Welcome to the Friday 5!
Every Friday I will highlight 5 things I am currently loving. This can be anything from habits that are currently serving me, clothes, apps, people I am currently loving, podcasts, food, mom hacks and everything in between!
This week I am focusing on managing your home, specifically, how I use my calendars to keep on track and organized. The biggest lie I constantly tell myself is “I don’t have to write that down, I’ll remember.” With three kids getting more involved and busier by the season, I have a ticker tape going in my head at all times of to-dos.
What I am currently loving:
Time Blocking
I have talked about this before, but it needs to be repeated. Time blocking my day is the very best way for me to stay on track. As a stay at home mom, with no real deadlines other than picking up kids at a certain time, I find myself getting distracted, staying busy all day and yet accomplishing nothing. There is no worse feeling than arriving to Friday afternoon and realizing I forgot to wash the girls’ practice uniform for dance or forgot to pick up the dry cleaning Matt needs for a business trip or the fact that I’ve forgotten to order checks for a week now (yes, I still write checks). If it’s not written down, it’s not going to happen. And lately, if it’s not set as an appointment in my calendar, I’ll probably forget. I put almost everything as an appointment in my Google Calendar, so I get notifications throughout the day reminding me of what needs to be done. I have everything from my quiet time in the mornings, when we need to leave for school, to what errands I need to run that day, and in what order. See my post here for exactly how I set it up in my Google Calendar.
Moleskin Notebooks
These are my most favorite notebooks, I just love them. They are simplistic, minimal and classy. I’ve had multiple colors over the years and both the soft and hard covers. I prefer this size and use them religiously. I journal in them, make to do lists, take notes from books or podcasts, I even have one from when I was pregnant with Lillian and tracked my contractions before we went to the hospital. Keeping them and being able to look back on what I did or was thinking about in previous years is so fun. They are undated, plain notebooks that you can order lined, dotted or plain. I prefer the lines because I mostly use mine for journaling and lists, so this works best for me.
Monthly Calendar
This is my newest addition to my ever-growing calendar organization collection. I did this for the first time the summer Ruby was born because the older girls were in multiple camps that summer and I had a babysitter some days and our schedule was just all over the place. I wanted a breakdown of just their stuff on the fridge that Matt or anyone in our home could glance at and figure out where the kids needed to be and at what time. This came in extremely handy since Ruby was hospitalized as a 3 day old and we spent several days at the hospital. Matt and my parents were able to handle getting the older girls everywhere they needed to be without having to reach out to me. I have continued doing this for everything the girls do. I have their dance schedules, birthday parties, school reminders, etc. on it. I keep it on the fridge and love that I can just glance at it in the mornings to make sure I am not forgetting anything and can look ahead all in one spot to prepare myself. These have been my favorite to print out.
Paper Planner
Call me old school, but I still love and use my spiral bound planner. I love seeing the whole month at a glance, then having week by week where I am able to create to-do lists, plan out our schedules and notes. Something about being able to physically scratch something off of a to-do list is just so gratifying. I also keep all of my old planners, it is really fun to be able to go back in time and see what I was working on or doing in previous years. Buying a new planner at the start of the year is one of my very favorite things to do, I get so excited to start fresh and plan out our year. I pencil in vacations that are planned, when I want to do certain things with the girls and try to map out the times Matt and I will be able to get away for a weekend here or there. I don’t typically decorate my planner or use different colors. I am a lead pencil kind of girl. I have them all over the house. These are my favorites. I tend to move things around a lot, so the ability to erase is huge. I have been researching planners online for about the past week, and I just cannot decide which to order. These are the ones I am considering.
Brain Dump
This is another pencil to paper thing for me. I love a brain dump. I have been trying to do them at least once a week, although I should probably do it every morning. This is where I sit down and just write out everything that is swirling around in my head to get done. My mind is ALWAYS racing with a to do list, at all times. Even as I write this, I am thinking of about 8 things I need to do. And, I am trying to learn not to constantly jump from one task to another, rather to concentrate on finishing one task, then move on to the list. So, I keep my notebook nearby and continuously add to the brain dump list. It has been so helpful to get it out of my head and on to paper. It’s like releasing the thought entirely, which is so freeing.
I hope you found something helpful or inspiring in this week’s Friday Five! I’ll have 5 new favorites to share with you next week, have an awesome weekend!
This post contains affiliate links, which means if you purchase an item from one of these links I may receive a small commission.
