change your lives with 3×5’s

Lately I’ve been feeling as though there is no direction in my days…in my life…(in my eating, ack!)
And I’m not so much a big fan of that.
A few months ago, my sister Heather, directed me to this book she loved called Sidetracked Home Executives and I immediately ordered it and read it in a day.
I then ran to my nearest Staples and scooped up all the supplies and got to work changing my life with 3×5’s.
Jimmy and I worked out all the details on our Tahoe trip, spending a good coupla hours organizing our life…
and then we spent the week after that following it to the letter.
What a good week that was.
All the way back in December…..
But then, 
Christmas came….
The new year came….
The 30 Day Method came….
Then Valentines Day….
And with all that excitement, apparently I got a little sidetracked.
Must be the book for me, ya?
Anyway…now that things seem to have settled, I’m realizing that I do much better when there is some sort of method to my life.
I do better with routine, somewhat, and I need a little more than intention so that my days are purposeful.
After all, that was my main goal for 2011.
To be more intentional and purposeful in my life, in my walk with God, and in parenting and marriage.
{not too lofty at all…right?}
So, here I am back to the Life Box and getting things in order and set up for success.
{which includes making a few tweaks to a couple of book suggestions that just didn’t work for me.}

tip: don’t be afraid to make changes to other peoples advice and suggestions, especially if those changes are more likely to guarantee your success.
As Tim Gunn likes to say, “Make it work!”  snap, snap, snap.

If you’re a bit like me, in that you have GREAT intentions to do this or do that and yet another day slips by without even a hint of progress…you should absolutely look into this book and do it with me.
Okay, here’s what I’ve done so far:
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~ got my cute box, colored index cards & dividers, then organized them accordingly in said cute box.

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~ sat down with Jimmy and created our list of chores and tasks and events that we need reminders to accomplish….then organized those tasks according to day or dates.
{this is all laid out in the book}

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~ set up a home for the box and index cards where I am constantly reminded and encouraged to accomplish my days goals.
{I even made cards with pictures for Taylor, and set up a place for them in his room….it’s a family thing!}
Still to do:
~ make index cards for birthdays
~ make index cards for friends numbers and addresses {have begun this a little}
~ create a few more index cards for new tasks and events that I didn’t think of in the beginning….such as: clean out car once a week, write in the kids journals, do character workbooks with Taylor, piano practice, and shredding & filing…

~~~~~~~

So, it’s a bit daunting in the beginning, I won’t lie.
But it feels AMAZING to be intentional and purposeful, and most of all organized.
No more getting sidetracked.
No more days without direction.
Today is the day.
Okay, so actually tomorrow…
But ONLY because I’m getting it all set back up today.
Totally not going to get sidetracked anymore…

Remind me of that, okay?

© 2011 “Le Musings of Moi”
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Comments

  1. I’ve heard about that book. I really liked the idea but I worried that I would get too sidetracked (!) and forget to check the cards so I ended up subscribing to FlyLady. I get a daily email to remind me to clean certain areas… Turned my house around! And it’s harder to ignore.

    Good luck! I enjoyed reading about your 30 day progress and I look forward to hearing how this is working out. Maybe there will be some things that worked really well for you that I can integrate into my cleaning plan.

  2. Girl you are reading my mail. I’m on the S.S. Sidetracked as well. Sigh.
    How many years have I been on this earth and I still forget that everything I do must be maintained….Sigh. Thanks for the suggestions…I’ll get there.

  3. It does sound like a lot of work, but a lot of work that will pay off in the end. I need to get motvated (and organized!) maybe I should check out the book, too!

    P.S. I’m hosting a giveaway, be sure to check it out 🙂

  4. Oh my goodness gracious alive, this might be a solution to the majority of my life’s problems, ha! I am constantly, CONSTANTLY behind, and organization does not come naturally to me to say the least. Plus, I have a bazillion jobs, so I’m not home very often. Which means that I need a more concrete method of making it happen, I think! Thanks for the book recommendation . . . might just have to order it. And good for you, Summer! What a productive year it’s been for you so far.