a master list of activities for myself and a copy for my husband. That way, we can see what's coming up and switch things around if needed.
- We used to include more spiritual activities like midnight Mass and reading scripture and there's no reason that you couldn't add more of those.
- Candy days are free days for you. So are coloring sheet days and cocoa days. Use them as needed. Since I'm using pockets, I won't have room for "candy" days, unless I do it on a weekday and stuff some candy canes in before they get back from school- that's an idea...
- The kids always want to check the day's activity first thing in the morning, so you have to make sure it's a family event and the children aren't fighting over who gets to check.
- Over the years, I've made changes based on what works. During a given season, I make changes based on what works. It's okay- even imperative- to be flexible.
- Work with your schedule. We do family movie nights every Friday anyway, so I just added the stipulation that's it's a holiday movie we watch.
- Don't forget to take into account things you are already doing. Going to visit family? Either use that for your activity or make your activity something related to the visit. Looking at lights and displays along the way, for example.
- You also need to make sure you aren't scheduling something incompatible with your other plans. Don't say you're going to bake cookies if you won't be home all day.
- If you aren't crafty, don't schedule crafts. If you aren't a baker, don't schedule baking. Those are disasters waiting to happen if you aren't in full control of the situation.
- There are lots of other lists online, many with snow-related activities that aren't an option here in the La. or more spiritual or volunteer-based activities.
Posted by Unknown at 3:59 PM 0 Comments
9.12.2014
Planner Madness
The thing about the monthly spread is it is punched on the side of an 8.5 by 11' sheet and folds over in the middle- hamburger style for you teachers. This way, I can keep my months' pages together and I can see my calendar while looking at my day and week because it's folded out. You'll recognize this from DIY Fish. I've got my weight and spending trackers on the inside fold of this page so they will be hidden when the weekly page is turned. Spending and weight don't need to be visible most of the time anyway.
The weekly page is also punched on the side and folded in the middle to keep the daily pages together. In this photo, you see the folded week and unfolded month. So, I've got 7 day pages folded up into a week, and the weekly clusters get folded into a monthly cluster. It makes it very easy to flip to the month/week/day I need. I can also add tabs if I want.
You may have also noticed that my month is turned 90 degrees, with the dates going down the page, also stolen from DIY Fish. That way it matches up to the week-at-a-glance as pictured above. All the Mondays are at the top and Sundays are at the bottom.
I was always very resistant to using a page-a day because I didn't think I had enough stuff to write. Now that I'm in the full swing of school and kids' activities, I realize I now need to write EVERYTHING- no matter how trivial, because I can't remember ANYTHING. Now, my daily pages are cut and punched like normal. On the left-hand side, I've got tracking. I tried to have as little writing space on that side because I don't like trying to write over the rings. I've got a food diary there, but I don't know if I'll keep it. I've also got a sprialdex for time-tracking, My Big Three items to get done for the day, a daily cleaning checklist, and a space for mood and weather for journaling. On the right-hand side is my daily agenda. I don't know what happened to 7am. It got lost in printing. I've also got a hydration checklist and a space to remember to pay equal attention to all my roles daily.
Here's where the magic happens. I wish I could take credit for thinking of this, but it was Fish so go check her out.
You can see above, when the weekly page is folded over, the month, week, and daily schedules are all visible at once. As each day passes, the old page gets folded under the weekly flap and everything I need for planning my day is still visible without flipping. That there is GENIUS, my friends. (And for anyone freaking out about writing on that monthly page while it's hanging out there in mid-air, you just fold it backwards and, voila, it's in the same area as the daily schedule.)
This last photo shows how it looks when the 7 daily pages are folded into the week. On the back side of the weekly page is a graph-paper area for notes or whatever. Yes, my pages are hanging out. I punched them wrong and I can't find my hole reinforcers to fix it.
If you need help visualizing how any of these components work, there are tons of videos online for using Big Rocks, Sprialdex, and DIY Fish. I encourage you to go look at those if you haven't yet.
I used tables and text boxes to make almost all of my components (I found the sprialdex picture online) so they are fairly easy to move around or modify. I hope this post encourages you to play around and try to create something if you can't find the perfect spread. You just print a week or two, and try it out. Change what doesn't work, or scrap it and try again. It can be just as addicting as looking at catalogs or watching planner videos, so be careful you aren't forgetting to live out all those exciting things you have planned. ;)
Posted by Unknown at 6:22 PM 3 Comments
6.13.2014
How NOT to Project 333
This is what my closet looked like two weeks ago.
Here's everything I did wrong:
- I didn't count shoes and jewelry. You are given a pass on workout clothes, underwear, and pajamas, but not shoes and jewelry. I didn't think I could make a small wardrobe work without the extra shoe and jewelry options. I'm realizing that's not the case. My lifestyle is a little different than when I felt like I needed flashy shoes and accessories and I just don't like them anymore. I'm going to get rid of a bunch soon like earring that are too heavy and bracelets that are too noisy.
- I went over the 33 item limit. I ended up saving about 50 things. I also made the mistake of asking my husband to put my 6 (six!) bags of clothes that didn't make it into the attic and of course, he didn't. So the first day, I had a panic and went straight for the bags, pulling things out. I had a "come to Jesus" moment though and put everything back (in the bags, not the closet.) I also put the bags in the attic myself so I didn't have that option again.
- Last weekend, my sister sent 3 bags of clothes to my daughter. Looking at all the boutique and high-end cast-offs, I kept a few things for myself. I never said I was an image of self-control.
- I kept too many "fantasy" items. These are things I bought because I wanted to be the kind of person who wore them. A JCrew dress and Anthropologie dress, to be specific. I paid a lot for them, and really like them, but I can see I'm not going to wear them. I've got a business trip coming up and if I can't bring myself to pack them, they're going to have to go.
- I still got rid of a boat-load of stuff. Besides the 6 (six!) space bags full of stuff in the attic, I also sent 3 (three!) garbage bags of stuff to charity. My dresser is almost completely empty except for pj's and workout stuff and underwear and you've seen my closet.
- I'm getting rid of things that stayed. Those fantasy dresses, a t-shirt with awkward sleeves, stuff that doesn't fit, jewelry that hasn't been in style since the early part of the century, yes the 2000's! (for shame!)
- I haven't taken any more stuff out. I switched a few dress pants for jeans when I got the opportunity to start working from home, but (except for my sister's stuff) the overall count has gone down, not up.
- I'm figuring out my style. Luckily, that seems to be French casual. I've got navy stripes, boatnecks, and a trench coat. Flats, white tees, jeans, and leather pants(!) and I love them all. For the longest time, I wore mostly preppy clothes. Polos, colored jeans, "mom" clothes, and I never felt like "me." I looked ok, and I thought that was what counted. Well, now I want to look Good and FEEL Good. Goodbye capris and flip flops!
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1.20.2014
Six Word Book Review: The Color of Magic by Terry Pratchett
I see what you did there...
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10.23.2013
Some Old Birthday Party Pics
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3.07.2013
In Reverence to Mental Health Month
Posted by ShannonAnn at 10:45 AM 0 Comments
7.26.2011
Before and After
Posted by ShannonAnn at 12:22 PM 0 Comments
7.22.2011
iPhone4 Case on the Cheap
My old, clear iPhone case was getting yellow so I figured it was time for a new one. It's amazing how much people charge for these things. So I broke out the old Mod Podge and some leftover Amy Butler scrapbooking paper I had lying around and covered the outside of the case.
The paper was double-sided, so it shows through on the inside.
I covered the buttons and they still work fine. I just covered between the holes for connections so I wouldn't have to cut them all out. Of course, I cut out the oval for the camera hole.It hasn't really been kid-tested yet, but it seems like it's pretty sturdy. The Mod Podge makes the case a little stiff, so it's hard to get the phone out, but not impossible.
Posted by ShannonAnn at 11:19 AM 0 Comments