Showing posts with label organizing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label organizing. Show all posts

Thursday, June 12, 2014

The Trusty Timer

My timer is so useful, it really helps me to keep on track with whatever task I'm doing.

Grilling:  I use my timer to grill hamburgers.  I set it for 7 minutes for the first side, flip, and 7 minutes on the other side, then remove them from the grill.  If I don't use the time I wind up with hockey pucks instead of juicy burgers.  And the 7 minutes seems to fly as I'm always surprised when it goes off, thinking that it can't possibly have been that long already. 
Cleaning and Organizing Missions:  I get easily distracted when I'm trying to get something clean and/or organized.  A timer is very useful to keep me on task.  I set the timer for 15 minutes and stay focused on whatever I'm wanting to get done.  It can be tidying a certain room, tackling overflowing laundry, washing dishes, cleaning windows.  The key is to not kill yourself trying to get everything done before the timer goes off but to focus on the task at hand for the full amount of time.  Some things can be completed in just one mission and other times you are only making a dent, but at least it's progress.  If I'm able I will do 3 missions in a row and take a break for 15 minutes.  I have a lot of difficulty keeping focused and this really does work for me.  Let me know if it works for you, too.
My daughter is wanting to change her room from a little girls room to a teen girls room, and her mission today was to sort through her stuffed animals, again using a timer for just 15 minutes helped her to feel accomplished rather than defeated by thinking how daunting the task was going to be.  Her bedroom's transformation will be it's own post as we work more on it.


Sunday, June 1, 2014

This Blog's New Direction

When I originally started this blog, I was only planning to use it to record recipes I come up with for use in an ebook eventually, and I'll still do that, as well.  However, as I'm decluttering and organizing things around here I started going through a mountain of papers and came across several with lists of books and websites that I want to explore, and projects I want to tackle, and thought this would be a good place to keep track of them.  So I will continue to have recipes, but I will also be including book reviews, website reviews, frugal and free activities, gardening hints and tips, pet care, and homeschooling.  I have no choice but to operate on a very tight budget, so everything I list will be as cheap as possible or even free, if I'm lucky. 

Thanks for joining me on this journey and if there are any ideas or tips you are looking for, let me know in the comments and I'll see what I can come up with.

I found this image on Pinterest, but couldn't find out who designed it.  If you know, please let me know so I can give proper credit.