calendar

WOW, that calendar is blue, huh?  Trick of the camera, but the more important thing is that it’s also really EMPTY. And this is a really busy week for me!

1.  We shop only once a week and refuse to go back. If we’re out of milk, that’s just how it goes, drink water.  If we’re out of apples, eat oranges.  There’s no need to have one of everything we like in the house at once.  Except toilet paper.  I will go back for that, but nothing else.  Multiple trips to the store to pick up this or that really crowd my days, so I don’t do it!

2. We use a calendar–everything on the calendar is a commitment, nothing is a commitment until it’s on the calendar.  And the calendar stays at home.  Which means, I can’t agree to anything until I think about it.  And don’t buy one of those ones where a day is a whole page, you might actually be tempted to fill it!

3.  We only agree to do what we really want to do. Saying NO is a very important part of keeping your day simple.  Just because someone else thinks we SHOULD do something as often as they wish has little impact on our decision.   “Sure I’d like to volunteer.  You can have me once every six weeks.”  “But, but, but…”  “I’m sorry, that’s all I can offer.”

4.  The day is organized around benchmarks. I have four things on my mental to do list.  8:35, 3:45, 5:00, and 7:30.  When the kids are off to school, when I get in the car line, when hubby gets home, and the kids’ bedtime.  There’s no scheduling to the minute, ever.  I just know what has to be done for those four things to happen.

5.  We have one planned activity per day. If it’s swimming lessons, then there’s no going to the PTA meeting.  If there’s a party, then there’s no meeting friends at the park.  Now, I know that sounds drastic, but if you’re like me, planning one thing a day means you’ll probably end up with two. But setting the bar that low means when something springs up on me, (as it always does) I have room in my schedule to deal with it.

Ivory