Last week, we organized our blog or business. This week we organize something that almost all homeschoolers have: a hobby. Whether you’re a crafter, a musician, or just a reader, this challenge is for you! If your hobby involves making gifts, this week is the perfect time to work on them as the holidays approach.
#1 Identify your priorities
If you didn’t read last week’s post or see the 1 Thing To-Do List I created, you may wish to read them so you can apply one-thing thinking to your hobbies. I’m a scrapbooker and it’s easy to become overwhelmed by all the photos and photo projects I’d like to complete. But I chose one thing to focus on and it’s my son’s school years scrapbook. I hoped to complete it by his graduation, but didn’t. Now my plan is to give him the book as a Christmas gift.
Choose one project or priority to focus on that would have the biggest impact. Hint: Christmas can be a great motivator!
#2 Declutter
If you’re a hobbyist and you’re reading this series, chances are good that you’ve accumulated too much. The clutter leads to paralysis. Every pile of materials leads you to think of something else you could be doing. I just read the book Chaos to Clutter Free and loved it. It’s really motivated me! I think it will motivate you, too.
As a scrapbooker, I went through all my paper and got rid of everything I didn’t love. It was amazing how much I still had left, but decluttering made me more excited about my hobby. I also got to bless a scrapbooking friend with what I didn’t need.
For now, spend some time throwing or giving away materials that you aren’t using. These are some thoughts that help me release hobby materials:
By the time I am ready to use this, I will have other projects I’ll want to do.
By the time I am ready to use this, it will no longer be timely or usable.
If I decide later that I really want to use this, I can purchase it again.
#3 Organize
Once you’ve decluttered, organize your supplies in a way that makes sense for your specific hobby. Put like items together before purchasing organizing supplies.
I organized my scrapbooking supplies into page kits in an over-sized three-ring binder. That turned out to be perfect for my son’s school years album. I pulled out any page kits that I thought would work for the album and it made my scrapbooking so fast and enjoyable.
Consider organizing supplies by project, so you have everything you need for your top priority project accessible to you. Spend time looking for organizing ideas for your particular hobby. I will pin some ideas to the Organized Homeschool board on Pinterest.
#4 Time block
Once you have your supplies organized, you will want to make time to work on it. I have spoken to dozens of women who love to scrapbook like I do, but tell me that they haven’t done it in ages. The problem is that their hobby isn’t put on the schedule.
I wrote about how I make time for scrapbooking every week. I have the added benefit of accountability because I have a friend who loves to scrap and is disappointed if I don’t keep my appointment with her. I had to do more time blocking to work on my son’s album and my friend’s 12-hour crop was the perfect opportuntiy. I had to resist all the other options that vied for that time, but I’m glad I did. I’m still not done with the album, so will time block to make sure it’s completed by Christmas.
Put a time on the calendar when you will commit to working on your priority project and don’t let anything but emergencies interfere with that time.
I’d love to know what hobby you want to organize this week!
A friend asked how I used the approach. I explained how I am using it to improve my marriage and work with my digital task list. She mentioned that she wished there was a good paper list to be used with this approach and I was inspired! Read on for what I shared with her and what I ended up using to manage my own tasks.
Gary Keller urges his readers to determine the one thing that would make the biggest impact in their lives (usually that will be the thing that makes the biggest impact in others’ lives, too). Once we know that, we can determine the one thing that would have the biggest impact on our lives in the next five years, next year, and so on. The great way he defines the one thing is:
the one thing you can do that will make everything else easier or unnecessary.
If you don’t yet know what you want to do with your life, I urge you to spend time praying and thinking about it. The book itself may help your thinking. Once you know your ultimate goal, deciding the one most important thing to do becomes easier. As a busy homeschooling mom with many interests, I loved the concept of choosing the one thing in every area of my life. I can’t possibly choose only one important area of my life to focus on! If you get stuck choosing one thing, remember that choosing doesn’t mean you can’t do anything else–it just means that you have chosen what you think is the most valuable use of your time for now. Perfectionists, take note: choose what appears to be the one thing. That’s good enough!
For inspiration on using a one-thing approach, listen to Jeff Sanders’s podcast on the subject.
How I’m Using The One Thing to Build My Marriage
I realized from interviewing Dr. Don McCulloch, author of Perfect Circle, that I longed for my husband to ask me what he could do to make the marriage of my dreams a reality. The problem was, like most men, he was inclined to guess what I needed and would give me that instead. Inspired by The One Thing, I asked my husband what the one thing was that would make his day easier (that I could do) and he told me. He was very open to hearing the one thing he could do to make my day easier, too. In fact, he is asking me this question on his own now. Wow!
I recommend asking your spouse what s/he needs first and then telling your spouse what you need most and make it a daily habit. Morning works best for us. Before you know it, your spouse will be asking you first!
How I Use The One Thing to Get More Done with ToDoist
Because I already have my tasks sorted by life area (colored categories) in ToDoist, it’s easy for me to review these and choose my one thing each day. I have tasks dated (something I accomplish during my weekly review) for the week, making choosing one to make top priority quick and easy. Rather than work from the Today view, I keep my list open to Top Priority tasks until they’re complete. I take all of this one step further by scheduling time for each “one thing” in Timeful. I explain more about this in 6 Important Habits for Getting More Done.
How To Use The One Thing with a Paper To-Do List
I’m absolutely crazy about digital task solutions like ToDoist, but I’m also crazy about pretty paper lists–the more colorful, the better. When my friend mentioned a paper list, I had to create a weekly form that would work for 1-Thing Productivity. Each life area has a color and a space for one monthly and weekly thing that will make everything else in that life area easier. What do I mean by life areas? The best way to explain is with examples. My life areas are church/faith, marriage, kids, homeschooling, blog, business, relationships, organization, personal, and scrapbooking.
The beauty of this list is the linear connection between your monthly and weekly 1-things and your daily 1-things. Every day, you list a new 1-thing per life area and check it or cross it off as you complete it.
A few notes. Sometimes your 1 thing won’t correspond with your weekly and monthly 1 thing. That’s ok. The form exists to keep your longer-term things top of mind. You may also have days when you don’t need to do anything in a particular life area. That’s ok, too. The form serves as a reminder of all the important aspects of your life and where you’re devoting the most time. If I don’t complete an area’s “one thing,” I rewrite it for the next day IF it’s still the one most important thing I can do.
Finally, you may have other must-do’s for a particular life area. You can approach this in a few different ways. First, list the rest of your must-do-today’s on the back of the form under today’s date. You could work on them as you complete the various 1 things. Second, you could keep these other must-do’s on a separate list that you only tackle once all of your 1 things are done. Lastly, you could schedule your “one things” and everything else you want to accomplish today on your calendar or datebook or using an app like Timeful. I use the latter approach.
Whatever method you choose, the 1 Thing approach to getting more done is really powerful. What 1 thing could you do right now that would make the rest of your day easier? Let me know how this works for you.
My daughter, Elaina, loves the two girls around her age, Carlota and Blanca, but there’s just one problem. Their English far surpasses my daughter’s Spanish.
Foreign Language Curriculum Needs
The answer was obviously to have Elaina study Spanish. But I had another problem. I needed a curriculum that was:
self-directed (I can’t fit in any more one-on-one teaching time with my five children)
easy (I also don’t have time to help my daughter if it gets difficult, because I’m trying to learn Spanish myself)
fun (I knew my daughter would stay motivated to learn if the lessons were presented in a variety of formats and aided conversation)
I was thrilled to have the opportunity to try Middlebury’s Elementary Spanish curriculum with my daughter. I was interested to see if it would be a good fit for the rest of my children as well. The video made me think it would be.
Our Results
The curriculum met our criteria and then some! Elaina was able to do Spanish on her own and found it easy!
I loved hearing truly conversational Spanish lessons being taught, rather than isolated words. The bonus for me was that I could see how Elaina was progressing through the lessons with the clear parent/teacher dashboard.
The final criterion for success for me was that the curriculum be affordable. Middlebury is offering homeschoolers a 10% discount on their initial order with code: HomeschoolFirst10.
Even better, Middlebury is giving away 10 one-semester courses (the level of your choice, AP excluded, value $119). Be sure to enter to win below and follow them on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest.
Whether you blog or own a business, this is the week to get organized! If neither apply to you, spend time on a previous challenge you skipped (check them out at the bottom of the post). If your calling is to do more than homeschool (and let’s face it, that’s more than enough!), you need to put systems in place to save your sanity. I know I do! So let’s get started.
#1 Pray about your purpose
I have had many times in my life when I was chasing after the wrong outlet for my writing and speaking passion or I was seeking the right thing in the wrong season. God has made His purpose for me clear at those times when I began with prayer. Sometimes I sensed His leading as I read Scripture or as I prayed, but most often His purpose was confirmed for me through talking with my husband and friends who have similar goals.
I want to encourage you that God’s plan for your blog or business is always good–even if the plan is wait. If you have little ones, I know you’ve heard it thousands of times, but it’s true. You will have more time for your business when babies grow up. And they do. Trust me.
When you know what your purpose is, record the reasons for your ultimate goal and review them daily. Research shows that if you not only write your goal but visualize yourself working toward it and achieving it, you’re significantly more likely to succeed.
#2 Identify the 20%
You may have heard of Pareto’s principle–that 20% of what you do gives you 80% of the results. Knowing what those are and limiting yourself to them when you don’t have a lot of extra time (and when do you?) will make your blogging or business so much less stressful.
I recently read The One Thing by Gary Keller. Gary takes Pareto’s principle one step further to ask us what is the one thing we could do in our blog or business that would make everything else easier or even unnecessary. Let me give you some examples of how this works in my blogging. First, my number one traffic source is Pinterest. That is the one thing I want to devote time to to grow my blog. It makes determining whether I want to invest in an expensive course to grow my Facebook following much easier. My purpose for my blog is to grow an audience for the language arts curriculum I am developing. What’s the one thing I can do to make my goal of selling that curriculum a reality? Right now, it’s WRITING the curriculum. I keep getting sidetracked by all these great link-ups and ideas for posts and opportunities to contribute to other books. But will those things help me do the one thing that matters most in my business? No.
I hired Jimmie Lanley to consult with me on my blog and business and she was worth quadruple what I paid her, because she helped me identify the 20% in my blogging. If you need help determining your 20%, contact her. I interviewed Jimmie about making blogging a business as well. Be sure to give it a listen (I recommend listening in the shower with this great speaker).
What is the one thing that will make everything else easier or unnecessary in your blog or business?
#3 Identify time savers
Using the same one-thing idea, what is the one thing you can do that would make the most time for your blog or business? It probably isn’t an app or plug-in. For me, it was restructuring my school day so I had time to write in the early afternoon when I have the most energy. I explained this when I shared 6 Habits for Getting More Done. Saving five minutes here or there is nice, but that kind of time management is unlikely to have the effect you’re looking for on your business. Think big! Could you hire help? Delegate? Drop out of activities?
Now that I know what my one thing is, it’s much easier for me to identify time savings BEFORE I commit to something new. You may need to return to prayer and discussion for help with this. And don’t discount the kids! Depending on their ages, they may be able to tell you what you can let go of where they’re concerned.
#4 Time block
Once you know what your one thing is for your blog or business and you’ve eliminated activities to make room for it, put time for it on your calendar. I’ve written about how useful time blocking is for me before, but I’m enjoying the benefits of it even more now that I’ve completed the previous three steps. I am committed to writing my curriculum from 1-3 p.m. daily.
But what about interruptions? I have conflicts with my afternoon writing time on some days and I do have six other people still living at home who interrupt me. Actually, my college student likes to interrupt me with phone calls, too, but I honestly don’t mind! I need to make it clear that this is my business time, however. I learned keeping an interrupter’s log, how much of a problem this is for me. When I can’t write from 1-3, I move the time around. If I can’t write for two hours, I commit to writing SOMETHING that day. I’m using Jerry Seinfield’s “Don’t break the chain” method to meet my goal and it’s working fabulously. I don’t like using an app for this purpose (surprisingly), but am just putting an X on my wall calendar.
When are you going to commit time to the one thing that will make your blog or business more successful? Put it on your calendar and let your family know you’re not to be disturbed unless the bleeding won’t stop. (Yes, I’m joking. But if you’d like to write a lengthy comment about what a terrible mother I am, I would enjoy deleting it.)
I’d love to hear if this challenge helps you get more of what you want out of your blog or business! And of course, I’d love for you to follow me on Pinterest. My Blogging Inspiration and Organization & Productivity boards may be of interest to you.
I spent a year doing weekly experiments in productivity. The benefit of the series is that I learned the most important habits for getting more done. My hope is that reviewing what works for me might give you some insights into what could work for you. I hope you’ll listen to an interview I did with Barb Raveling of the Christian Habits podcast on the subject. Barb wanted specific advice for a time-management hiccup that plagues many of us. I’d love to know if you have different advice.
#1 Plan your week
David Allen’s Getting Things Done was my first foray into productivity literature. I loved it and should have been a paid seminar leader for as many people as I told about it. GTD was the impetus behind me finally getting my email under control and collecting all my to-do’s into one trusted system. I had these habits prior to experimenting. The GTD habit I didn’t have was a weekly review.
I became overwhelmed by the process of reviewing all potential to-do’s each week as part of the GTD process and so I just didn’t do it. Unfortunately, that meant that I wasn’t reviewing my calendar or projects for the upcoming week. I was often finding myself surprised that I couldn’t get to a number of tasks I planned because I had forgotten about prior commitments.
Using a paper planner during my experiments convinced me weekly planning was important. Now I have the habit of planning my week each Sunday. I actually look forward to it! I review my calendar, projects, and life areas in ToDoist, and even Pinterest ideas that are sorted into corresponding secret boards. Rather than overwhelming me, a weekly planning session (or review) helps me feel in control. I can set weekly goals and make sure that the tasks I can reasonably accomplish in the upcoming week are visible. The rest are put aside. I no longer have calendar surprises! For more on my weekly planning process, read this post.
If you aren’t getting much accomplished in a given week, try a weekly planning session. Just 30 minutes of planning will be a wonderful investment in your productivity.
#2 Schedule your day
Before my year of productivity, I wasn’t really wild about scheduling my days. It felt too restrictive for this spontaneous, time-rebel woman. I did love my week of using SmartDay, an iOS app that automatically places to-do’s around scheduled activities. But my passion for the habit of scheduling my days didn’t reach its peak until after the series was over.
The first thing that convinced me of the value of scheduling was Francis Wade’s post that has been hugely popular on this blog. I thought I needed to revisit the idea and I did begin using SmartDay more frequently. But it wasn’t until I read this article about how the president’s day is scheduled that I realized that I needed that kind of productivity. While I don’t have an assistant who schedules for me, I am that assistant.
About the time that I read this article, I heard about an iOS scheduling app very similar to SmartDay called Timeful. I love it! Each morning I put together the day’s agenda based on my weekly plan. When each new activity is supposed to start, Timeful plays a pleasant tone on my phone. Unlike a paper schedule, Timeful makes it easy to move things around and change the amount of time I plan to devote to them. Timeful reigns me in when I start off thinking I can easily finish 101 tasks in a day; they just won’t fit in the calendar! If I want to leave times open in my schedule, Timeful makes suggestions and learns from my behavior when I am most likely to want to do tasks. The bonus is Timeful can be used to schedule goals as well. I don’t think I’ve ever completed the schedule as written, but here’s why this doesn’t discourage me: I accomplish more in half a day that’s been scheduled than I do in an entire day just working from a to-do list. I created a Timeful calendar in GCal and now also have a record of how I’ve spent my time.
If you need to get more done, try scheduling your day. Even old-fashioned paper will work!
#3 Build energy-based routines
Routines differ from schedules in that they are tasks you repeat daily or weekly and don’t need to be put on your to-do list. I relied on routines before starting my year of productivity, but I kept trying to force myself into idealistic routines that just didn’t work for me. For example, I tried to get myself to do homeschooling subjects with the kids (that I don’t enjoy doing) in the afternoon. Once afternoon comes, I have very little energy left to overcome resistance. I learned that putting those subjects early in the day, when I’m most energized, made all the difference. I saved the subjects I loved to teach for the afternoon.
Similarly, I learned that trying to get myself to do high-energy tasks in the evening was a waste of time–no matter how ideal it would be. Evenings are now saved for social media, schlepping kids to activities (when I can’t talk my husband into doing it), and family fun. That understanding enabled me to stop being so mad at myself for “not getting anything done” in the evenings.
But I was left with a dilemma. I am writing a homeschool curriculum–a major undertaking. I kept trying to find a time to work on it in my daily schedule. Morning was an obvious choice, but it wasn’t working for me at all. I can find morning time to exercise, do devotions, and chat with my husband, but not for writing. I tried getting up even earlier during the course of my year of productivity and found I was crashing mid-morning. I’ve already made it clear that I’m worthless most evenings, but I thought I would just have to force myself to write at night. You can imagine how that went. I realized that the ideal time for me to write was early afternoon. Yes, I just said that I didn’t like to teach aversive subjects in the afternoon, but that’s teaching after a full morning. I have always longed to write in the afternoon, but felt guilty about it. After reviewing other homeschooling mothers’ schedules (who have many children and blog, too), I realized I was not only spending more time doing hands-on teaching than they were, but than most public school teachers! I reevaluated my teaching schedule, made some changes to encourage more independent learning, and started writing in the afternoons. I have written every single day since making the change and feel energized while doing so!
If you are struggling to get things done, build a routine around your energy levels. Keep experimenting until you find the right combination of times and tasks.
#4 Work little and often
It’s a waste of time to try and figure out why you procrastinate on some tasks. Yes, I’m a psychologist and I’m saying that! I have no idea why I hate mailing things so much, but I do. I would rather take a paper and drive it across town. It’s weird. But during my year of living productively, I discovered a solution: just do a little and do it often.
I discovered that I could get things mailed if I counted any tiny step as done for the day. I would find an envelope and re-date the mailing task for the next day when I would put a stamp on it. Yep, it’s ridiculous, but it worked. Before I started practicing little and often, I would have items to be mailed sitting for weeks. Now when I come across a scheduled task that I’m putting off, I will count any little step as done for the day. Fortunately, I don’t have to do this often, but it makes a world of difference to do something. The next day when I’m faced with the same task, it feels less onerous because “I’ve already started it.” Even though Pomodoros were a separate weekly experiment during the year of productivity, they’re effective for the same reason. For a particularly aversive task, I will set the timer for five minutes and call it done.
Do you keep facing the same yucky task day after day? Do five minutes or one tiny step on it and count it done! Repeat tomorrow.
#5 Do it now
My week of doing it now appealed to readers and even my kids who loved this video. I can be doing a great job with my schedule, but if I don’t do the little tasks when they need to be done, I can easily find myself overwhelmed. I’m talking about things like adding things to shopping lists as you see you need them, putting clothes away as you take them off, and cleaning up messes as you make them. David Allen recommends doing tasks that took less then two minutes. I think that’s a fine rule, but even better is to do tasks now if now is the best time to do them. We will not have more time later!
Some quick tasks are better batched. Paying bills is a good example. I pay bills online on Mondays. Even though it would take me just a minute to pay a bill I receive on a Tuesday, I don’t. But if I spill a box of cereal, I’ll clean it up now. I won’t wait until kitchen clean up day. Does this seem obvious? I become an imbecile when it comes to these things.
If tasks are starting to pile up, do them now if now is the best time to do them.
#6 Ask for help
I have my kids do chores and my husband is a big help, but I rarely ask for help in other ways. During my weekly experiment, I learned how important delegating can be to get more done. But in the months since my experimenting, I have learned that asking for help can be an even more powerful way of accomplishing things.
Because I didn’t have the ask-for-help habit, I wasted a lot of time doing things myself or doing them the hard way. I recently found another example of how my behavior hurt my productivity. I had been wishing for an iOS app that would enable me to process my to-do’s. I had to wait to use the desktop to get them into ToDoist. I also wished that there were an iPhone app that would allow me to attach photos or files to email automatically. Mike Vardy mentioned Dispatch in the ToDoist Google+ group. Turns out, it does everything I need it to do. I could have been enjoying the faster email processing if I had only asked if there were apps that did what I needed. It’s a hard habit to break, but I’m trying to ask people for help more often.
I’ve also learned to ask for help from God. I have always been willing to ask God for help for medical and relationship and even emotional issues. But not to-do’s. When it came to tasks, deep down I felt that I had no business asking God for help. I just needed to work harder, stop procrastinating, and stop watching cat videos. If I asked for help, that’s what He would say anyway, isn’t it? It turns out that God is much less of a task master than I am. Even when I waste time, God wants to help me. He doesn’t want me to be a self-reliant Christian, but to get to know how good He really is. He has canceled appointments when I’m overbooked, left the stoplights on green, and even given me a close parking space when I asked. Asking God for help with all the little to-do’s is a habit I’m in the process of developing. God is in the process of using it to develop me.
If you don’t know what to do first, try going to God! Ask Him for help, even if you’ve been on a cat video marathon.
Which of these habits do you need to develop most? Or is there another habit that helps you get more done?
Hospitality has always been an important part of my life. When I was a child, I looked forward to family get-togethers and parties in our home, whether we were living in a bigger house in a small town, a double-wide trailer, or on a farm. We never spent a lot of money to entertain, but we always had a good time.
Entertaining is still a frequent activity in our homeschool. We host family holidays, kid sleepovers, and other families for co-op classes. The lesson we want to impart to our children is that people are worth the time, money, and effort that hospitality requires. This week, we will get organized so we can invite people (or more people) into our home.
#1 Study the importance of hospitality
Even if you entertain often, it’s worth studying what the Bible has to say about hospitality with your kids. Of course, the most powerful lesson is what we model to our children. Real Life at Home has some ideas for getting kids involved in hospitality.
Years ago, I used materials provided by Sweet Monday to host neighbors in my home. I still enjoy good relationships with my neighbors as a result. But you certainly don’t need a program! A friend and I invited a homeschooling mom to our homes who wasn’t a believer over the course of a year. She recently shared her new faith in Christ with us! What a powerful witness hospitality is in this age of I’m-too-busy and I-don’t-have-a-Pinterest-ready-home.
I read an article about a family who serves meatballs to whomever would like to join them every Friday night and I was inspired. I shared the idea with my children who weren’t too crazy about the meatballs-and-company-every-Friday-night idea. I realized that neither aspect of the idea is required. I am going to ask the kids about hosting a monthly get-together with a more varied menu instead. Ask your children for their ideas about hosting friends, family, and acquaintances in your home.
Explain to your children that you are all going to pretend that you are going to be overnight guests in your home. Take a notebook and pen with you and take notes on things you’d like to change.
Is there a place to hang your coat or put your belongings that is out of the way?
Is there a comfortable place for you to sleep?
Are there extra items you will need readily available (towels, toiletries, lamp, glass for water, alarm clock?)
Is the guest’s bathroom clean?
Are the rooms cluttered or so perfect that your guests will be uncomfortable?
Does the entryway say welcome?
Do you have any seasonal decorations, photos, or books displayed that invite guests to look?
Are there any parts of your home that need special cleaning or maintenance attention?
#3 Inventory your home for entertaining items and list needs
It’s easy to think we need a whole new kitchen or new furniture before we can entertain. But until there is time and money for the changes we’d like to make, there are simple strategies for making our home inviting to guests.
First, see what you already own that can be used to give entertaining areas a fresh look or to host guests overnight. Look for decorations, tablecloths, and bedding. If you don’t have what you need, ask friends if they have any unused items. Entertaining items are one of the biggest source of clutter!
If you don’t have what you need and you can afford some extra items, add them to a shopping list.
#4 Organize and shop
Organize what you already have. Get out the seasonal decorations and display what you love. Throw an afghan over a worn sofa and use candlelight to give the room a soft glow. Decluttering and rearranging can have a dramatic effect, too. Display some treasured photos or put out an old book that you love. The Inspired Room has some encouragement for those of us who want our house to be decorated NOW.
Collect sheets, pillows, blankets, air mattresses, extra toiletries, and towels and keep them in an entertaining space, so hospitality is less stressful. If you already have a guest room (yay you!), take some time to freshen it up.
If you need to shop, you may wish to wait until the Thanksgiving season begins to buy some items, as so many entertaining articles go on sale that time of year. Be sure to check out my Fall Inspiration and Organized Homeschool Pinterest boards for more ideas to help us practice hospitality this season.
I’m a Christian psychologist turned homeschooling mother of six. My life can be a little crazy, so I look for sanity-saving ideas to use and share. I hope you’ll read my About page to learn more.
