Welcome to Day 6 of the Clutter-Free Challenge.
I hope you had a wonderful weekend. It’s my hope and prayer that you
feel lighter now that we’ve tapped into the wisdom of God, aligned our
hearts with His through prayer, done a personal assessment of everything
we have to do and started the editing process to trim down an
overwhelming schedule.
Last week I promised we would do something with that list of tasks
and responsibilities you’ve been creating, and that’s our focus today.
I’m going to share an approach that has truly revolutionized how I
organize my tasks and responsibilities.
For years I tried to manage all I had to do on one list. I tried to
prioritize that to-do list using various methods, all without success. I
had huge projects next to phone calls. It was just too much to put on
one sheet of paper. It was like trying to squeeze my size 9 feet into
cute little size 6 shoes. It wasn’t happening.
With one to-do list, I never had an accurate view of all my
responsibilities because I instinctively knew certain things didn’t
belong there And so I kept piling more on to an already overloaded
schedule.
I bought planner after planner, hoping another professional system
would help me organize my life. But I couldn’t customize them to my
needs, and I ended up investing in a stack of expensive pretty binders.
Project management seemed like the answer at one point, and I checked
into specialized software – but that wasn’t what I needed.
Finally, inspired again by David’s Allen’s Getting Things Done philosophy, I created something to meet my needs. I made a project management notebook using a 3-ring binder. This book contains everything I need to do – now and in the future – my project list. And then I invested in an inexpensive spiral notebook for my to-do list. I’ve been using this system for about a year and it is perfect for me. Let me explain how it works.
In the front of my 3-ring binder I have a master list of projects. A
project is anything that requires more than one step to complete. For
me, that includes things like organizing the writer’s track at She
Speaks, putting together the next issue of the P31 Woman or
planning a fundraising night for my youngest son’s wrestling team.
Those are just a few of the things on my radar right now.
Behind that, I have full sheets to keep notes for individual
projects (included on the master project list) depending on their
complexity. This notebook has evolved into a place to keep prayer
requests, ideas for future devotions and blog posts, and lists of
things I want to do in the future. Basically it keeps lists of things I
don’t want to forget. All this is my Project Management Planner.
My to-do list, which is in a cute spiral notebook, only includes the
next task needed to move a project forward. And only what I can manage
that day or week. These are one-step tasks I choose from the project
list based
on deadlines. For example, right now I need to email a publisher,
follow up on an article by Lysa and Renee for April’s issue and email
the wrestling coach to confirm the date for the fundraising night.
These are on my to-do list for next week.
By only pulling tasks that I have to get done, my to-do list stays
manageable. But I never forget what has to be done because it’s on the
project list.
Then, once a month (or as needed) I update my master list of projects
– crossing some off and adding others. Once a week (or as needed), I
pull out my current project list notebook and create a to-do list.
Does this sound like it might help you? It’s affordable and it
becomes a place to store all those little pieces of paper with scribbled
on notes you’ve got cluttering up your fridge, desk and kitchen
counter.
You might not need a binder. Maybe you just need that spiral
notebook and can dedicate one page to your projects and the following
pages to-do lists. Really it all depends on how much you have to do.
The concept can be applied in many ways.
So in summary, here’s a step by step approach for you:
1) Get some fresh paper (or blank page on the computer if you insist)
and start listing the major projects you’ve already identified and put
on your master list. For you this might be put away Christmas
decorations. Or organize 2011 taxes. These are your project titles.
2) Then list tasks relating to that project below the heading. You
may not have all the tasks identified and that’s ok. But if you do, put
them with this project. Then go to the next project.
Some things might not seem like a project, but they are similar
enough to qualify for one. Let’s say you have lots of mending, and you
listed 10 things that need to be mended. Make “Mending” your project
heading and list your items under that. Or you might have lots of phone
calls. Make “Phone Calls” your project and list who you need to call
under that. You also might have one list for random one-step tasks
that don’t have anything in common. All this comprises your Project
List.
3) Once that’s done, pull 5-10 tasks to put on your to-do list for
that day or week depending on the task and how much you can get done.
Using this system, you can add pages for anything you want to
remember … books you want to read (or write) someday, places you want to
visit, projects you want to tackle someday. This notebook becomes your
“safe place” for all those notes you don’t want to forget. And it’s so
personalized! If you are really creative (which I’m not) you can even
decorate the cover.
I hope this idea is helpful. My friend Julie tried it for herself
and here’s what she told me: “I’ve implemented your project notebook
idea. … I absolutely love, love love it! It’s helping me stay focused
and organized and keeps all my ideas in one place. It’s literally
changed my life.”
Tomorrow we are going to tackle paper. So warn your stacks and piles … they won’t be there much longer. Until then …
Grace & Peace,
Glynnis
Heavenly Father, I start this new week in the Clutter-Free
Challenge and offer it to You. Help this week to be about Your will and
not mine. Help me to love like you love and to keep all this
de-cluttering in perspective. I want to bring more order into my life,
but for the right reasons. Help free me from clutter in order to be
free to serve You. In Jesus name, Amen.
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