This Week on the Home Front Part 3

On Wednesday, I visited Home Sanctuary, as I do every day, and I saw a picture of a pocket! The title of the post was "What's in Your Pockets?" Inside I cringed and said to myself, "Oh, no! How does she know?" You see, I had just washed my son's jeans without checking the pockets - with his cell phone! Again! (For the second time.) I ruined another cell phone. How did Rachel Anne know?

But that's not what she wrote about. Instead, it was "pockets of time," those times where you only have 5, 10, maybe 15 minutes, which is not enough time to delve into a major project, but is plenty of time to do small tasks. She challenged us to make a list (and keep it handy daily-that's good time management!) and to do some of the things on our lists.

My list consists of things I can do at home, at work, or at both places. I'm going to put an asterisk beside the ones I actually did during my pockets of time Wednesday and Thursday. Some of these go right along with my committment to declutter along with the Organising Queen.

Sign up for online bills (to help declutter paper)

*Pay online bills

*File papers (home and work)

*Clean a bathroom

*Fold a load of laundry

*Make copies (at work)

*Check and delete email (home and work)

Grade papers (for work)

*Dust a room

Declutter a drawer or cabinet (home and work)

Read a magazine article

Write a thank you note

Schedule dentist and doctor appointments

Write a to-do list

Clean the glass table tops

Shave my legs

Pluck my eyebrows (since I can't afford a wax right now)

Read with one of my children

Gather plastic and/or aluminum cans to recycle

Organize a section of my closet

*Make my bed

*Load the dishwasher

*Fill up a box of outgrown clothes or miscellaneous items to donate

I could go on. I thought that was a very clever way to remind us to utilize our time to accomplish things that will bring peace and order to our homes and our places of business. At work, I have been deleting email like a crazy person! I didn't realize how much junk I had sitting there in my inbox. At home, I made folders for some of my email, and deleted about 30 more above what I did last week.

I wrote my home mission statement on January 4, 2008. Rachel Anne asked us to review it.

I want my home to be neat, clean, and inviting, one that offers warmth and acceptance to all who enter. Chores are shared by family members, and we have a feeling of peace at the end of a long work or school day. My family and I will prioritize home improvements and work toward reaching those goals, one small step at a time.

Mine needs some tweaking, with our different schedules, six people in the home, and repairs from the hurricane, so I am constantly revising my approach to achieving my goals. For example, this school year, the twins are involved in fewer activities outside of school. That greatly reduces stress and allows us to accomplish things that bring about a feeling of peace. Now, it doesn't work like that every day. We all have bad days, but, as long as we continue to focus on our family goals, we will get there.

Thanks to both our Home Sanctuary guru and our Organising Queen for helping us to create order, peace, and beauty in our lives.