Are you like me? Is your mind full of a million different ideas and directions so that you find yourself mindlessly putting your box of cereal in the fridge and your carton of milk in the cupboard?
If so, you will find today’s post quite helpful.
Today we are continuing our foray into the world of serious organization.
As I have discussed before in the introduction to this series on being seriously organized:
I am the wife of one energetic, but retired, man; the mother of 15 children, the mother-in-law of eight spouses, and the grandmother of 20 grandchildren.
All of these people need me in one way or another, even if only via concern and prayer, in different ways and at different times.
Almost none of their needs are consistent or predictable. Their schedules are mostly erratic, and their needs vary according to age, availability, proximity, etc. And none of these variables are within my control.
To sum things up: I rarely have an uneventful day.
My life is like a flowing log drive; I am simply being carried along with the current, jumping from one log to another.
However, there are areas which God has helped me build plans and routines, and I am sharing a few of them with you today.
Also, as I stated before:
I don’t share these things without a caveat.
The caveat is this: These are the routines God has helped me create for my specific life situation.
I suggest you take them more as an example or an inspiration, but never as direct application. If you do, you will end up a nail-biter, because you will have skipped the most vital part; relationship with Jesus.
Walking with God, no matter how crazy that my look, is the fastest way to efficiency on our mission to love others and bring His Kingdom on earth as it is in Heaven.
Any other way may bring about some worldly goal, but that goal may in turn lead people to hell. (The concentration camps in Nazi Germany were a model of efficiency.)
Thank God, I’ll never be that successful at organizing my life.
And with that, let’s cover today’s ways that I am seriously organized:
- Chalkboarding
- Personal care
- Zoning
First of all, let’s talk about chalkboarding.
If you enter my house, one of the first thing you will see in my kitchen is the two chalkboards on my refrigerator.
I actually created these by covering some discarded wooden game boards with chalkboard paper.
The top one is for meal prep, meal planning, or making a quick shopping list. The bottom one is for writing out a scripture I want to meditate on.
In my dining room there is another chalkboard; this one was created by covering an old bulletin board with chalkboard paper. This one has had many uses over the years, including keeping track of Uno scores and writing out jokes for people to enjoy. Currently, it is a list of possible meal ideas for times when my mind goes blank.
Sitting underneath it, leaning against the wall, is a white board. We use this one for all sorts of things, such as when we are having a serious family discussion and want to keep on track, when we are explaining traffic rules to those who are learning to drive, or when we are deciphering some complicated math or algebra operations.
In my little office, I have both chalk boards and white boards. I use these for multiple things, for creating displays or even for doing video podcasts.
I keep chalkboards and white boards around because they help me in so many ways.
- They remedy feelings of overwhelm.
Sometimes, when there are a million ideas swirling in my head, I need to take the abstract and put it into something concrete. When I take a piece of chalk and start writing on the chalkboard, the thoughts that are floating around in the ether of my brain take form and become corporeal.
The general thought of “dinner” turns into “spaghetti,” which, in turn, becomes “noodles, hamburger, tomato paste, spices,” which becomes two simmering pots on the stove.
- I can jot ideas on my boards as they come into my mind.
Often, there will be found little scribbles on the corners and edges of my boards. This is when I have jotted down a meal idea, an appointment, a line I heard in some sermon, or a prayer request someone has given me. Later, after the dinner dishes are done, I grab a planner or journal and add in the notations.
This is especially helpful when I am formulating content for my online presence, since some of my best ideas come to me while I am doing dishes or cleaning floors, and if I don’t write them down right away I lose them.
- Chalkboards increase the scope of my creativity.
There is such a freedom when using chalk. For one thing, it isn’t permanent. If I change my mind, or if I find my ideas are all wrong or poorly executed, I can erase with the back of my hand, and, poof, it’s all gone! This allows me to write down or draw anything and everything I think of without worrying whether or not it is “correct” or usable. I can determine that later.
- Chalkboards allow me to communicate with my family.
If they wonder what’s going on, they can consult my boards and get a general idea. I often take a photo of what I have written and send it to everyone in a text so they can know what’s for dinner, etc.
Also, those scriptures I write down can be appreciated by everyone in the house who uses the microwave (since my board is located right next to it, wink, wink).
Next, let’s tackle my personal care routines.
My personal care does not start in the morning, it starts in the evening, and it isn’t an iron-clad list, just some targets I try and hit.
Here is the general list:
- Get started early to get to bed early. This is important for the following morning’s success. If my target is under the covers by ten, I start at eight.
- Set out clothes for the next day. Keeps me from making decisions during early morning brain fog.
- Take a shower. That way the next day is begun fresh, with the potential of having a better hair day.
- Brush and floss.
- Moisturize and care for calloused feet and heels (anyone else have to use a grinder for this?).
- Do something creative. This could be “arting” some of my book covers or doing some sort of handiwork.
- Read the Bible. Bible app or physical copy, whichever works. It could be a simple verse or an entire chapter.
- Read a book. Even if it’s only a few pages.
- Do some Duolingo lessons. I’ve been doing just 10 minutes a day for the past few years, and I am seeing great progress.
Then, the next morning, this is my list:
- Time with God. This is so vital, but so hard to do! If I don’t wake up before everyone, it gets pushed farther and farther to the side. There are certain things I like to do daily, such as read the Word, say my crafted morning prayer and my prayer request list, but the rest is spontaneously led by the Spirit, which may include all sorts of things.
- Writing down a quick plan for the day. This might have times attached, but only as I offer the entire works up to God in the form of a prayer request.
I’m asking Him to give me the desires of my heart, not so much the requests of my mind (see Psalm 37:4).
- Having tea time with my husband. Since his love-language is quality time, this is important. My tendency is to hit the floor running and do all the things, but this leaves him feeling disconnected and unloved, so I put him first in my day.
- Since I prepped the night before, all I have to do is put on my clothes, clean my teeth, put on makeup, and fix my hair. I keep things simple so this only takes 30 minutes tops.
After this I connect with everyone else in the house…
Now let’s talk about zoning.
A home is more than some wood frames with sheet rock and a roof. It is made up of areas of congruent use. As the mother in charge of this home, putting these areas into “zones” helps make sure all responsibilities are taken care of in a systematic manner.
Now, that is a big mess of word salad! I think I missed my calling as the author of boring brochures.
Let’s back up and turn that into something we can be interested in:
I split things up into zones so I can handle them more easily.
That’s much better!
So, our home is split up thusly:
- Kitchen and dining room zone.
- Living room/hallway zone.
- Bathroom zone.
- Bedroom 1 zone.
- Master suite zone.
- Basement general area zone.
- Laundry room/laundry zone.
- Bedroom 3 zone.
- Bedroom 4 zone.
- Office zones.
- Garage zone.
- Outside zone.
- Car zones.
This way, I can assign the zones to different parts of the week or month, which I know you want to know about, but we’ll just have to wait to tackle that one in another video!
As I’ve shared in previous posts:
My lifestyle of serious organization is based on the Biblical idea expressed in this verse:
A man’s heart plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps.
Proverbs 16:9
In case you were wondering, this does not mean that I never make plans or build routines. I could not live without these great helpers.
There are two distinctives which make these part of my serious organizational lifestyle:
- I allow God to help me build these plans and routines so that they flow with His plans.
- I allow these plans and routines to be rerouted or forgotten altogether whenever is necessary, and I accept this with grace and expectation that God is going to help me keep on top of the log flow anyways.
If you just stumbled upon this blog post, I hope you will take the time to read this foundational post which explains the scope and purpose of this series.
In the future we will be covering even more portions of how I organized in a serious way, including time blocking, assigning daily focuses, and centralizing.
Be sure and listen to this post as a podcast by clicking below:
How I Keep Organized: Chalkboarding, Personal Care, and Zoning
Hope this has blessed you, have a great day in Jesus! Bye, bye.
