Last Week of December

“This is the day that the Lord has made, now let us rejoice and be glad in it” (Psalm 118: 24).

Like each new day, it is fresh start and it is a new year. That means three hundred and sixty-five new fresh starts... and a fresh new page to write it all down on.

It may seem a bit redundant at this point, as we talked about organizing your schedule and your calendar earlier on when we first started this column, but this is the most appropriate time to revisit the topic of organizing your calendar and to reiterate the importance of this invaluable tool. You have an opportunity to make this your most precious asset in “the art of keeping it all together”.

Before you start entering things within the spaces and confines of your calendar, you need to set some goals. These goals can be for yourself, your family, your home. They can spiritual, personal, financial, business, ministry, and whatever else you decide.  You can incorporate these goals into your calendar after the necessary events and appointments are noted first.

Start with a mission statement, determine the big overall long-term goals, and then break them down into smaller short-term goals. Determine them in terms of yearly, monthly, weekly, and even daily stages. When you get to this point you will begin to see the form of calendar entry that is going to work best for you. Set it aside for the time being.

New calendars. Grab your calendar or two; one will be family-sized calendar, and one could be a portable calendar than you can take with you, or at least a computerized version of some sort. Remember your blackberry, and even regular cell phones, contain calendar features that you can utilize for traveling and efficiency purposes.

Mostly, keep in mind that your calendar style needs to work for you. (I am visual and like to be able to see my stuff written down in front of me across the pages, with all my color-coded sticky notes that I can move around when needed. Toss in  the little portable timer on my collar, and I am good to go! My husband, on the other hand, works best off a computerized version with his bend of logical, sequential, and technical tendencies. He also utilizes the built-in alarms and reminders, particularly when he is in a meeting, and finds it is what works best for his organizing style.) You have likely already decided on the format that you would like to use, so let’s get ready to start your year. Be sure to grab a small notebook or some pages from your “portable” calendar, and keep it handy to one side, for making any additional notes you may need to jot down.

Insert all the special birthdays, anniversaries, and events that will be taking place in 2009. Add any reminders that you require to mail cards, make presents, purchase gifts, and so forth, ahead of those actual events. If you have ideas for gifts, note them on a page in your notebook with the names, sizes, ideas and so forth, so that you will have the information at your fingertips - or breakdown the steps for their assembly or shopping,  and put those due dates on your calendar. (For example, “cut pattern out for apron, serge apron edges, sew edges down, sew on ties and neck loop, sew pocket on”, and “wrap apron”.) Use whatever steps or note-taking method works for you. (Others may find it simpler just to mark “sew apron” two weeks before the event, and that will more than suffice).

Note any special appointments that are coming up. Transfer any important reminders for things like change the batteries on the smoke alarm, mammogram due, and so forth - anything important, any deadlines, anything that you simply don’t want to forget, make that note now.

Special projects and your goals. You have already written down your goals earlier. Now, write down any special projects you have in mind on a separate page for working out the details. Do they work in tandem with you goals? Are they needs, wants, or dreams?  Are your goals and projects two separate things? What are your priorities for your life or for the coming year? Note the more important things first and keep them in mind at all times.

Break it down into steps and allow yourself lots of time to do them. Things usually tend to take more time than we think they will. Keeping that in mind, leave yourself a margin for the unexpected and reduce your stress in meeting a deadline. If you are a person who needs to mark those things down on your daily pages or monthly calendar, please do so.

A good hint is marking some of those things on sticky notes for the planning stages so that you can move things around if necessary. Personally, I tend to do my project planning on a calendar created with tables that will expand and move to accommodate the information; that allows me  to move it around if required. Occasionally, I notice that I missed something or want to add an extra step, and this allows me some flexibility. It also helps to show me all the details I want to remember way down the road when I actually get to the task or event, and where I am being unrealistic in regard to how much I could actually accomplish in one day.

When you mark it down, you can see your goal in front of you. Knowing what we want to do and doing it is a whole different thing. This can help to make it a tangible project and you can see how the fruits of your labor will carry you as you work your way through the tasks.

Remember, when you look at the picture as a whole, it can really help you to identify what is the practical and what is the impractical. Do you want to do a specific area of cleaning and work your way throughout the house? Do you want to do it over a year, month by month, or week by week?

Write down your plan and look at it. It is time to evaluate. Will you want to do anything in December when you are getting ready for Christmas? Don’t include that month if you have too much to do already. Do you want to take off the summer when your children are out of school, the garden is blooming, and the produce is prolific? Do you freeze your vegetables and do canning? Be sure to keep that in mind at all times. Do you want to reconsider the volume of the work involved? It all takes time . Would it make sense to go to the market and buy in bulk to freeze, or to plant it from scratch and do a little bit every day?

Filling out your calendar(s) can be a time consuming task depending on your lifestyle and responsibilities. I spent one whole day, so far, and I am not done yet because I am trying a new system this year to see how efficiently it will work. It means that I am now incorporating all my daily routines step-by-step into my calendar format, so that when I am away with ministry commitments, someone else will be able to see what needs to be done, and things will not be overlooked.

Breaking it apart when it is all said and done. I can dissect it when I am finished, and hand a list to the cleaning lady, my staff assistant, my husband, and so on, with the items noted that applies specifically to them.

When you are too busy, it can be out of sight, out of mind! I am trying not to miss anything and breaking things down to the “nth degree” may be extreme, but also useful for my purposes. It really is an experiment at this point, and usually my calendar is not quite this complicated. Seeing it in this form is a tad stressful at the moment, but it could be a whole lot more stressful if I overlook some important details!

Again, make this valuable tool and resource work for you. Start your new year off right, and know that you have a plan in place, and that your goals will be met.  Develop the habit of utilizing your calendar, to help keep your schedule somewhat organized...

It’s a key part of “the art of keeping it all together”!

Happy New Year!