My ONE Goal and More Details than Anyone Would Care to Know About My Day

"When we fail to plan our time, for example, we find ourselves living in a constant state of emergency. This is a stressful way to live. A crisis life-style makes us feel pressed and out of control, as if too much is expected of us. Often the problem is not our situation (too much to do) but our own behavior (failure to plan)". - Val D. MacMurray, Ph.D.

I've decided to try something.  I've had a problem - I set goals for myself and then I remember half of them one day and the other half another day and all the time I'm remembering that I'm forgetting something, but I'm not sure what it is.  It was getting a little frustrating and my mind wasn't clear to think about things I wanted to think about because I was worried about what it was that I was forgetting.

At first I thought I should just drop some of my goals and work on a few until those became habits and then add a little more at a time.  I just couldn't decide what I wanted to drop, and I thought I was capable of following through with them if I could only REMEMBER what they were!

So then I thought: What if I write myself a detailed list of everything I want to do in a day so I don't forget it?  This, of course, would never work because I would forget to look at the list.  Then I thought: What if my ONLY goal for the next 6 weeks is to look at the list as soon as one task is completed and do the next thing that it says?!  I can't forget to look at it if it's the only goal I have right?  Of course, things come up and children have needs when I don't necessarily plan for them so the things on my list can't have a specified time frame- maybe one day we'll only have study time for 30 minutes instead of the 2+ hours that I prefer, but I'm thinking that once I get in the habit of doing all these things in order - my time won't be wasted on figuring out what I was supposed to do next and I'll have more time to do what I think is important!

Also, it will clear my mind so I can be more sensitive to what I may be being prompted to do.

Do you think it will work?  I'm going to see.  For the next 6 weeks I will not fail to stick to my list unless a field trip or something important comes up.  We have different things we go to on most days so I allowed myself to skip certain things depending on the day - the bold letters before some of the numbers are the initials of the days that I am allowing myself to skip those certain tasks (the explanation for this is at the bottom of the list).

       1. Scripture Study/Prayer
       2. Exercise (If I made it to bed at a decent hour and the baby didn't wake me up at night)
       3. Blog or write in my journal (until 7:30am)
       4. Clean room/ get ready for the day
       5. Take laundry downstairs and start it.
       6. Remind kids to do their morning list
       7. Check to see if anything needs to be made early for dinner (rice, beans, bread, soup) and make it with the Kid of the Day.
       8. Make breakfast with the Kid of the Day,
       9. Eat breakfast (during breakfast: recite poems, read a baby Spanish book)
       10. Clean up from breakfast (Speak Spanish)
       11. Switch Laundry
F.    12. Set timer for 30 minutes for our weekly jobs - speak Spanish the entire time (whatever is unfinished in 30 minutes is done during play time).
       13. Planner Time
       14. Devotional
W,F 15. Family Work - Speak Spanish (I may switch #13 and #14 around depending on the day and Ray's nap schedule)
F.   16. Discovery Time
       17. Remind kids to clean up the house before lunch
       18. Make lunch with Kid of the Day
       19. Eat lunch (during lunch: read a Spanish book, verbally quiz some memorization)
       20. Clean up from lunch (Speak Spanish)
       21. Fold laundry and put it away (Speak Spanish)
       22. Set books out to interest kids
Th. 23. Table Time - help kids with their table work, remind kids to look at their planners, check my planner and do the things on my task list (phone calls, etc.)
Tu, Th 24. Study Time - get kids started with their studies if they need my help and then study myself
       25. Practice piano when baby wakes up
       26. Remind kids to pick up before play time and to finish and undone weekly jobs
Tu. 27. Play Time (play with Kid of the Day and whoever joins in) (slip in some Spanish)
       28. Remind kids to pick up, make dinner with the Kid of the Day
       29. Eat Dinner (dad asks the kids about what they learned and who they helped)
       30. Clean up from dinner (Speak Spanish)
       31. Everyone gets ready for bed while I get the baby ready.
Tu. 32. Family Reading Time (scriptures and a classic)
       33.  Tuck kids in and find out how they are doing and about their day
       34.  Personal study time, plan discovery time for the next day, and time with hubby.

Obviously, every day can not be like this because we have certain things we choose to go to.  I realize have to make a conscious decision about what to skip or I'll skip the same thing too often.  This also helps me realize that when I add an activity to my schedule, something else has to go - and I can purposely decide what that will be.

Mondays - Stick to List
Tuesdays - Skip Study Time (#24) and Play Time (#27) to go to the library (every other week - 2nd and 4th Tuesdays - opposite of Little House Group weeks).  Skip Family Reading Time (#32) every week for book club or temple.
Wednesdays - Skip Family Work Time (#15) and Play Time (#27) when we choose to go to the Nature Center or for Kindler's Club (monthly).
Thursdays - Skip Table Time (#23) and Study Time (#24) for the Little House Group (every other week - 1st and 3rd Thursdays - opposite of library weeks - this way I am only skipping Study Time once a week).
Fridays - Skip Weekly Jobs (#12), Family Work Time (#15), and Discovery Time (#16) for Knights of Freedom and Virtue Girls


Ha ha!  Looking at this list makes me realize why I so often forget to do some things.  It's not a short list.  I better put it in a lot of places in the house because it looks like I'll have to look at it about 34 times per day!  The thing is, I don't put anything on my schedule unless I have thought it through and have decided that it is important enough for our time.  Most of these things are already habit so it's not as bad at it seems at first glance.  I'm glad I'm writing it down - I'm sure I'll get a kick out of it when I look back in later years!

I am also giving myself permission to change the list if I see the need.  I'm not going to stick to anything that looses meaning for me, but I will look at the list (even if it's a changed one) and do what it says for the next 6 weeks.  Wish me fortitude!

*Added later: This didn't work.  Click here to see why.