The Organized Family

026: Personal: Organization Tips

## InboxBills and other paper items that need taken care of go into an inbox, which for the Mitchells is a set of mini plastic stacking shelves just the width of a 8 1/2 by 11 piece of paper on their desk. Dave regularly processes his inbox, then he puts it in Amy's inbox where she enters into the budget and then files them. ## CalendarsThe Mitchells have a digital family calendar that all family members can access from anywhere. When the kids get a soccer game schedule, all their games and times go into the digital calendar so everyone can see them. If they receive a birthday invite or other appointment like orthodontist or doctor appointment, Amy enters that into the calendar and then tapes the paper schedule or birthday invite onto a board under that child's name so the kids can refer to that paper later if needed. ## Write it down as soon as you think of itDave uses a vocal dictation to add things to the calendar as soon as he thinks of them. To add to that, Amy suggests writing down or putting in a reminder the things that come to mind as soon as they come to mind. We often have so many ideas and schedules rotating in and out of our head, that it helps if you jot it down as soon as you think of it, before you forget it again. There are many notetaking apps for phones, calendar apps, or good old paper and pencil options for getting things onto and out of your head. Mitchells use a combination of paper lists and electronic lists for shopping lists that all members of the family add to. ## Assign One Spot for Coupons & Gift CardsThe Mitchell kids bring home lots of coupons from school for free pizzas or free ice cream. Amy and Dave get many gift cards they don't want to waste. These don't all don't get used as soon as they come home, so Mitchells suggest finding one home for those kinds of things and be consistent at putting those in their home as soon as you receive them. Then you know exactly where to find them when you are ready to use them. ## Desk SuppliesIf you find yourself needing office supplies in several different areas of your house, then have a set in those areas. You are more likely to finish the tesk requiring office supplies if they are right at hand, wherever you are. ## Wall CalendarsThough most of the day to day scheduling is done through their digital calendar, Mitchells have several wall calendars in their house. They are used as a visual layout for upcoming activities and extended family birthdays. The birthday calendar is in a location where it is seen first thing of the day, so if there is a birthday that day, they have all day to call or text that person to let them know they were remembered. ## Neighborhood Friends ChartMitchells have a chart on their front door that help them know what houses their kids are playing at. It has the five Mitchell children names down the left side. Then coming off to the right from each name are 3-5 boxes, each one with a friend's name in it that they often play with. The Mitchell's front door is metal, so as the kids head out the door to play, they move the magnet off of their name and slde it over top of the name of the friend's house where they will be playing. Then when Amy calls them all home for dinner, she knows where they can all be found. ## Visual Reminders of Regular TasksWhen you have maintenance tasks that need to be done every few weeks or months, you can put those reminders in your calendar or other reminding app that works for you. You could also use a paper posted by the furnace, for example, to say when the filter was last changed or when it needs to be changed again. ## Family MeetingsMitchells have breakfast together each morning and briefly plan out what's coming up that day. It's a good look ahead to see that all the kids have rides to their activities and they know if Mom and Dad are going to be gone, etc. Mitchells also have a family meeting once a week, usually on Sunday, to put upcoming activities on the calendar. They also have extra meetings if vacations need planned with all the kids' input, or other family business that needs addressed with all memebers of the family present.

023-Batch Processing

###TopicsWhat is batch processing?When is it useful?How it helps ###What is batch processing?When you have several tasks to do, you lump them all together and take care of them all at the same time. ###When is it useful?An example might be when you have bills to pay or receipts to enter into your budget. You can do this at a set time each week or month, and do it regularly and all at the same time. Reconciling bank statements need to be taken care of about the same time each month. Another example might be when you have several phone calls to take care of. Find a time when you know it will be quiet with few distractions. Doing laundry, going grocery shopping and running errands can be batch processed. It's also more economical to run several errands at the same time, saving gas and time, rather than taking lots of little trips. Keep in mind though, that it may take more preplanning in order to take care of everything at once. Going through email can also be batch processed. That's more productive than multitasking and giving a fraction of your attention to several different tasks at once. Spending quality time with your family can also be thought of as batch processing relationships. When you are with them, focus all your attention and energy on them. Don't try to check email or Facebook. The idea is to give dedicated, focused time to one particular activity. The key for organized families to remember is that grouping several similar tasks together, working on them at a set time and then being consistent will help you be more productive. ###How it helpsBatch processing helps group like-tasks together so you can focus all your energy on that one task and be more productive. The Pomodoro Technique applies batch processing by attaching a group of tasks to a set amount of time which helps you stay focused and also helps be productive the whole time with regularly scheduled breaks. If anything, just remember to FOCUS and BE CONSISTENT.

020: Home: Zones

#20: Home: Zones ##What is a zone?An area of your home with specific items of similar characteristics. ##How to set up a zoneWhen starting to organize a room or garage for the first time, you could sketch a map of the room and jot down your idea of where zones could go. A craft room could be zoned into areas for sewing, paper crafts, gifts, photographs... A garage could be zoned for camping gear, car repairs, house repairs, yard tools... ##Benefits of a zoneAn organized family involves everyone in the clean up and putting items away where they belong. When other family members are helping around the house, if they put items back in the correct zone, though not exactly organized how you would like, at least you can still find it because it is in the right area. It may require a precise organizing a few times a year to keep in optimal organized condition, but it's still usable and practical when not organized perfectly. If an item could go in two different zones, then put a few of each item in each zone. The husband may think one way, the wife another, but this way they can both find it where they think it should go. Zones can be used on computers as well as items around the house. Most people do a good job on using some sorts of zones in their homes. So look around and see what you already have in place, and pat yourself on the back for being organized.

019: Kids: Teaching Children About Money

Have you ever been asked by your kids if you are rich or poor? Talking to your children about money matters facing the family can sometimes be challenging. In some cases, you don’t want to share too much in case they accidentally share it with the neighborhood. But keeping them informed about what is happening with the family is important because one of our jobs as parents is to help them prepare for the future. In this episode, we talk about what prevents parents from talking to their children about money, why we should talk to them about money, how allowances fit in, and then we list some strategies we can use when talking to our children about finances.

014: Personal: Goal Preparations

014: Personal: Goal Preparations Topics 1. Evaluate 2. Choose smart goals in four categories 3. Be orgnaized to carry through A philosophy the Mitchells like and want to share with others came from David Seah [http://davidseah.com/2007/02/groundhog-day-resolutions/]. His idea is that you take the month of January to really evaluate and plan your goals for the year so they are meaningful and well thought out. Then he says you start them on February 2nd, well after the craze of the new year is over, and evaluate your progress every month after that throughout the year. That means you check your progress towards your goals on March 3rd, April 4th, May 5th and so on till Dec. 12. This system works well because you aren’t rushing into your goals, but you’ve given yourself a couple of weeks to get set up. This plan also has a regular day each month that you follow up on your progress, so these goals aren’t forgotten by mid January. Evaluate Do an evaluation to see where you are now and where you want to be down the road. You can do a self evaluation. You can also ask a trusted friend or family member to give you some honest advice, and you can pray to ask God, who knows you best, what you need to do to improve and reach your fullest potential. When doing your evaluation, don’t forget to remember the things you did accomplish last year and then build off of that for the next year. This could also include accomplishments you weren’t recognized for. Setting Goals Set goals in four different areas: mental, physical, spiritual, social. As you are setting your goals, keep the end in mind. Dave and Amy went to a funeral last month of a man who was respected by his family and the community. They enjoyed listening to the stories from his children and grandchildren of all the lessons he had taught them. After the funeral Dave and Amy were talking and asking each other what lessons they have tried to teach their kids. Then they wondered what their kids would say today of all the lessons they’ve learned from their parents. Would they be the same answers? So the next day they asked their kids to write down the lessons they’ve learned from Dave on the front and the lessons they’ve learned from Amy on the back. That was very enlightening. If a dad wants to teach his kids the value of hard work by being gone at work all the time, putting in lots of good, long hours, his child may not learn that lessons because he’s never around. But if a dad is working alongside his child doing service for a neighbor or mowing the lawn, then the child might learn that lesson of hard work that he is trying to teach. Just try to keep the end in mind and the big picture in mind as you work towards your goals. S.M.A.R.T. Goals * S - specific * M - measurable * A - attainable * R - reasonable * T - timely Break big goals down into smaller chunks and make them smart. Organizing Goals David Shea’s idea has a monthly reminder, so you can put that on your calendar or task reminder so you know that is coming up and not forget to review goals each month. You can also have that reminder each week as you continue to work on the goals. Goals needs to be in view where they can be reviewed often. Organized people find a system that helps them keep those goals accessible often. Dave puts his goals in an app called Things [https://culturedcode.com/things/] that reminds him often. Amy likes writing goals down on paper. Find a system that works for you, and use it. This year, Dave will be using a program called Evernote [https://evernote.com/] because he can write down the “why” of each goal with any accompanying articles. Things [https://culturedcode.com/things/] is more task and project based. Evernote [https://evernote.com/] will have details around each goal, and Things [https://culturedcode.com/things/] will have the day-to-day tasks to reach those goals. He’ll review Evernote [https://evernote.com/] either once a week or at least once a month during the [Ground Hog Day review][Dave]. There are a lot task management apps out there, so take some time to look around and find one that fits you best, and get started. Here are a few Dave has tried over the years. * OmniPlan [https://www.omnigroup.com/omniplan] * Reminders [http://www.macworld.com/article/1164792/ios-apps/how-to-use-the-ios-reminders-app.html] * Nozbe [https://nozbe.com/] * Todoist [https://en.todoist.com/] * Basecamp [http://www.basecamp.com/] * Asana [https://asana.com/]   Dave used to have an android phone, but the task mangement app he used at the time, Astrid [http://lifehacker.com/yahoo-announced-today-that-much-loved-to-do-app-astrid-686450404], is no longer around. Happy New Year!