Daily Task Schedules - May - December 2017

If you liked April's Daily Task Schedule, I've made the PDF's for the remainder of the year.

May 2017

June 2017

July 2017

August 2017

September 2017

October 2017

November 2017

December 2017

Daily Planning Guide

This is by no means a perfect page to use for planning, in fact there are people who might not like it at all.

I saw a number of daily planning sheets, but I found they were missing one element.  If you've ever seen the Time Management lecture given by the late Dr. Randy Pausch, you'll understand why I added it in my own little version.

Which reminds me:  I need to clean out my inbox.  LOL.








The Daily Planning Guide - My Take:

Guide (Google Sheets)

Update:  I've also added the PDF version as Google Sheets doesn't translate well to mobile devices, particularly when you have to format things a bit differently.  Guide In PDF

Remainder of 2017 calendar (Google Sheets)

Spring Break

This week is Spring Break for me, so that means less away from the house, but more work around the house!

Needless to say, based on my kitchen, I have A LOT of work on my hands!

Unboxing - The Fujitsu ScanSnap S1300i

This is something I've been wanting and saved up for last year, and it finally arrived on my doorstep on December 30, 2016.

I've done some basic scanning with it, such as my older tax documents to pdf before shredding them. It scans both sides of the page at the same time, and can scan multiple pages, up to about 5 pages at a time before you start to see document jams.

My employer uses a different version of ScanSnap, and since I was already familiar with how to troubleshoot those, I thought this might be a great way to start to digitize documents where a physical document isn't needed.  I'll post some videos at the bottom of this post to help give you an idea of what I'm talking about.

On with the show!

Before you can plug in, the yellow tape stops and tells you to install the software first.  Very nice!

The software works on either Windows or Mac, so you do have a choice!

Be sure to install everything.  You also need to submit your information on their web site in order to get the download for the ABBY software that allows you to scan to Microsoft Office products.  

We are ready to start scanning!  The extra cable allows you to use your computer as a power source for mobile scanning.

Household Hazardous Waste Load

More progress in my home!  I am not only getting rid of a few no longer working items, but I'm also getting rid of old halogen bulbs and getting some of the toxic chemicals out of my home, replacing them with natural ingredients to try to improve not only what gets cleaned but how it gets cleaned.  It also reduces the dependency on man made chemicals to solve cleaning issues in my home.

Needless to say, I left with a deep sense of accomplishment!

Scheduling

There are a lot of blogs and vlogs that go into schedules.

Some are monthly (which bills get paid which days of the month), some do weekly (it's Wednesday, what household blessings do I do today?) while others do daily schedules.

While I do some monthly scheduling for bill payment, my daily schedule is usually determined by meetings, deadlines and what emergency am I taking care of today.  There are days when I'm balancing work with doctor appointments for Mom and myself.

The main schedule that I keep for myself is actually a weekly schedule and usually consists of one or two words.  Which opportunity is scheduled for each day of the week?

Monday is fueling up the car and grocery shopping.

Tuesday is snail mail and finances.

Wednesday is recycling.  Recycling can also mean donating.

Thursday is trash day.

Friday is dishes.

Saturday is laundry.

Sunday is rest and catch up on other stuff not done previously.

The reason I do this is to try to make it so I'm not running like a crazy person on Saturday and Sunday, as I've done some basic upkeep during the week.  I do need to start on a routine in the evening, though, of spot cleaning I could do for 15 minutes per day.  The big problem is ether remembering to do it, or just simply exhaustion and sleep deprivation.  We'll see how things go in the coming months.

Household Hazardous Waste Days

In Arizona, several cities host a day (usually a Saturday) where items that are unfit for trash or recycling can be turned in for proper disposal.

In Mesa, it's called the Household Hazardous Waste Program.  Mesa's is next Saturday, Feb. 4th.

In Tempe, it's called Zero Waste Day.  Tempe's next Zero Waste Day will be held in April.

Goals For 2017

I've been watching so many people posting their resolutions or goals for the new year, I thought I would do something a bit... contrarian.  I'm going to give you my goals, by stating what I will not be doing this year.

1.  I will not become the healthy fitness nut this year.

I just went to the doctor with a sinus infection that I've had since mid-December.  Sorry, but I'm not interrupting my break by trying to get an appointment - when most likely my doctor was already booked.  Today's appointment was scheduled as a follow up from the swollen legs, vertigo and other assorted junk I had back at that time.  Now my legs are fine, the vertigo has been remedied (many thanks to the department head at my job who mentioned she had it and found out it was from vitamin D deficiency) with vitamins.

Additional vials of blood were drawn today to check how my 50 year old hormones are doing, as I've been having hot flashes the last few weeks.  The doctor thinks it actually might be fevers caused by the sinus infection.  We'll see in about a week or two which it is.

2.  I will not have a spotless home this year.

While the amount of stuff has been significantly reduced, there is still a long way to go, and some of the organization requires remodeling in my home, which isn't going to happen this year.  Goal #1 is to get out of debt as quickly as possible.

3.  I will not be debt free by year end.

I honestly don't know if this statement will ring true on December 31st or not, but there are two credit cards I am working and budgeting to pay off this year.  I will be scrimping and saving, however, to pay down as much of the third and last credit card as possible.  Will I make it?  Time will tell.

4.  I will not always be the "cheerful one", whether at work, while spending time with Mom, at Church, around friends.

I will, however, try to be a bit more sociable this year than I have in years past.  However, if I don't join in on movie nights or other assorted outings that require money, please know I'm trying to keep to a tight budget.  To everything there is a season, this is my season to get out of debt.

My best wishes to everyone out there, good luck on whatever goals you have for 2017.

Recycling Load #2

I made it out a little earlier today, so the picture is better.

3 bags of plastics and cans, 2 boxes filled with cardboard boxes.  Also 3 of the boxes that the Hipce storage units came in.

Prior to this trip, I fed the cats, unloaded clean dishes out of the dishwasher and started up a load of the cat food dishes.  Getting an early start on these means I'll have time to get a final load in before I go to bed tonight.

Progress!

The Other Major Goal For 2017

With the advent (and expense) of bed bugs last year, it meant a lot of my furniture had to be removed and disposed of.

The two queen sized beds in my home?  Gone.

The couch and upholstered rocking chair and ottoman?  Gone.

Office desk and two upholstered desk chairs?  Gone.

In order to have space for the extermination process (four visits), more had to be removed and placed into an offsite storage unit.  One that had full sunlight access in the middle of the Arizona summer heat, which would kill any bed bugs that might try to travel.  It worked.

I've since moved the boxes back in December, and sprayed everything down with 91% alcohol, which kills any surviving bed bugs on contact.

Needless to say, they are now gone.

But, where to start?  

I've got a whole mess of boxes in various places around my home, and now it's getting cleaned up and either found to a new home in my home or donated.

The other mess of boxes that now sit in my office, however, are a litany of papers dating back to high school and probably even before that.

In light of this, I've made an investment into a ScanSnap Document Scanner, identical to the kind used at my workplace, in order to scan in what I want to keep and shred the paper copies.  Some will need to be kept, due to legal or tax purposes, however there is a lot here that can be shredded.  I had already purchased a shredder at Costco a few years back, it's still sitting in it's box. Between these two machines, I plan to eliminate mountains of boxes.  

The video below will give you an idea of what can be done.

And, as last month was Christmas with the document scanner I have been wanting was on sale...

I already have the shredder and purchased a box of 500 clear plastic bags to use with it, the time has come to get organized!

Why do I need to do this?

This is just the recycling:  Eight bags, plus cardboard boxes and a box that is filled with paper recycling.

And these boxes are filled with papers dating back to the 1980's to now.  And these are just the ones in my office.

Recycling Load #1

You can't see from the picture, but there are SEVEN kitchen trash bags, but they are not trash.  RECYCLING!!!

Day 1 - 31 Days To Get Organized

I'll admit, I was lazy on this one and cleared a few items from a tv tray table I use in the living room.  I won't share any pictures of it, because both Beezer and Rachel decided to take turns perching on it for the remainder of the day.

Peter Walsh - 31 Days To Get Organized

Since 2013, Peter Walsh, Organizational Expert, has been doing an "organization boot camp" called 31 Days To Get Organized.

Here is a link for the playlist for all of the 2013 days:





Here is the playlist for 2014:





Here is the playlist for 2015:





Here is the playlist for 2016:





He has started the playlist for 2017, however they are marked private until that day arrives.  However, if you go back to this playlist at a later date, there will be more to come!

2017:

Looking Toward The New Year: Let's Do This!

Meal Planning

This is actually something I don't do, but I need to at least try at it.

Get your calendar out for 2017 and let's see what we can do!




No matter where you are in this goal to become debt free, you can start where you are at.  It's not too late.

Summer Cleaning

Well, summer cleaning and organizing is well under way, if you've been watching my posts since Spring Break. :)

Tonight I was cleaning out an area that had long been neglected and found some interesting items, including $20 in cash. I really need to clean more often if I'm going to get this kind of a tip! LOL!

Check One More Thing Off My List

My shoes now have a home. :) In case you are wondering, no I do not have a shoe fetish. This stems from my having to wear corrective shoes until I was 12 years old.

A Major Victory For Me

Tonight was the final touch in a major victory for me. You see, I'm a clutter bug, big time. I work at an elementary school, which doesn't leave me any time during the day to clean, and when I get home I'm usually exhausted or doing something else, so cleaning has taken a back seat. My home shows for it, and if you have seen it lately you'd know how big a victory the picture below is:



I had some motivation for getting the dining room table cleaned off: I had home teachers coming over and no place for them to sit in the living room. Yes, that will be another job to tackle, probably starting tomorrow.

Now, pray tell, what happened to the cans of Rachel's cat food I used to store on the table? I finally got rid of a bunch of cans of food that were old and no longer good anymore on the pantry shelving to make space for her food:



I have to tell you, though, getting everything organized so I could trash what I didn't need and clear the table off took longer than I expected given I ended up getting sick with the stomach flu midway through this little "project". The stuff behind and around it will need some shelving put up, it's my emergency preparedness stuff I keep next to the front door.

I even took the time to put some decorative touches on the table, from a table runner to my replica Faberge candy dish.