I’ve received a few requests lately to show in more detail how I have adapted the Mind Organization for Moms program to work well for me. Today I’m going to walk you through how I keep my brain from exploding from all the things I want/need to do. 🙂 As I shared in my previous post, I use a mash-up of a paper planner and technology (Google Calendar and Evernote).
My inbox is in a cupboard in the kitchen. Any important papers that enter our house during the week go there until I process them. This includes: calendars for kids’ activities, bills, notes from meetings, my own notes and brain dumps, coupons, notes from the kids I want to save, things that need to be filed and so on.
Each week (usually on Sunday evening) I sit down with my main inbox, my planner, and Evernote. I process my inboxes (both physical and email) and add items to the calendar, my Immediate Actions list (in my planner) or Important Actions list depending on how quickly action needs to be taken.
My immediate actions are listed on paper in a simple planner I designed (and I’m sharing the printable with you!). This is the list I work from each week. I try to make a complete list on Sunday evenings, but items are always added to the list throughout the week.
Each morning, as part of my quiet time before the kids are up, I make a list of the 3 most important things for me to accomplish that day. I also have a reminder of habits I want to accomplish daily. They are listed on the right side of the page below and they include: Exercise, Scripture Study, Read Aloud, Ellie, Ethan and School. (My kids names are a reminder to have one-on-one time with each big kid each day).
Here is a printable version for you!
To-dos that are on the horizon but do not need to be done immediately go into Evernote on my context-based Important Next Actions list.
Goals
Routines and Responsibilities
Each Sunday I review each list, write items in my planner if they need to be accomplished in the upcoming week or add them to the appropriate Evernote list if they don’t. I also make a meal plan for dinners for the coming week.
The whole process only takes about 30 minutes total, but it has had an amazing impact on my stress level and the projects I have been able to manage and accomplish.
Also, most nights before I go to bed I do a “Brain Dump”. Basically I write down any thoughts, commitments or project ideas in a notebook that I keep by my bed. During my weekly review, I add items from my bedside notebook to whatever list they need to be on (in Evernote or in my planner).
Head over to powerofmoms.com to learn more about their programs, they have a free ebook and ecourse called Master the Whirlwind which I highly recommend. It’s basically a quick run-though of the Mind Organization for Moms program.