I finally gave away the last of the framed art I made from Dollar Tree items, just when I was beginning to think they would just keep multiplying. Every time I go to a Dollar Tree, I find more ornaments that would look cute on a frame, and you know where it goes from there. I think I made a total of seven, but have the supplies to make at least three more. I really need to stop. I realize the holidays are over, but it’s amazing how many cute things are still available in stores and at great prices..
I had really great response to my planner makeover. I thought people would appreciate it as it makes planning a very simple process since the calendar includes everything you need to do your planning. I was never a great planner when I worked. I had a system that I heard about early in my career and I’ll just call it “touch it once.” The name says it all. If you open an email, you need to have the time to do whatever the email required. If you opened mail, you took care of it and it was done. The thing that’s great about this system, is that you never have a pile that you keep moving from place to place. You either don’t open the email if you don’t have time to work on it, or you make the time to handle it. My time management skills really took care of themselves because I never moved things from pile to pile. I used boring meetings to make myself lists of things I wanted to get done and then actually did those things as soon as possible. I worked with people who used the planners that were super popular in the late 1990’s by Franklin Covey. They were based on a book called “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.” Don’t bother to read the book, as it made absolutely no sense to me. We were asked to read it and somehow I went from habit four to habit six without knowing what four and five consisted of. All I remember were the people who used those leather planners. They were really beautiful, but more importantly, the thing I remember most was that they had “to do” lists that they just kept moving from one day to the next without ever scratching anything off of their lists. That would have made me absolutely crazy. If I made a to do list, I took the time to actually get those things done. Maybe not all of them immediately, but I made sure I did get them done.
It seems like the planner phase today is more based around how cute you can make your planner. Is that planning anything? I’m not sure. It might make you feel better about what you are planning and there’s definitely a benefit there. I’ve seen people plan “me” time and “happy” time. I feel sad that people are so busy with their lives that they have to plan for these things. Lives are so busy today with kids and all that children entail. I’ve never had kids, so don’t know how I’d handle them, and I’ve always been in awe of people who could balance family, careers and spouses. I’m sure it’s not easy. Maybe they should give themselves a star in their planner when they actually get some sleep. Now that’s a plan.
CraftingForAlmostEveryone.com 