Last week, I shared the basic process of organizing and goal-setting from First Things First and mentioned my one-sheet week-at-a-glance way of keeping things straight. I combined ideas from Getting Things Done with my own and came up with a to-do list format that really works for me. It includes six columns: 2-minute, Short-term, Longer-term, Calendar, Meals, and Shopping.
The top half of the paper has three to-do lists: things I can do in 2-minutes or less, things I want to do ideally within the week (short-term), and things I have on my mind that I want to do sometime in the future (I just don’t want to forget them in the meantime).
The bottom half of the paper on the left has the calendar on the left, the meals in the middle, and the shopping list on the right. Anytime I make an appt in the week, I put it on my regular full-sized calendar and on my mini-calendar on my one-sheet. When I do my weekly planning, I look at my full-sized calendar and transfer anything I have on it to the mini-calendar on my one-sheet. That way, I don’t always have to flip open my calendar, I just have to look at my one-sheet.
Planning and prepping meals ahead of time makes life so much smoother! When I do my weekly planning, I decide on a variety of meals and put them on my one-sheet. I add anything I need for the meals to my shopping list. Of course, I may switch days around, but I have the ideas and materials I need for the planned meals and that helps out a lot throughout the week.
As I think of things I want to buy next time I go to the store, I put them on my one-sheet rather than a separate list because I keep my planner with me when I leave home and I never get to the store without my list that way.
Here’s a basic visual (if it looks strange in your browser, click on My One-Sheet Organizer for a pdf version):
2 Minute Short-Term Longer-Term
Call Jen Practice hymns Go to a yoga workshop
Read over goals Write new post Get a physical exam done
Pay electric bill Set up a playdate Make dental appts
– Mail missionary gift Set up extended family activity
Mini-calendar Menu Shopping – returns
S – 3pm Appt w/ bishop Crockpot wheat carrots
– 4pm Choir practice Sandwiches cauliflower
– Leftover curry rice zucchini (2-3)
M – 5pm FHE Fried eggs, toast, fruit kale and spinach
– Overnight oats tofu
– Chicken soup chicken
T – 5pm piano lessons Quinoa porridge eggs
– Kale cabbage salad raisins
– Salmon, rice, salad grapenuts
W – 8:30 Rocket Yoga Stovetop Rice pudding
– Go to the bank Pesto over zoodles
– Leftover chicken soup
TH – German pancakes
– Smoothie
– Mexican Pot Pie
F – 5pm Family Date Grapenuts and fruit
Nature show & popcorn Bean and veggie wrap
– Leftover Mex Pot Pie
S – Family project Dad’s making breakfast
Split wood Kids are making lunch
– Frozen stir fry
Future Try ham/pineapple kabobs
If you have anything you’d like to share about how you do time management and planning successfully, please contact me. I’d love to hear what you do!
Happy Planning!
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