Ok, I Did It

I promised Angela I would actually post something here today. So here it is. I'm not doing very well with the challenge, or at least the posting part. I don't have internet at my apt, and it's hard to find enough time to do it anywhere else. I'm also not being as consistent with the challenge as I should be. Heaven knows I need it. However, I am doing it a little bit differently. I bought the new edition of the Change Your Life Challenge Book. I really like this program better than the old one. I doesn't follow one chapter a day, and it has some added things thrown in. It changes the order a little bit, and does a lot of changes before getting to going through your house. Now by admitting all of that, I guess I have no one to blame but myself if this doesn't work as well as it should. But I am trying. I have my notebook with me at all times, just not as good at using it as I should be. Ok, my goal is that starting tonight, I will make it a priority every night to work at this. So every morning during the week as I get online at my daughter's house, I will have something I wrote the note before to post here. And I need to go back and read the part about procrastination again!

Day 16: Oops, My Bad or How to get sidetracked with a new toy.

As mentioned in the Day 15 entry, Day 16 is to be used making a list of those master tasks around the house and the frequency they should be performed. This is something I can work on but, again, something that will need to be revised once moving into the new place. I have made myself a note to do this two weeks after moving in (which is still a week before school starts).

My excuse for not doing this yesterday? I got a new toy. I was able to get a Blackberry Curve at a stupid price so I was playing with that and getting it set up.

How does this help me with my challenge? Well, once I have this master task and frequency list, it's going to go into Outlook which will sync with my Blackberry so I will know at any given moment what tasks are needed to be accomplished, both in the house and out of the house.

At least, thats the theory.

Day 15: Master Task List

Todays assignment is to make a master task list of all the chores which need to be done to have a smooth running house.. When I started the Challenge, I didn't remember how 'house' dependant the first couple of sections are. However, I wasn't planning on moving last time and so it probably didn't even phase me at all. I will do a master task list based on the home I have now but again, realizing I will have to revisit this when I move. (Making a note now to revisit this two weeks after moving in.)

I don't know how much will change (other than the fact I will have my own bathroom to clean) but I know there will be some! For example, we don't have carpet in our living room now, we have hard wood floors. We will have carpeting in the new living room. We don't have a separate dining room here but will in the new place. Same with a utility room. Another change will be the dishwasher we will have after the move (yeah!).

The master task list is to be written very specifically. No "Clean the kitchen floor" instead it will be Sweep kitchen floor, mop kitchen floor, wax kitchen floor, etc. Tomorrows assignment (yes, I peeked) is to assign frequency to each job.

Day 14: The Bathroom

Today we were supposed to work in the bathroom. The assignment was to clean, dejunk, and inventory. As I have already done this, there isn't much for me to do today.

However, there is a great suggestion: Have a master list of supplies needed for the bathroom.

I will attempt to do this but since we will have two bathrooms when we move, I will also assign myself to do it again about 30 days after moving. One of the great things about this list is that I can be watching for sales on what we use. Whoo hoo. Money savings too!

Day 13: Preparing for the hard work

Whoo hoo! Finally something I am ahead on.

The assignment is to gather containers so that one can sort through their belongings and determine if:

1. They really want it (if not, give away or sell)
2. If it's trash (throw it away, duh!)
3. If it should be used in a different room.
4. If it belongs in storage.

Since this is my whole plan for the summer, I've got a head start on this one.

We've completely finished the bathroom, are about 75% complete in the kitchen, and Kid #3 has started in the living room, kids #1 and #2 have begun in their bedroom.

Whoo hoo - this is basically a day off as I'm already in the process.

Day 11 and Day 12: Family Organization

These two days talk about implementing a message/calendar board and using a phone call log.

Again, my excuse to not do this yet is, the upcoming move. I have the message center purchased and will put it into place after the move but the phone message log? I'm going to wait on that even after the move. With voicemail available, I'm not so sure this is important. In general, my kids do not answer the phone if they do not know who is calling. So, I'm not so sure this is important for us. But I am leaving an open mind and will revisit this in a month or so to see if it may be a problem.

Day 10: Procrastination

Today's reading is basically a check-up about how we're doing on the challenge. So far, I'm doing great. i'm not really procrastinating on the important stuff, but as I've confessed before, I'm not REALLY working on the stuff I "should" be working on. However, sometimes the shoulds have to be put aside for the greater good. Right now the greater good is getting moved.

The one area I'm not doing so great but not so bad in is: the catch all notebook. I HAVE been carrying it with me everywhere but I'm not really using it much. I'm mostly at home now and I utilize my Outlook for those things I can think of that I need to do. I assign each task a day and as they come up on that day, I get them done. I'm confident I will be using the notebook better when I leave the house again.

If I'm not here tomorrow, it's because the hotel does not have internet access. I WILL be back on Sunday.