1/26/10

The TaskMaster

I've had an old ledger in my studio space for months and finally decided to make it earn it's keep around here. It used to have a dusty blue canvas cover and gray insides but I painted the canvas a peachy pink and covered the insides with vintage wallpaper that I've been saving. It contains about 100 ledger sheets that I usually keep for art journaling but they're the perfect size for list making.

I'm trying to stay in the habit of listing off large projects and small every day duties so that it's easy to pick something I have the ability to work on depending on how much time I have, resources available, etc. Can I squeeze in the start of a blog post while S is quietly playing trains and Ruby is still napping, or put away the dishes with Ruby in the Moby sling while S is 'reading' to himself?' Most days my list is blindly optimistic at best so when it doesn't get done it gets moved to the next day's list. I usually prioritize them but sometimes they get extra stars or exclamation points next to them so they don't get skipped over at a glance. Being organized doesn't come easily to me but writing my lists in a pretty book helps!

How have you been keeping yourself organized this year? What has/hasn't worked for you?

xoxo,
Rachel

21 comments:

Shannon said...

I give my self 1 thing that "HAS TO GET DONE" per day. That way I am not disappointed. With 3 kids 4 and under, sometimes it's only getting last nights dishes done. Oh, and sometimes getting a shower. And my crafting is constantly out, but only gets worked on in snippets. Sigh.

Andrea said...

I'm definitely a list girl - I have a daily organizer, a calendar above my desk, and I write a pretty list for crafty projects (usually 1 1/2 week goals). If I don't write things down I get overwhelmed and do nothing!

Miss Anna said...

I love it and I love to make lists...I just don't always accomplish them!
I usually have a list of a million things to do but focus on my top 3. If I get those done, I can move on. Really big tasks usually get some kind of reward! hey, some tricks work just as good on grown-ups, right!?

Danz said...

I make lists of lists! If something has to be done, it goes in the book, else it gets forgotten!

OpaqueSkies said...

Yea for organization. ;)

I have a square Charley Harper weekly planner that is just right for my purse. I used to get daily planners in addition to the weeks pages, but they were bulky. Now I just use pretty post-it notes for my daily task/project lists. If I don't completely check things off by the end of that week, I move the post-it to the next week.

I also keep another small spiral-bound notebook with running lists of random things like "household items" that I want that require saving. Writing them down right away insures that I will remember them beyond the point when the need came up. There are many running lists like this. Helps me organize my many thoughts covering the breadth of many areas of my life. When I blogged more regularly I even kept a list of blog post ideas. Now sometimes I will just start a blog post title or copy and paste a picture when I see it and then save for later. Sometimes they get posted, sometimes they're just there for me to reference for an idea to use in life when I remember back to it.

Vivs said...

Oh I love it! I use google calendar and task then have them sync to my iphone. I talked with LA about this last year bc I was having a hard time keeping up with things.

craftyminx said...

I have a list/idea book that I keep in my purse and break out whenever I need to get anything out of my head. I was getting really bad about making lists and losing them. As long as I don't lose the book, I'm golden.

Mrs Anne said...

i am a sucker for lists.
i start them often.
my favorite is to make them cute on the computer, print them and post them on my fridge.
i'm also notorious for putting "to do's" in my blackberry during meetings ;)

ricebabies said...

I make lists and post them, if they are visible, it forces me to get them done.
Otherwise, out of site, out of mind, but not always out of head. ha ha

Kamisaurus said...

I'm a list person, as well. I'm always making them!

I'm also addicted to using google calendar...it's so easy to color-code and to move around that it's the perfect thing for "overly optimistic" days :)

Jari said...

i want one!!! it's so purrty!
i'm a list maker... i've been using the day of the week sheets from rva wknd... and my planner i made. but that is sooo pretty so just have open (like a guest book!) and the ledger paper... just pretty... and useful! perfect pair!
thanks for the ideas, as always!
xo.
jari

K. Davis said...

lists all the way... it feels so good to cross everything out when it gets done!

Megan Lee said...

So cute! I am obsessed with making lists. I really feel that I need them to stay organized.

suzy said...

I love your book. It's so pretty. :)
My little man is autistic so we have a family calendar on the fridge that is organised by pictures, so he is prepared for what to expect that day and coming week.
A month is nearly over, and it has worked so well already. I spent this morning working on the page for February.
It's such a small thing, but when something works that keeps me organised, it makes me feel so happy.
x

janel. said...

seriously, only YOU could make me be this excited about a ledger :)
you are tooooo cute!

threesixfive said...

I am a list maker too :) And I have noticed it has to be handwritten a digital list just isn't as satisfying. I also put things on there I know I can cross off, nothing feels better than a line through a task on my to do list!

Big Yellow Dog said...

Holy cow, that's beautiful! I'm an INSANE list maker. I have a master list, a list of things to do each day (school, work, appointments), then I plug things into each day. Then I have a list for class work, house work, and things for work. I also make out a menu and grocery list. I sometimes even make weekly outfit lists based on what I have to do each day!! The only thing that might make my heart happier than crossing something off of my monstrous lists would be to make my huge lists in something this pretty!
Margaret

Anonymous said...

We actually receive planners from our school at the beginning of the year and nobody cares about them. I found that they're perfect to draw in and right little notes to your friends in so I now fill mine out just to make it look less empty. Also, I like to doodle what we did in class that day so I remember what I can talk about with friends in other classes. c:

Anonymous said...

a nice place to make your list certainly goes a long way. i'm a fan of containers and file folders to keep things sorted.

Viva Cindy said...

i too, make lists all the time. i have them in so many places it hard to keep track of them. I recently found out about listography.com and i instantly fell in love. Its a site where you create your own page and add as many lists as you want. you could make daily "to-do" lists, but its also great for long term lists and lists about random things....there is even a "list generator" just to satisfy your desire to make lists! (sounds like a lot of your other readers may love this)

Thinkie said...

I have a to do list on my pc's desktop, so it's easy to add things or remove them and especially easy to move them to another day ;-) It's never ending and usually I get a few things done each day. I'm making an effort to work on the things that have been on there for months (: or years!) but it's never ending!