I have come to the realization that I have become a miserable ‘To Do’ list maker. I used to be so good at it! I had lists, I used them, and I got more done. However, as I used the computer more, I moved away from paper to lists kept on the computer.
I have two good friends who are time management pros and both of them focus on list-making and prioritizing. I’ve gotten worse at prioritizing as well. I spend way too much time on fluff and not nearly enough on the things that I sincerely want to get done.
It’s taken me way longer than it should have to figure out that lists only work for me if I can see them, on my desk, every day. I’m writing about this now because I think I’m not alone and yesterday Julie Herman (Jaybird Quilts) posted a link to the Get To Work Book. I decided to give it a look-see and it looks like a really good tool. This workbook/calendar/list-making book is printed in January and July. Each book is good for a year which means that if you want to try it too, now is the time. I’m attaching the video that sold me on it below.
I hope this helps at least some of you because we all seem to be too busy these days. It is my hope that I can re-learn how to better manage my time and that my stress level goes down. Sounds like a good plan, doesn’t it :-).
Piece O Cake Blog 
I feel your pain, Becky! A few years ago I ordered a daily planner through a company called Lifeguard Press. It’s small enough to sit open on the kitchen counter. It’s spiral bound. When it’s open, it shows a chronologically specific week but has so many other great features it’d take too long to describe. I’ll only say that the one thing I LOVE about it is that I can transfer the tasks that didn’t get done one week to the Monday of the next week, but since I’ve been using it I’ve had less and less things that need to be ‘forwarded’. (plus it’s artistically done in such a way that it’s visually appealing.)
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Forgot to give you their web address – Lifeguardpress.com (just in case)
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Those are very cute, and smaller too. After I see how this year goes, I might have to switch.
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OK this is weird. I went into Lifeguard Press and it isn’t the product I have. If you want to take the time (I hope you do), go into Amazon and enter Susan Wallace Barnes. You will then see the daily planner I am talking about. Sorry about that!
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My husband and I watched a guy on You Tube talk about this topic. He said the faster you unload a task from your brain to a prioritized list, the more you lessen your stress, and the more you free up your energy to tackle your work. So, speed helps even in list making — for those out there who like to jump on a task.
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Like you, I need a hard copy of my list available to see on a daily basis or things just get lost in the shuffle. Certainly helps me to keep on track better. It also helps to have To Do lists for different things, so I have a special list of books to read as well as quilting projects to finish, so when I have time, I can go to them and decide what to do next. Really does help and I seem to get much more accomplished, so on the days I am too tired to exert the mental effort to come up with a project, I can go to the list! Yeah! Penny M.
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