Organization Archives - Page 2 of 2

Category: Organization

Why Sunday Should Be Your Most Productive Day

Posted on March 9, 2016February 17, 2016 by Meredith Rines, MBA, CFP®

It’s no lie that Friday is probably most people’s favorite day of the week. I mean, TGIF and all! With tax season still in full swing, Friday isn’t the beginning of the weekend for me – that’s Saturday. But don’t get me wrong, I still have an extra pep in my step every Friday. I think it’s just engraved in my brain to love Fridays.

It all started when I was a little girl and Boy Meets World would be on TV. Then came being able to go out with friends on Friday night and sleep overs. I just love those memories.

Now Fridays are just another work day, but I can’t wipe the smile off my face.

BUT… let me tell you what’s slowly taking over as my favorite day of the week. SUNDAY!

Yep, Sunday is becoming my go-to favorite. Maybe it’s because it’s my one day off of work right now. Maybe it’s because J and I get to spend the whole day together. Or maybe, just maybe it’s because I’ve made it the most productive day of the week.

Sunday is my time to get ready for the craziness ahead. Sunday is my day to unwind, relax and rest up for what’s going to happen Monday-Saturday. That’s why Sunday should be your most productive day.

Here’s my game plan for a productive Sunday:

– We try not to do too many house projects on Sunday. Which is hard right now since it’s are only day off together. But we try really hard to keep the projects small.

– We don’t typically cook on Sundays. Cooking isn’t my favorite and I get pretty tired of it after doing it all week. Sunday is my day-off. We order in or go out to eat.

– We plan out the next week’s meals. I take a look at our calendar to see what we have going on and for the busy nights I like to plan something quick and easy. Then I take stock of what we already have on hand to make my grocery list for Monday night.

– We look at our calendar to see what’s going on. Remember earlier in the week when I shared how we plan out our calendar for next three months? Well planning ahead really comes in handy when we’re getting ready for the week.

– We take it easy. I know I’ve said this before, but Sunday is my one day off of work during tax season so I don’t do much. I like to take naps while J watches football (when it’s on) or while he watches a movie.

– We spend the whole day together. It’s really nice getting to be together and not having to rush from place-to-place. We typically try to stay home as much as possible so we can be with the pups too. They do so good all week, especially Bud since we still kennel him while we’re gone. We like to keep him out and running around as much as possible.

– We catch up on laundry. I’m one of those my-way-or-no-way laundry people. I am very particular about how my clothe
s are done, which is why I’ve been doing my laundry since I was in junior high (I made one rude comment to my mom about how she hung a shirt and it was suddenly was on me to get my clothes done). So, I like to spend Sunday getting the clothes done. Typically J will handle the towels and sheets on Saturday, but we leave the bulk to be done on Sunday.

– We make to-do lists. I like to take a look at the next week to know what’s going on, but I also like to spend my Sundays making a to-do list for the week. I like to know if I need to make any appointments for me or J, call anyone in particular to wish them a happy birthday or whatever else might need to get done. If you like my to do list above, click here to download it for FREE!

Sunday is a great time to get ready for the week ahead. You really can take advantage of a quiet day. That’s why Sunday should be your most productive day!

Get it done… (daily to do list and free printable)

Posted on April 6, 2015March 17, 2015 by Meredith Rines, MBA, CFP®

It’s no secret the love I have for being organized. I’ve shared my top tips on getting more organized and my top time management tricks. Over the years, I’ve learned the hard way when I don’t keep my thoughts together.

I had found online all of these wonderful daily planning sheets. But let’s be honest, I wanted something FREE. Why would I want to pay for something that I could create myself? So I kept looking, mainly because I was being lazy. I didn’t want to take the time to create a daily to do list. There had to be something out there that was perfect, right? WRONG.

I couldn’t find anything I liked. I would find one and print it out. I would try it out for a few days, but never liked it. I didn’t need one broken up by the time of day. I don’t care if I get something done in the morning or afternoon. That’s what I have my Google Calendar for. I needed something that was daily.

I was fed up. I had enough. I finally created my own. I’ve been using it for well over a month now and I couldn’t be happier. It’s exactly what I needed. If only I would have bit the bullet and created it months ago!

Here’s what it looks like. It has a box for every day of the week, except Sunday because I try not to work on Sundays. There is even a box to jot down to dos for next week. I even love the check-off capability. The OCD side of me loves checking off when things get done. You can even jot down which week you’re working on in case you’re a planner and have multiple sheets going.

Click here to download the template to print it out.

If you’re looking for even more ideas on organizing your life, check out how I organize my desktop to be more efficient (there’s even a free template included!).

How I stay on top of it all

Posted on January 29, 2015January 20, 2015 by Meredith Rines, MBA, CFP®

I love being busy and having places to go. If my calendar was empty day-after-day then I’d probably be pretty depressed. I like staying busy. It makes me feel productive. But staying busy all the time has it’s drawbacks. Like… being too busy to remember to get gas in my car until I can only go 5 miles and the gas station is 7 from my house or being too busy to remember to fold the clothes in the dryer and my work shirts are wrinkled or being too busy to stop and smell the roses. Usually the only times I get sick is when my calendar is jammed packed.

I have a system that I’ve been working on for a few years now and I finally have it down to a science. I use Google calendar to manage my life outside of the office (or when a meeting takes me outside the office) and I use Google calendar to manage my family. I use Outlook to manage my daily tasks at work so I know what all I need to get done that day and if I can’t get to something it’s easy to just drag it over to another day. I use a paper journal for list making, idea keeping, and money tracking.

My journal goes everywhere with me. I explained how I like to use it to keep track of our extra income we get each month. But there are so many countless ways I use my journal. It’s my brain dump, catch all, no stopping information gathering place. I make lists then when I get to work or in front of my laptop I pull out my journal and figure out when and where I can get my lists done.

Journals are the best way to get things out of your head, down on paper and off your mind. Write it down. Know where you write things down (hence the love of journals) so you can find them later. I’ve always said if you write it down then it will get done. It’s just a matter of time, but writing it down allows your mind to focus on the task at hand instead of trying to remember a bunch of ideas, things to do and getting the work done.

The key with using a journal to stay on top of it all is actually looking at it. You have to look at it, mark things off and schedule time to actually do your tasks.

I go through a lot of journals every year. So I never buy the fancy ones that look super nice. I go with the ones on clearance. I’m pretty sure I’ve never paid more than $5 for a journal. That’s crazy pants to me. Who cares what the outside cover looks like? I don’t!

How do you keep track of your to-do lists?

Dreaming of a new Planner

Posted on December 5, 2013November 21, 2013 by Meredith Rines, MBA, CFP®

With the wedding gone and over its time to rethink my planner situation. I have a slight addiction to planners, organizers and todo lists. I’ve mentioned my love of todo lists before, a few times. Read here about how I keep to=do lists and take notes to fake it.

For the wedding I was carrying around a letter size At-A-Glance calendar filled with post-it’s, paper clips, slips of papers and binder clips. It kept me on track of all the things that needed to get done for our big day, and it really did work perfectly. However, now the wedding has come and gone. Now it’s time to get back to a simpler way of keeping my life organized.

I’ve been eyeing this Metropol planner over at Filofax’s website for awhile now, but just can’t force myself to pull the trigger yet. So, I turned to Ebay and have been patiently waiting for one to hit.

My dream planner consists of:

month @ a glance – weekly on two pages – to-do lists – goal sections – pockets

Here’s to keeping my fingers crossed for my dream planner to appear.

Here’s my game plan for a productive Sunday:

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