Yes, that pile. And the pile from Mom and Dad. And the pile from Grandma and Maw Maw and Paw Paw. And the aunts. And from friends.
This list does not even include Mommy and Daddy's piles of new presents.
So we made a Rule of Three.
Rule of Three - Three items for each person go into new homes, in their bedrooms, each day until all the piles are reduced to zero items.
It's simple to remember.
It's a concrete action.
It's enough items to make a difference quickly without being overwhelming.
It takes even the five year old only about three minutes.
It's working.
Bonus Tip: If I was cleaning up a bunch of rooms after a party where food was served, I'd do three things in each room, three times a day.
Etcetera.
5 comments:
We must be twins separated at birth, only you're the smart twin! I discovered your blog a few days ago, and have spent all my free time reading your posts. After using a planner for many years, I thought going to an digital calendar system (Outlook Calendar on the PC in sync with my smart phone) would help simplify my life with 2 small children. This has served me well for the past 5 years, but I've felt like something was missing. Now that I've started homeschooling this year and several long-term projects I need to start on, I've decided to go back to a paper planner to get all my information in one book where I can easily see the big picture all at once, instead of having information spread out over several programs on my computer. After I made this decision, I wondered if I was just nuts to abandon all the wonderful technology I have access to. You have addressed and solved so many problems that I have had with my planner in the past and I am excited to get back to it.
Also, because of you, I have learned that there are other Plannerds out there. I feel better about the fact that I have 7 planners in my closet at the moment, but am not completely happy with any of them. I thought I was just weird with my obsession with all things planner related.
Because of one of your posts, I had an ah-ha moment. You said something along the line of use the smallest planner that you can get away with so that you will be sure to carry it with you. I didn't read this until AFTER I had started using my desktop size Franklin Covery. I found myself dreading carrying my purse with my planner in it because it was just so heavy. Because of that, tonight I am switching to a cheap, DayOne thingy I picked up cheaply at Walgreens. I have my eye on an ochre personal Malden Filofax, but that'll have to wait.
Again, thanks for your writings!
Um, obviously I don't proofread until AFTER I post, either. I can't figure how to get in and edit it. Oh, well...Can you tell how cheap I think the DayOne planner is? :-)
I think the Day One is brilliant. Of course, I love the luxury of my Boston. But, confession time, I bought several Day Ones at Walgreens to use the refills in the future. :)
The only program that I would still use, if I homeschooled, is Evernote. My homeschool friends just rave about it so much. (And not for planning, but for keeping track of curriculum tools.)
Brilliant idea. Helps the children think about how many toys they have and to remember where to put the toys back again once they've finished playing with them! Thanks for the inspiration. Putting in the notes for next Christmas!
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