Check Out More Works for Me Wednesday

Vacuuming with a bag that isn't totally full really Works for Me. I realized how well it Works for Me when I neglected to change my vacuum bag for a Very Long Time. So long, in fact, that the vacuum started turning itself off when I tried to use it. So long that when I finally did empty the bag, I had to do it outside, because it was FULL. As in, dust backing up out of the bag and into the hose. Yeah.

Not to mention it was doing a terrible job cleaning my carpets. Vacuuming is so much more pleasant when your vacuum actually works. While you're changing the bag, you might also want to take a look at the beater bar. Chickpea and I both have very long hair, and an amazing amount of it ends up wound around the bar. Attack it with scissors, a seam ripper, or whatever sharp implement you have handy so you can avoid burning out the motor. (I've almost done that several times.)

You may now shake your heads in disdain. I can only hope my mother-in-law doesn't know I have a blog.

Overall, I've stalled a bit.  I've just been really tired the last couple of days.  I've also been kind of frustrated at work, because I'm trying to figure out how to get QuickBooks to do what I want it to do.  I'm going to have Qwerty written backwards on my forehead from whacking my head against the keyboard.

Anyhoo, I think if I could do my dinner prep early in the morning, then my day would go a lot smoother.  It would be easier to cook dinner and much faster to clean up afterwards.

This is something I designed and used for quite a while last year, and it's something I might go back to at some point.  It's a four-page-per-week planner formatted for letter-sized paper.  Below is some info about it.  If you're interested, you can download it for free!  (It's a PDF file.)

Then I realized that decluttering or organizing would definitely count!  I set my timer and promptly starting organizing my pantry cabinet.  Here's what it looked like before:

Eek!  Open packages of food, stuff shoved in everywhere...  I had no idea what was in there.  Now, here's what it looked like after my timer started beeping:

Oh, it makes me so happy!  Every time I pass by, I feel compelled to open the cabinet door and gaze upon the organized neatness.  Ahhh.

Isn't it nifty what you can accomplish in fifteen minutes?  Try it!  Set a timer and do something, anything!  Vacuum a room, sweep the floor, declutter a drawer...  I guarantee you'll be glad you did.  =)

First, the daily/weekly goals:

My kitchen has a filtered water dispenser next to the sink.  The refrigerator at our previous house had a dispenser (inside the refrigerator, not on the outside of the door).  I love having the dispenser, but it takes 20-30 seconds to fill a drinking glass.  That's not too much time, but when I have to fill all the glasses while I'm trying to get dinner on the table, it's kind of a pain.

Enter the pitchers:

I got them for a couple of dollars at Walmart, filled them with filtered water, and keep them in the refrigerator.  Whenever anyone wants a glass of water, they pour it from a pitcher.  When one is empty, I fill it from the dispenser.

Now we always have plenty of chilled, filtered water handy!  Super simple, but it Works for Me.  =)

Yikes.  Now, in my defense, I don't subscribe to all these magazines.  The vast majority of them were free, and I really enjoy reading magazines.  I didn't want to just throw them out because I knew there would be articles I'd want to keep.

So I'm going through a small pile each day, flipping through and tearing out articles of interest.  Here's how many are left now:

I'd say I'm about halfway done, which isn't bad for a week's work!  My new rule: New issues go on the coffee table, and I go through them at least once a week.  I used to stash them in a bin upstairs, so they were never handy when I wanted to read them.

Me: "Now Chickpea, what is Easter really about?"

C: "Jesus dying on the cross."

Me: "And...?"

C: "Rising from the dead."

Me: "What 'present' do you get from Jesus?"

C: "Forgiveness."

Me: "Right.  And that's the best present of all!"

C: "Yes, that's number one...  But I do love those chocolate bunnies."

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Praise God for sending His Son to die for us that we might be forgiven our sins!  (We can praise God for chocolate bunnies, too.)

Reading- I'm about halfway through three of the four books I wanted to read this month, but that's mostly because I started them at the end of March.  Actually, there are a lot more books I want to read this month.  I went a little crazy at the Big City library and there is now a big stack of books just begging to be read before the due date.  I can renew them twice, and of course, I can always check them out again another time.  We'll see.

Craft- No progress on this yet, but I did write out the steps I need to take.  That's always the first thing I do for a project.

Projects- I got out the things I need to create my dinner binder, and I'm pretty excited about it.  It should make meal planning much easier.  I've also continued to make progress organizing papers and information.  I'm refining the way I use my Post-It wall and my little whiteboard.

I've been feeling a little overwhelmed the last few days.  DangerBear has asked me to help with his business every day instead of twice a week, so it's really like a part-time job (except I can take Chickpea with me).  I'm trying to manage my time well, but I sometimes fall prey to time-wasters like watching movies.

I'm not going to give up, though!  I've set similar goals for myself many, many times in the past, and I've always failed.  I'd be determined to cook dinner every night, and after a week I couldn't do it anymore.  Now, though, I'm not only cooking decent meals, but I'm actually enjoying it.  I'm not arguing with myself about whether or not I should cook; I just do it.  I don't know why this time is different from the others, but it is.  I really, really want these goals to turn into habits!

How are you doing on your goals?

Randomly-Chosen Winner: Megret @ "Muses of Megret"

Favorite Advice Winner: Summer @ "Sublime Happiness"

Congratulations, ladies!  I'll be sending out your devotional books this week.  =)  I hope to be able to hold more giveaways in the future.

Come back on Friday for the second week of Philippians 3:14 Fridays.  I hope you'll participate by telling us about your goals!

Uses for my timer:

To enter, leave a comment here with your meal planning or cooking tips.  The deadline is tomorrow (Wednesday) at noon Pacific time.  =)

I realized that I didn't have nearly that much trouble at work.  (I help DangerBear part-time with his business.)  Why was that?  After much pondering, the little light bulb finally went on.  I used folders.

I don't know why I didn't think of it before, especially considering my love of office supplies.  I took fifteen minutes to set up my folders and have saved untold minutes since.

Super simple.  I go through the folders at least once a week and take care of them.  Then the papers either get thrown out or filed in the household filing cabinet.  And I can rest easy knowing I'm not forgetting anything important.

This Friday is April 3, so let's share our goals for the month of April.  If you set goals for yourself for March, share how you did!

Reading: I finished all three of my books, including typing up my notes, and started reading a few others.

Craft: I finished my heart swatch.  I really enjoyed knitting it!