Another week, another post. This is actually good for me. With the exception of, I think, two times since I have started this blog several years ago I have not missed posting on what is Wednesday night to me and Thursday (very) am to everyone else. (12:15 am Thursday as I start to write this, for example.)
Do you have trouble doing tasks which have to be done over and over on some sort regular basis? I did, well I still do although I am much better at it now. I use my mobile phone to help with this as I do for many other things.
At the start of the year (actually usually just as December is ending for the coming year) I will go through my Lotus Organizer and put in repeating tasks for the coming year. I have quarterly repeating tasks - such as doing payroll tax forms for clients or extra computer backups. I have monthly tasks - monthly computer backups, setting up new spreadsheets for our craft business to keep track of inventory (even though we have had no sales since December - I update the spreadsheet monthly anyway) and changing the sponges I use for cleaning. I have weekly tasks - laundry, changing towels - kitchen and bathroom, changing the bed, regular weekly data backup, and so on. I also have daily tasks - for example - check email - yes, I need a reminder for this. I do not need a reminder to wash the dishes from dinner and later at night from pre-bed snack as I do them as we finish the meal. I also have annual reminders - these I set up to repeat for 5 years (I am thinking of 10 years next time) - birthdays, anniversaries, when other tax forms are due (for clients & us), and so on.
I also will add various events as I find out about them. I know that our reenacting unit meets monthly on the a certain day of the month - I set up the meetings on my calendar (both in the Organizer and my mobile phone which keeps a separate calendar as it does not sync - the Organizer is synced with my old Palm Centro which I carry around the house as a PDA). When the events schedule is set up for the year I add those to both calendars also. My embroidery chapter has a “fiscal” year - the meeting year runs from September of one year through June of the next year and as soon as I know the meeting dates - again a specific day repeating each month - they are added to both calendars. I add appointments I make as I go along. I add trips we make reservations for to the calendar - I start the year with the one for our July 4ish trip already in the calendar as we have to book a year in advance to make sure we get the RV space we want - and we are generally not there on July 4 itself - we are not happy with the RV park and the area we visit being that busy.
What do you do to keep track of when to do things or what your plans are? When I was younger I was able to keep much of this in my head, but I no longer can. (Heck, I put down a check today and 10 minutes later could not remember where I put it down - finally remembered.) Having a reminder ring helps one stay on track. I am about to go upstairs as I am backing up my desktop computer for the month (did the quarterly back up while we had dinner) and the reminder just went off in my mobile phone to see if it if the backup is done - it was not finished when I checked half an hour ago. Be right back - feel free to talk among yourselves, get a snack, or make a bathroom run while I check........ No not done yet. I reset the reminder for another half an hour. But, the laundry will need to be shifted between washer and dryer - and another load put in the washer in 2 minutes, 24 seconds.
See how this works? Trust me if you just try to remember to do everything - it does not work. Don’t just use reminder on your mobile phone for personal stuff - use it for work also. If you work at computer at work (or home) you can put the reminders on it instead - or also. If you are low tech - and I find nothing wrong with low tech (I am the first one to scream if some company or government agency says that something has to be done by computer or with a mobile phone, not for me but for others - well sometimes for me as I prefer the privacy of not having any number of things on my cell phone for security) use a paper calender and an alarm clock to remind you - or even a timer if you have to go back to finish something. Darn laundry reminder has gone off. Be right back.......
Back again. You need to decide what you need to be reminded of. Some items all you might need to do is to put them on the date(s) or day(s) of the calendar so you will see them to do them. Others you might need to have an alarm go off to remind you to stop what you are doing and do what you are suppose to do. (My backup and laundry have sound reminders to remind me.)
Yes, sometimes life gets in the way (or you just really need as a personal matter not to do something on the day you have it scheduled) and things do not get done. I admit to not changing the bedding yesterday as I normally do on a Tuesday (gasps are heard “she did not do something on her schedule after she said to schedule things so you remember them). My elderly mom had a problem that started extremely early on Tuesday morning. Monday night to us and we had to run to help her just as we had changed and gotten into bed - at 4 am. By the time we were back home - and then only were able to do so by the grace my sister meeting us at the hospital with her husband so we could leave (and they had slept as normal people do from earlier in the evening). I had sent my husband out to the car for him to sleep but that had not worked. It was 10 am by the time we finally were able to go to bed. Husband, exhausted, fell asleep. I could not, while waiting to hear from my sister what the findings were about mom. After text messages and telephone calls I was finally able to fall asleep - for about an hour. When we got up for the day it was late in the day even for us and I just had no energy to deal with the bed and said to myself the very unladylike “F it”. (Mom was given a prescription to try for the problem and is staying with my sister at least through the holidays, which for us will run through next week and we will figure out what to do to keep her safe and well - she is 90.)
THOUGHTS FOR THE WEEK -
1 - Use your technology to keep you on schedule or a paper schedule and clock if you prefer to use same.
2 - Realize that things occur which will throw you off schedule - it is called life and one never knows what will happen. Just get back on schedule as soon as you can. (And schedules are not written in stone - if you never get to do something, such as write your blog post on Tuesdays, you can move it to another day - Wednesday, for example the day you actually post it.)
3 - I wish you a good holiday with those you love.
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