God blessed me with a job this week. I am so excited about this new opportunity! I will work for a local United Methodist Church as their Director of Communications and Church Connections. God is faithful to provide for us and I am so encouraged by this new opportunity!
Going back to work after being a stay-at-home mom is quite the difficult transition. Because I’ve made this change before, I am fully prepared for what’s to come. Organization is my friend and it will make life easier.
This time around, I decided to make a Control Center to keep me organized. Instead of printing a million things and buying endless new clutter, I decided to use what I have.
My friend Anne gave me this board I was originally using for family photos. I have a million of notepads, so I used them to write the following:
• My Daily Schedule for the Fall - I chose to start with my daily schedule because it will determine how much time I have to accomplish different tasks in life. My day is super simple as you can see. I also realized that we are not currently signed up for endless kids’ activities. I’m sure the time for those will happen but for now, I have all I can handle.
• My Organization Schedule - Organization really is an instrument of sanity around here. The key not to have a grumpy and dreadful morning is to prepare for the expected: lunches, snacks, dinner. Organization gives me margin. I can easily add or subtract items from my schedule if I know what the margin is. The goal of organization is to add quality to life, not perfection.
• My Cleaning Schedule - The first time I went back to work, cleaning drove me nuts. A lot of chores did not happen and in the midst of my madness, I discovered my 45-minute organization strategy. I have kept the same organization system for over 2 years and my life has never been the same. I feel like I should sell this stuff to the masses and I hope to do it at some point but for now, I’m sharing the joy for free because it works. I also invested on hours of listening to cleaning experts and I know exactly what works for me. One more tip on knowing yourself: as I do what works for me, I always succeed. With that being said, when times get desperate and I have the money, I hire help. Right now I can’t afford it so I’m taking the journey of a thousand miles one small step at a time. A side note, I thought about starting a cleaning business and calling it “Maid with a Masters' because it would describe the business perfectly.
I learned that my schedule becomes quite rigid in the Fall yet, there is freedom in structure. I believe that by writing down my daily and weekly goals will help me conduct a better life for my family at home.
Organization is a vessel of sanity and it is also a product of good stewardship. God trusted me with a family and a home and I want to take good care of them. Smart task management is the secret to increased quality of life.
Whether you are working or not, I bet you can use more organization in your life. I encourage you to find out what works for you and take small steps towards that goal.
• What are your best task management hacks?
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