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I have recently added this gem to my daily routine–and love the results. I pick a task, a room, or specific area to clean; set a timer for five minutes; and then clean like a mad woman until the timer goes off. I try to do this three times a day–in the morning, around lunch time, and before supper.
Sometimes the frenzy is just keeping up with kid toys and corralling them back in to the kids’ rooms. The fun part is that the kids have loved this idea, too. They rush to beat the timer, picking toys up or wiping bathroom counters. What makes this such a success is that we all do it together. Both kids work together on one of their rooms and then rush over to finish the other room. It eliminates the discussion of who’s mess it is, and they are learning teamwork. My benefit? Some very motivated little helpers.
This idea also helps me in the afternoons around nap time, when my energy is becoming dangerously depleted. It takes everything in me to stand back up and get to work on housecleaning. But a five minute frenzy I can do. “It’s just five minutes,” I tell myself. And many times, moving around during that five minutes gives me the energy I need to finish the rest of the cleaning.
It really is surprising what all you can get done in just five minutes: clean the bathroom (minus the tub); dust the whole house; swiffer the floor; or, control the clutter. Try it today–just five minutes–and let me know what all you were able to get done!
I really hate to put holes in a wall; consequently, I really love command hooks. They are ideal for organizing so many things!
- In our school room
- For organizing my daughters purses
- For organizing my necklaces
In the past, I’ve also used them to hang the kid’s artwork. I placed the hooks on the wall in a gallery formation, placed the artwork on skirt hangers, and hung the hangers on the hooks.
Now, how do you use command hooks to organize? I’d love to hear about some of your ideas in the comments section.
I’m forever revamping my routine and trying out new systems for attempting to keep my house clean, only to become frustrated when they don’t turn out as I envision. With a very busy lifestyle and two accident-prone little ones (not to mention their very accident-prone mother), it seems I’m regularly frustrated into absolute paralysis. I mean, who wants to clean for four hours in the afternoon and then have it all undone by the next meal? (i.e. I spill sauce and flour making supper; little one spills milk and drops crumbles all over mopped hard-wood floor; same little one doesn’t make it to potty in time…get the picture?)
At the end of a day like that, I’m the one crying over the spilled milk. But there’s always hope. Read the rest of this entry »
I really can’t believe it’s taken me this long to discover this awesome tool–Google Calendar! Most calendars of this sort just do not work for me. But I have really liked how easy this is to use and share with my husband (so that we stay on the same calendar page). I’ve tried cozi.com for my calendar, as well. And while it has some great features and I’d still recommend it, it just wasn’t working for our family. Google is easy, accessible, and is keeping us connected. Not only that, but I can link my plantoeat menu right into my events calendar!
Because I have my email through Google, the convenience is even greater. If my husband emails me an event, I simply click the link at the top of the page for my calendar and enter the information. I can layer all my calendars–menu, cleaning, events, holidays, sports team (yes, I’m a baseball fan. Go Minnesota TWINS!)–to see everything at a glance; or turn off certain calendars with just a click if I want to only see one thing at a time.
If you haven’t checked it out yet, I’d recommend trying it, even if you don’t think you are the i-calendar type (I didn’t think I was either). A Google account is free, and there really are a lot of resources provided beyond just the email account, including my other new favorite Google Reader (to organize all your favorite blogs).
Though there are a number of ways to organize stuffed animals, here’s a tip that has worked great for us. I use a clothes organizer that slides under my son’s bed (you can get them at Target or Wal-mart for around $10-$15). The kids choose 2-3 animals to have on their bed and the rest go in the bag. Every now and then, they’ll pull out their bag, play with the other stuffed animals, and switch out their bed-friends. Then, I zip the bag almost all the way, leaving a little hole; they stuff the bag with their stuffed pets; and I finish the zip and slide it back under the bed and out of sight. Voila! It might be my favorite disappearing act.
Not only can all your earrings and necklaces have a tidy home, but these handy hanging miracles have a number of brilliant uses. Organize your buttons and sewing kits. Find a home for all the clips, hairbows, and loose hair elastics. If you’re short on drawer space, you could even try organizing your office supplies–pens, thumb tacks, notes, paper clips, etc. Find a coordinating command hook, and you’re in business.
These organizers can be found in a number of stores for around $12, and in many very cute designs. Customize your own organization, and then let me know how it made your life a little tidier.
In my previous post, I mentioned that resources are an important part of successfully reaching your goal. To encourage your progress toward your goals, I’ve found a few resources to challenge you in the right direction. Peruse these links and ideas below for some helpful tools to get you off to a good start.
Health and Fitness
One of the top ten goals, even among Christians, is the combined goal of getting in shape and eating healthier. A huge part of making that goal successful is logging your progress. If you keep a household notebook, some great sheets to include in your notebook for this purpose can be found at personal-nutrition-guide.com. This site offers a number of free printable templates, allowing you to log your food, exercise, and various other features. You can keep track of how many servings you are getting in each food group; or, you can even keep track of how your food is affecting your mood. Select a diary that works for you, print, and start logging your goals.
If you prefer a more digital take on health, check out loseit.com. This free resource allows you to log your health and fitness goals in a user-friendly website, with the added feature of apps for your phone. A list of foods with calorie counts and nutrient information (including foods from popular restaurants) makes it easy to choose and add the foods to your log. If the food you ate is not on the list, you can easily add it in or even create a recipe. Anything added to your log is saved, so keeping track of your diet choices only becomes easier as you use the site. Exercises with corresponding calories-burned are also easy to add into your daily log. But the best feature of the website is its goal tracker. Type in your goal (i.e. how many pounds you want to lose and the date you’re aiming for) and the website immediately provides a recommended calorie budget for each day and various spreadsheets and reports to show you how you’re doing. See the weight trends or calorie trends that are either holding you back or pushing you toward success. I’ve also loved using the site for planning the day’s menu, rather than merely recording it. By plugging in my proposed menu for the day, I can see where I might be too carb-heavy; I can see how many calories will be left over after a meal and coordinate the three meals to compliment each other in our diet; and most importantly, I can see how I need to plan the meals if I do want to eat that piece of chocolate cake for dessert after dinner tonight. Other similar sites include: myfitnesspal.com and fatsecret.com.
Reading/Studying the Bible
There are a number of fantastic books and websites to help you develop a plan or direct your study. Read the rest of this entry »
It’s that time again, where goals and planning and organization take center-stage, and we scramble to get our lives into some semblance of order again. For most of us, the routine is only part of what we’ve done every year, part of the culture of our day–January is the re-evaluate month, whether or not we really feel up to the challenge of re-evaluating. But planning and ordering our lives is part of a greater purpose than simply following the national trend. Throughout the Bible, there are instances of God planning and ordering everything from our universe and our personal lives, to worship and salvation.
Consequently, planning and setting goals doesn’t have to be something discouraging, destined to end in failure. And that’s the key difference between writing a list of resolutions and creating a list of goals–goals involve more than personal resolve.
A fantastic resource for getting your finances in order is the website Mint.com. All credit card information, bank statements, and investment funds can be consolidated into one secure place; with one quick glance, you can see a report on all of your finances. Another helpful aspect to the site, purchases made on your credit card are immediately slotted into the appropriate categories in your budget. This categorization can be adjusted to fit your needs, and any cash purchases can be added in as needed. Then, track your expenses: find out how close you are to reaching your budget-limit for a particular category, see a trend in your spending (where does the majority of my money go? what categories do I continually overspend-in?), get advice on how to save money on particular trouble-areas. You can even set a category to roll-over extra money into the next month’s budget. An additional benefit, there is an application for your phone! So even on the go, you can have access to your budget.
The site is extremely user-friendly, easy to maneuver, and best of all–it’s free! Spend some time perusing the site, and watch their tutorial video. It might be just what you need to start your New Year’s budget on the right track.
With each new stage in my life, I’ve had to continually face this dreaded task. Pulling out finance records, calculator, lots of paper and delving for hours into the overwhelming arena of numbers is never exciting for me. It’s just one more of life’s necessaries–like laundry.
Budgeting is a tough task, and it often makes us uncomfortable. Just the thought of money usually brings either discouragement or despair. But budgeting for a Christian does not have to be an area of anxiety. Rather, it is simply learning profitable stewardship: knowing what you have and what to do with it. Read the rest of this entry »
