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Across the Fence:  It being a new year soon and all...  |
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Libbie
Farmgirl Connection Cultivator
3579 Posts
Anne E.
Elsinore
Utah
USA
3579 Posts |
 Posted - Dec 22 2006 : 10:02:53 PM
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...what type of calendar/planner/organizer do you all use? One of my goals for the next year is to get my life more on a routine or a schedule so I'm not running around like a farmgirl with my head cut off sometimes. What do you all use to keep you on track and not forgetting to do things or go to appointments or the like?
XOXO, Libbie
"Nothing is worth more than this day." - Goethe |
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momto6
True Blue Farmgirl
134 Posts
Valerie
Goltry
OK
USA
134 Posts |
Posted - Dec 23 2006 : 06:14:24 AM
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Good morning Libbie,
I absolutely love your nickname. My daughter is Olivia, and we often call her Libbie. It is one of my favorites, always has been.
I keep it fairly simple...I have one regular monthly calendar hanging on the wall by the telephone in the kitchen. It has to have fairly big squares in it. That is where dh schedule for workdays goes, any appointments, anything the kids have going on. I can see it, and check it anytime. I have a counter-top right by this where I have a monthly tear off calendar I got at Wal-Mart. It has a little bit bigger squares, and a to do list down the side. This is where I keep track of our financial obligations. I write down the paydays, and list each bill due throughout the month. If I have to mail one early, that goes there too. The last thing I do is keep a magnetic board on the frig. If anyone has something to do in the next 24 hours they need to remember, it gets written down. That is also where my ongoing grocery list goes.
I know this is simplistic, but organizers don't work for me. They get shoved in a purse, with good intentions, and I never see them again. I guess as the years have gone on, simple works better for me. I do know, though, as I get older, I must have somewhere to write everything down, or I forget!!
Love to all, Val
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Marybeth
True Blue Farmgirl
6418 Posts
Mary Beth
Stanwood
Wa 98292
USA
6418 Posts |
Posted - Dec 23 2006 : 07:31:33 AM
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Valerie, you're right. I do calendars on the wall and the rest on the fridge. I put bills in a pile on the desk with the due date and the date to pay on the outside envelope and that's all I need. I guess, i hope. Its worked so far. MB
www.strawberryhillsfarm.blogspot.com
"Life may not be the party we hoped for...but while we are here we might as well dance!" |
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abbasgurl
True Blue Farmgirl
1262 Posts
Rhonda
USA
1262 Posts |
Posted - Dec 23 2006 : 07:39:33 AM
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Libbe,
We keep a big calendar, same kind Val uses, just inside the pantry door. Eveyone knows the rule... If it's not on the calendar, it doesn't happen! I write appointments, days off, family things, guests, bills due, etc...In other words EVERYTHING goes on one calendar. I keep an ongoing shopping list next to that. A little notebook goes in my purse for things I need to remember. I just tell folks I will check my calendar at home & get right back to them before adding something. This works well for me. I find when I have written something on the calendar it usually sticks in my mind. I like the KISS rule, (Keep It Simple Stupid). Happy organizing!
Rhonda
I'm a one girl revolution. |
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country lawyer
True Blue Farmgirl
1022 Posts
1022 Posts |
Posted - Dec 23 2006 : 07:43:23 AM
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Libbie, I started using "Planner Pads" years ago and continue to use them. They have a website I'm sure....probably "Planner Pads." I like having paper instead of electronics for my calendar. I hope I never, ever get a "Blackberry"...well, unless it's the ones I grow...
"The secret of life is enjoying the passage of time."
James Taylor
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country lawyer
True Blue Farmgirl
1022 Posts
1022 Posts |
Posted - Dec 23 2006 : 07:45:13 AM
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Okay, how did I forget to mention that I will also have the MaryJane Farm's calendar hanging on my kitchen wall!
"The secret of life is enjoying the passage of time."
James Taylor
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Phils Ann
True Blue Farmgirl
1095 Posts
Ann
Parsonsburg
Maryland
USA
1095 Posts |
Posted - Dec 23 2006 : 09:33:53 AM
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I have to admit to using a "Daytimer"/Franklin Covey type BOOK, which is usually on my kitchen counter. I have all addresses in the back, and garden planning with sources and seed names, directions to places-to-go, quilting/craft ideas, Christmas and other gifts, menu (entertaining) sections... which I need for a BRAIN. Of course, there is a calendar for each month, with a two page spread for each week (and I pencil in meal plans as I come up with them). This time of year in particular, I keep pencilling and erasing as all kind of plans change. I also take it with me when travelling and to dr. appointments.
I have a separate pad of paper on which I make lists for shopping each week, and try to organize according to which direction I need to travel, grouping accordingly. That sheet lives in my purse and goes everywhere with me.
Ann
There is a Redeemer. |
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ponyexpress
True Blue Farmgirl
320 Posts
Sandy
Kirkwood
Missouri
USA
320 Posts |
Posted - Dec 23 2006 : 11:40:18 AM
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I think Rhonda's "Keep it simple" rule is a good one! I've tried a number of different planners and can't find one that works well for me, but I do use the monthly calendar on the fridge. That's where everything is posted first and DH and I are each responsible for keeping it updated and transferring information to our personal calendars.
What I'm trying to create for myself is a version of a planner that has the information that I need. I like to see at least two weeks at a glance with space for a to-do list, and then other sections for grocery list, Target list, phone numbers, etc. I'm trying to get into the habit of grabbing this planner book along with my purse whenever I leave the house, so if I happen to be at the grocery store, I will have the information I need.
We shall see how it works. I only know it is becoming increasingly difficult to rely on memory in getting things done! '-}
Sandy in Missouri
I'm at that age where I need my own warning label! |
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Beemoosie
True Blue Farmgirl
2077 Posts
Bonnie
New York
USA
2077 Posts |
Posted - Dec 23 2006 : 12:34:43 PM
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Hello All!
I have a calendar on the wall in the kitchen. Sometimes I use different colored inks for different family members activities, but as long as it's on the calendar, we're good.
I've tried day planners before, mostly b/c I see pretty ones and want an excuse to buy it. I never seem to keep writing and looking at them a habit.
O, Come let us adore HIM! www.beequilting.blogspot.com |
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ponyexpress
True Blue Farmgirl
320 Posts
Sandy
Kirkwood
Missouri
USA
320 Posts |
Posted - Dec 23 2006 : 9:38:51 PM
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Okay, now you've really got me thinking! The other areas I need to organize are my thoughts, ideas and project plans. Another discussion thread on our goals/resolutions for the new year included some comments on getting projects out of our heads and into working mode.
I read the magazines and books as they come into the house, mark all my favorite spots, and come up with wonderful ideas for projects, etc. But three months later (six months, twelve months - you get the picture), when I try to find the magazine that goes along with the idea, I have no clue where to start looking.
So any ideas as to how to create a list or log of potential projects and the resource it came from?
Sandy in Missouri
I'm at that age where I need my own warning label! |
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La Patite Ferme
True Blue Farmgirl
623 Posts
Jenn
CA
USA
623 Posts |
Posted - Dec 23 2006 : 10:06:21 PM
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I too keep a main family calendar in the kitchen for school events, 4-H meetings, sports games, etc. This works best for me because I see it every day and that helps me remember.
My calendar has pockets on it so if I get a flyer or post card for something I want to attend, like a rose pruning seminar or a garden tour I can keep it in the pocket. I also have a clip magnet with the entry forms my daughter needs to fill out for her sheep and poultry shows. I try to keep them in order according to their due date.
At work I also use a big desk calendar rather than a day planner. They have never worked for me either.
Pony - in response to organizing your projects. I too have trouble finding magazine clippings of projects or things I see that I may want to implement on our little farm or even recipes I want to try. I don't want to keep the entire magazine so I tear out the page(s) and then can't find them. Many years ago I started keeping recipes in a 3-ring binder. I put the recipe in a plasitc page protector. If the notion hits me months later to try that recipe I saw I know where to look. For projects I keep an accordian file. The kind some people use for bills or tax info. Each section is for different projects ie: garden, livestock, sewing, crafts etc. That way they are all in one place and I know just where to find them when I decide to work on a project.
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CabinCreek-Kentucky
True Blue Farmgirl
8529 Posts
Frannie
Green County
Kentucky
USA
8529 Posts |
Posted - Dec 23 2006 : 10:33:27 PM
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PALM PILOT ... we got them last year for each other for christmas. took NO time to learn .. and oh my gosh! they keep EVERYTHING so neatly categorized .. took me a couple months to 'wean' myself off my BOOK .. but can't even imagine going back to writing stuff in books over and over and over again. palm pilots are much like mini-computers. love it! love it!
True Friends, Frannie
CABIN CREEK FARM
KENTUCKY
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Annab
True Blue Farmgirl
2900 Posts
Anna
Seagrove
NC
USA
2900 Posts |
Posted - Dec 24 2006 : 03:35:29 AM
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We hang a calendar by the phone. Each year it's different. This past year's was all chickens. Mom gives us each one at Christmas
she also has a calendar by the phone.....another one of those traditions handed down
if I need information close at hand it gets written down on a piece of paper in my wallet where i'll see it....if the info is absoutly critical I still write it on my hand...not too good, but it definately gets remembered this way! whatever it takes i guess |
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westernhorse51
True Blue Farmgirl
1681 Posts
michele
farmingdale
n.j.
USA
1681 Posts |
Posted - Dec 24 2006 : 10:11:41 AM
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I use my Robert Kincaid calendars, one on my desk & the other on a wall. I write in one but not the other, its too beautiful. I write everything in it & check it daily.
she selects wool and flax and works with eager hands Prov.31:13 |
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babs
True Blue Farmgirl
226 Posts
Babette
MN
USA
226 Posts |
Posted - Dec 24 2006 : 10:54:29 AM
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I really needed this thread! With three home businesses between us, homeschooling the kids (omg I'm late for report cards!), a convention to plan and a farm to run, I am soooooo disorganized. And I'm completely buried in paper. It looks like a paper recycling plant blew up in my house.
We usually keep a 60 day dry erase wall calender, which works really well when it's on the wall. I have no idea where it is right now! Good grief. As for shows or field trips I usually snip them out and tape them to the inside of the main exit door. That way I SEE them and I am reminded. I also update iCal once in awhile, but unless I set everything to "alert" I don't open it often enough to be effective and too many alerts jumping out at me would I think really put me over the edge. lol
While shopping for a gift for a friend (we co chair a convention and it drives us nuts all year long, but we have way too much fun) I found a planner.. it's called DO IT LATER, A 2007 Planner (or Non Planner) for the Creative Procrastinator. It's hilarious!
It has a space on the left side to make your daily lists -Things I have to do but that can wait a day, or two, or three..., Small things I have to do before I can do the big things I have to do, Things I absolutely have to do unless I absolutely don't want to do them, and Things people have been bugging me to do for a really long time. Each list is headed with a procrastinator tip like "Procrastination is the critically important process of allowing your brain to breathe." And, "If life is about the journey, then there's no rush to get things done." On the right side is the weekly schedule like most planners, with the addition of a doodle block.
I'm going to drop this in the mail for her next week, and then I think go pick one up for myself!
On Project Logs- I keep a three ring binder, okay I HAVE a 3 ring binder. I couldn't tell you where it is right now. But I did start putting projects in there with those plastic page protector pocket things. I just cut the article and the picture and used a photo adhesive sticky square and stuck it all down, scribbled a few notes about who I wanted to make it for or what I might do different, and stuffed it in the book. Rather horribly cobbled together but I liked it. Its fun to page through a book of favorite projects over a bought book where you might like 4 out of 20.
Babs
- off to shower now, Christmas dinner at moms today. Merry Christmas and/or happy holidays everyone! |
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Horseyrider
True Blue Farmgirl
1045 Posts
Mary Ann
Illinois
1045 Posts |
Posted - Dec 25 2006 : 04:48:01 AM
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I do best when I compartmentalize. I use a wall calendar along with a written notebook, month by month and paycheck by paycheck, for cash forecasts. I keep the records of what I budgeted and what I actually spent from year to year so I can know at a glance what I did. I also use these to anticipate annual expenses like personal liability insurance and property taxes. On that same wall calendar I keep my appointments with the doctor, dentist, and friends.
On the cash forecast, I write down things in the space next to, say, the vet's amount, what work we had done, who was sick, etc.
I keep a separate calendar that shows a week at a glance for menus. I can put it with my other one if I need to, and anticipate when I might be late and need a full crock pot waiting when I get home. I use this one for my grocery planning, too.
I use the wall calendar to 'flag' myself about needing seasonal things like fertilizer or paint. Then I have necessary items budgeted for and purchased, and available for when I need them.
For special projects, I just keep a spiral notebook and run a list. The How To's usually stay in my head. I do keep a three ring binder with the diagrams from the horse's chiropractor. That way I can flip through and see any consistencies or changes over time for each animal. That might lead you to believe I'm organized, but I'm not; I have to walk through a maze of books to get to that spiral binder.
I have a Palm Pilot, but I don't use it. I should probably try again, but I don't like the screen size. I like to see how everything goes at a glance, and how the parts fit together.
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pinkroses
True Blue Farmgirl
2350 Posts
Sheila
Virginia
USA
2350 Posts |
Posted - Dec 25 2006 : 07:26:50 AM
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I brought a lovely Thomas Kendale one. Usually son gets me one for Christmas but I don't think he did this year.
So now I have to hunt one after Christmas for the kitchen.
I like one that has a lot space in the squares to write in appointments and such.
I have to visit several doctors and it helps to have them all fixed. pinkroses |
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Libbie
Farmgirl Connection Cultivator
3579 Posts
Anne E.
Elsinore
Utah
USA
3579 Posts |
Posted - Dec 26 2006 : 4:30:35 PM
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Thank you all SO much for your ideas and responses - I'm still thinking about what to try, and I am so excited to have a new year to start. There's something I absolutely love about the "clean slate" of a new year!
XOXO, Libbie
"Nothing is worth more than this day." - Goethe |
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mellaisbella
True Blue Farmgirl
1862 Posts
melanie
living on Anne of Green
Gables land
Canada
1862 Posts |
Posted - Aug 31 2007 : 06:37:12 AM
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I see that this post was started in "06 and now it is 'o7.......anyway.........I too use the big squared calaendar. I find it fits everything better. I do use another thing that really helps me feel less frazeled...that is the word no. I used to say yes to everyone. I would drop things to help other people all of the time. Don't get me wrong, it's great to help people, but when I am always being stretched to my limit, I have had to learn how to say no.
"learn to watch snails" SARK |
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Aunt Jenny
True Blue Farmgirl
11381 Posts
Jenny
middle of
Utah
USA
11381 Posts |
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mellaisbella
True Blue Farmgirl
1862 Posts
melanie
living on Anne of Green
Gables land
Canada
1862 Posts |
Posted - Sep 01 2007 : 11:38:24 AM
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Oh Aunt Jenny, it took me awhile tofigure that one out. I used to feel guilty when I did say no, but I have learned to get over that. I once heard a saying...."no matter where you go, there you are" I took it ot mean that you only need to please one person in this life and that is you. does that make sense? (I hope it does)
"learn to watch snails" SARK |
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cabinmoose
True Blue Farmgirl
218 Posts
Lorna
Forest Hill
MD
USA
218 Posts |
Posted - Sep 01 2007 : 6:39:03 PM
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http://www.momsorganizer.com/
I use their family calendar and love it!
Cheers,
Lorna
Forest Hill, MD
“I laugh, I love, I hope, I try, I hurt, I need, I fear, I cry.
And I know you do the same things too, So we're really
not that different, me and you.” ~Colin Raye |
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aimeeravae
True Blue Farmgirl
341 Posts
Aimee
Deer River
MN
USA
341 Posts |
Posted - Sep 02 2007 : 8:37:51 PM
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I get the booster calendar from the high school. It has all the important dates for the school and national, as well as the games and competions. All I have to add is the family ones. I need all the help with it I can get.
Aimee
http://laplantewardklopf.blogspot.com/
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mellaisbella
True Blue Farmgirl
1862 Posts
melanie
living on Anne of Green
Gables land
Canada
1862 Posts |
Posted - Sep 03 2007 : 06:16:05 AM
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Lorna....I agreee!! The moms organizer calendar is grreat!! I don't even have any kids and I still use it. I love the great big squares that have so much room to fill and with the magnets, it attaches easily to the side of our fridge.
"learn to watch snails" SARK |
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Across the Fence: It being a new year soon and all... |
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