Monday, July 18, 2011

My Favorite New Thing....this week!


Ok, I like to be organized. We all know that, right? Am I always organized, NO WAY! But I really like when I am and I REALLY love when I find something that makes that easier! Well, I just found something!

It is the "Color Note" app on my Android phone.


My sister told me about this a while ago. I remember her showing me her checklist for things she needed to do and touching one of the items and having it crossed off with a check by it and I thought, hmmm....that is really cool. Did I do anything about it? Not immediately.

Weeks later I got around to downloading it for myself. Did I do anything about it then? Nope.

This last weekend, while my fam and I were vegging at Bear Lake, I decided that there were FAR to many things floating around in my head, and let's be honest, as long as they stay there, the possibility of ever getting them done was somewhere around nill. However, with new church responsibilites and a Summer that seems to pile on the "need to dos", I figured it was about time to to make a few checklists for myself.



This screenshot is a little different from the one on my phone, however, it helps you get the idea. You can make a specific checklist. Like for example, I made a list for each day of the week, a grocery checklist, a checklist for things that I want to accomplish that aren't time sensitive and a checklist for the things I need to do that ARE time sensitive. I made a list for my new church responsibilites and I made a list for YLU Posts and OLU Posts....because there is ALWAYS something popping in to my head that I want to post about, but by the time I get to the computer, I am blank! Not any more my friends, Not anymore!

I simply click on the list title, which takes me to a screen with the tasks on that list. Then, as I complete a task, I touch the screen and VIOLA it is crossed off and marked as completed! I love seeing progress! For my days of the week, I go back in at the end of the day and uncheck all items so it ready for next week! LOVE IT!

I have learned that if I intend to devote time to scriptures, work, church calling, blogging, etc, I have to make sure I set a time for it. It is not always this way, but MAN when it gets busy days can slip by and all I feel is a sense of falling short. I also set reminders like "say morning prayers", "take vitamins", etc. Sometimes I need a little extra help remembering!

Ryan once read a quote to me, and of course I would love to put that quote here, but I don't know what the source was, just some motivational book of sorts. But the gist of the quote was that if we don't write down the things that we think of that we need or would like to do, it stays in our minds and they pile up until we feel totally overwhelmed and stressed. By simply writing them down, we get them out of our minds and give ourselves permission to let go of them. They are outside of our minds and where we will see them. They will be accomplished and we won't have to carry the burden of the thought of the task around with us. Or something along those lines.

The point is, I made it a goal to better organize my life and to de-stress and this is TOTALLY doing it for me! I always have my phone with me, and for now, I pick the darn thing up every few minutes with another random thought of things I would like to do like, "Create a digital scrapbook for the kids, burn it to a DVD with music set to it. Fireflies by Owl City for Mal", "Songs I want to download for my workout iPod..." and I enter songs as I think of them, and so on.

Anyway, if you have a smartphone try it out....if you are into the checklist thing. I would love to hear what you think about it!

Also, I would REALLY LOVE to hear your tips and tricks for de-stressing and keeping yourself organized and together! Take a sec and let me know! I am always looking for ways to get better at this!

1 comment:

Cindy said...

I really don't have a lot to say about keeping oneself oganized and together. It's 3 PM and I have yet to get dressed!
But I do think we should be kinder to ourselves and celebrate small victories (like getting dressed before noon)!
I also think it is important to get a good nights rest. I can accomplish so much more when I feel rested.

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