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By Little Mummy, December 13, 2009 3:47 am

Seventeen years! Seventeen years I’ve been doing this and I can’t cope anymore, it’s ok to laugh about it, but really it’s not funny anymore. I’m finding myself waking up in the morning dreading what lays ahead, not because of the content of my day, I’ve filled my days with things I enjoy, but because of the ball and chain.

In the words of Michael Jackson I need to make a change, and it isn’t going to be easy. In fact the prospect positively frightens me, but I need to do it. I can’t face a life of being tied down like this. I need to go with ‘my flow’ I don’t want to feel like I can’t do X because it’s not on my list. I’ve been making and following lists since I was nine years old and I just can’t do it anymore, I think it’s having a really negative impact on my life and it’s time to kick the habit.

Somehow I don’t think it’s going to be easy, I think my list making is more than just a habit. Smoking was a habit, I went cold turkey and gave that up in an instant when something important came along, it was just a habit. My list making verges on obsession, and dare I mention the three letter abbreviation that will make you all think I’m at best completely crackers (OCD). It’s serious my friends, I won’t lie to you. I’ve relied on my lists for so long now I don’t know how to live without them. How will I know what to do? I actually think I’ve lost the inbuilt thing that makes you do things everyday, I just get up, get dressed and look at my list.

So today is my first day ‘off list’, I don’t know if I’ll last, I’m trying to go cold turkey and hope that works, if not, I’ll need to try and wean myself off.

Anyonelse suffer from OCLMD (obsessive compulsive list making disorder)? Are you ruled by ‘the list’?

Comments (5)

By Little Mummy, May 9, 2008 12:42 pm

I’ve been planning the family’s evening (main) meal ever since I first moved out of home at age 17. I’ve found it to be a useful practise that has helped keep our meals fresh, in the interesting sense, and fresh, in the literal sense too, ingredients can be purchased in the correct quantity and stored appropriately ie chicken for a meal later on in the week can be frozen. I always leave one day free which allows for meals out/takeaways or family invitations. If none of the above materialise then we eat leftovers, or from a reserve of ‘freezer food’.

I usually plan several weeks ahead, taking inspiration from magazines, cookery programmes and books that I have. Recently though I’ve been wondering if there are any ways to improve on my current routine.

If you’re a meal planner how do you manage breakfast, lunch and snacks?

Comments (2)

By Little Mummy, May 16, 2007 12:10 am

Inspiration for this group of articles (listed below) comes from Jack Canfield’s bestseller – How to Get from Where You Are to Where You Want to Be. I am taking the principles from the book and applying them to life as a parent.

I find that I function much better when I’m a step ahead, and apparently it’s not just me, one of the most powerful tools of high achievers is planning their day the night before. Here is how I am currently *trying* to stay one step ahead;

Organising My Day The Night Before

In fact I plan about a week in advance and then tweak things as I go along.

Meal Planning

I have meal planned for as long as I can remember. I note down all the nice recipes and dinner ideas I see in my diary – one for each weekday, on the weekends we have ‘free’ meals which we choose and buy produce for on the day.

I order the week’s food online on a friday and it arrives on a monday morning. I have been using this system for several years and I find it’s definitely the most efficient for us.

Food

Most people herald batch cooking as a great way to stay ahead but I’m pretty fussy and like to eat fresh food. I find that if I have all the ingredients on hand this isn’t a problem. In general we eat simple meals like marinated grilled meat with pasta or salad, pasta bolognese, or chicken skewers with salad. Dinner rarely takes more than 20 minutes to prepare.

Erin eats what we eat wherever possible, but I have some frozen homemade alternatives if we’re having something she can’t eat.

Birthdays & Christmas

I usually do my christmas shopping in Novemeber so we can do crafts and christmassy things during December. I start thinking about and buying birthday gifts about three or four weeks in advance so there’s no last minute rush.

What are your tips for staying one step ahead?

Other Articles in the Series:

Compartmentalizing Time
Remember Your Purpose Outside of Parenting
Aim High
Get Organised

Comments (3)

By Little Mummy, May 13, 2007 12:06 pm

Inspiration for this group of articles (listed below) comes from Jack Canfield’s bestseller – How to Get from Where You Are to Where You Want to Be. I am taking the principles from the book and applying them to life as a parent.

Life as a parent is busy. Fact. So busy, sometimes (most of the time) you wonder how you’re going to fit it all in.

A quote from the book;

The secret of getting ahead is getting started. The secret of getting started is breaking your complex, overwhelming tasks, and then starting on the first one.

Mark Twain

In my first article I talked about my shunning of the old multi-tasking system I employed and replacing it with compartmentalization. Here is how I organize the various activities – parenting, studying, working, housework, house management (finances, diy etc..), blogging.

Make a List

I’m an avid list-maker, in fact if list making were a sport I’d be representing at the Olympics.

Get yourself a notebook, or a ‘page-a-day’ diary, you need a page.

Prioritize

There are some things that must be done everyday. My must-do things are parenting (feeding, amusing, bathing etc..), general housework (dishes, picking stuff up and usually one load of laundry), work (usually two hours a day). These things must be done every day, so, instead of wasting time planning this stuff I just put myself on autopilot to do these first and foremost.

Fitting In The Rest

Each day I try to do one activity towards each thing. For example housework – I pick one think like ironing, clean car, hoover everywhere, and I complete that task, I find one task a day is manageable, usually Alex does one task too, so that’s two major tasks done each day.

House management – I automate bill paying, we plan our budget in three month chunks, I basically keep an eye on things daily which takes about five minutes.

Blogging – I am trying to write articles in advance, I want to try and get a week in advance. I’d like to be able to spend one blogging session a week focussing on marketing, monetizing and new projects.

Studying – The one area, that is not quite fitting yet…I’m not sure whether I will adopt the ‘few hours once a week method’ or the ‘half an hour four times a week’ method.

I’d love to hear about your methods of organisation…

Other Articles in the Series:

Compartmentalizing Time
Remember Your Purpose Outside of Parenting
Aim High

Photo by flickr user cote