Schedules: Get Your Family Involved!

Know what’s harder than putting a schedule together and making it work?

Putting it together and making it work when it involves people other than yourself.

Everyone is different. They have different priorities, different strengths and weaknesses. Different routines. And they don’t all fit into the nice-sized gift box that is our own vision of a schedule. Son is more active in the morning and can accomplish his chores as soon as he wakes up, while Daughter has to be dragged out of bed, kicking and screaming. Hubby’s mornings are rushed, but he gets off at a decent time and has some spare time between work and dinner.

I hope that you kept that in mind as you built your personal-slash-family schedule. Now that you’ve got the schedule planned out, it’s time to get the family involved!

Call a family meeting. Relate the schedule as you see it…don’t forget to include the why and wherefore. Sometimes people are more cooperative when they understand where you’re coming from.

Listen. Really listen. The kind of listening that workshops talk about. That means open your mind to the possibility that the schedule is not yet perfect (trust me, it’s probably not). My hubby and I had to discuss in depth how much time I would to devote to my writing, and when it was best to work in that time. We came up with an excellent schedule that actually afforded me more time than I had anticipated!

Work out the kinks they point out. If Son thinks his grades would improve if he dropped one of his three extra-curricular activities because he’d have more time to study. Go with it. If hubby says it’s too much of a stretch to make it home for dinner at 5:30, but he could definitely make it more consistently at 6. Go for it. It doesn’t hurt to try.

One big fact to realize is that, just like a schedule isn’t right for every family, it may not be for every person in the family either. Some people freeze under such structure, others thrive in knowing exactly what comes next. As long as the routine is understood and everyone is knows what is expected of them (i.e. Son takes out the trash at night before he can watch TV) then you are on the right track.

When your family is on board, it makes everything easier. You don’t have to fight them tooth and nail at every point in the day. In fact, isn’t that the point of a schedule? To make sure you get the necessary things done and out of the way so you can enjoy more time with the ones you love?

God bless and have a great weekend!

Make Your Schedule Work for YOU! Pt 2

Welcome back to our exploration of that thing called a schedule. In the last post, we discussed the first four steps in my 10 Steps to Creating YOUR Schedule! We made a list of everything we do in a typical week (to include boring, everyday stuff like cleaning). We made a list of our priorities in life. We then combined the lists, placing each activity with a priority, and then we prayed over the lists.

Today, after having a day or so to think and pray, we can sit down and continue.

5. Grab your calendar and mark down anything that occurs on a weekly basis at a specific date and time. Bible study, church, meetings, playdates, work, school…you get the picture. Your schedule has to work around these.

6. Create your priority schedule. With the remaining activities on your priority list, start filling in your schedule. Start at the top and work your way down. For me, I start under my God priority. The first thing I work in is my quiet time at 5:45-6:30 in the morning. This way I start my day off in the right mindset! Then comes my husband—gotta make him a priority, so I schedule date night before my week gets too cluttered. Keep working your way down until you reach the bottom.

7. Make a cleaning schedule. I used to be one of those that didn’t have a schedule and I would end up spending hours on Saturday making everything just right, or hurrying to clean up the house before company came over. Then I discovered Flylady… If you’ve never heard of her, run over to Flylady.net, you won’t be sorry! Talk about a time (and sanity) saver. But here is what my general cleaning schedule looks like:

Monday—Great Room plus Daily Mission (DM) from Flylady
Tuesday—Bedrooms (wash linens every other week), DM
Wednesday—Bathrooms, Meal/Grocery planning, DM
Thursday—Laundry Room/School Room, Grocery Shopping, Errands, DM
Friday—Van, Great Room, DM
Saturday—Yard/Porches
Sunday—Laundry catch up (my goal is to not have to do this, but some weeks…)

***Side Note: These are intense cleaning days, it doesn’t mean I ignore the room completely until the next time I’ve scheduled to clean it.

My suggestion is to work cleaning into your schedule 15 mins at a time. Flylady’s motto is that you can do anything in 15 mins—you’d be surprised on how much you can accomplish! I can clean the entire bathroom, to include sweep and mop, in 15 mins!

8. Don’t forget down time! There is nothing wrong with watching TV. There’s nothing wrong with reading a book. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with sitting on the back porch sipping iced tea while the kids run around in the backyard. Everyone deserves, and is better for having, some downtime. If you know you won’t give it to yourselves (I’m mostly talking to the perfectionists out there…you know who you are), schedule it in. Now. It’s a must.

9. Move things around, try something new. Now you’ve got this schedule all laid out. Maybe one or two things aren’t looking right. Maybe you realize you’re not devoting enough time to one area, or maybe too much to another. Change things up. Like I said earlier, I used to do my quiet time at night, but because I was so tired, I only had that time maybe once or twice a week. Since I’ve moved it to the morning, it happens almost every day without effort.

10. Put your schedule to work—but be flexible and open to change. This is a work in progress. Every Sunday night for the first few weeks, sit down and tweak the schedule as you see fit. Once you get the hang of it and everything falls into place, you’ll be all the happier, and more accomplished!
Know what I did today?

Changed the bedding, cleaned the kitchen (a doc apt through off my schedule yesterday), 2 load of laundry, homeschool (2 hours for preschoolers), a review for my critique workshop, 2 blog posts, caught up on emails/blogs, and spent time with hubby and the kids—and it’s just now 3:00 pm. All I really have left to do today is to vacuum the bedrooms and make dinner. Then I have an FRG meeting later tonight, and maybe some writing time.

It’s amazing what we can accomplish when we have a plan. No matter how loose or strict it is, it’s a blessing if it works for us!

Make Your Schedule Work for YOU!

Every discussion I’ve encountered concerning schedules often has at least one person (often more) who say, “I just can’t stick to a schedule” or “I prefer more flexibility”. This is all well and good, but we still need some structure or we will whittle away time with laziness, selfishness, or busy-ness. In case you’re curious, I have definitely been guilty of all of the above! So they say, better to have a plan and not need one than to not have a plan and need one.

If you’re a writer, working in time to write/review/read/study the craft is necessary. If you work outside the home, making time and inventing way of accomplishing household tasks is a must. If you’re a homeschool parent, it’s likely that you’ll lean towards focusing too much on school or not focus enough as you let housework, activities, etc take over.

We all need some sort of routine to keep us on track. The key is finding the schedule that will work for us, not just a schedule that will make us work. So here is my 10 Steps for Creating YOUR Schedule:

***First, you will need a pencil/paper, a calendar, appointment book (if you have one), and some time to sit alone (or with your spouse) and think/talk.

1. The first step is to make a list of everything you need to do during a TYPICAL week. If you have a few things that happen on a regular basis in a month (but not necessarily every week), list those as well. This should be as complete as you can make it. Be sure to include stuff like housework, grocery shopping, church, etc.

2. Next, put that paper aside, and on a separate sheet of paper, consider your priorities. List them, leaving a few spaces between each. Based on Biblical principles, mine looks something like this:
*God
*Husband
*Kids/Home
*My Health (if you knew all my health issues…)
*Extended family/Friends
*Ministry
*Church activities (not church itself)
*Other activities (FRG, MOPS, etc)

3. Now, assign each of the activities from the first list to your priorities. What this exercise does is find areas in your schedule that are unnecessary or not being used adequately. This is just a visual for you and something to get your brain firing up before you start making your schedule. For instance, I recently cut out most of my TV time, because I found that I could have more time for both my kids and my writing, if I put that aside. Sounds like a duh-thing, I know. But sometimes you don’t want to give up shows you like. Now I just stick to two or three favorites, which I DVR so that I can watch them on MY time.

4. Pray over your lists. Take the time to consider what is important and why. Does Sally really need to be in soccer, dance, AND cheerleading at the same time? Would it be better for spouse to pick up Bobby from football on his way home from work, so that you can squeeze in 45 minutes of exercise/cleaning? Make notes as they come to you, but don’t start trying to work a schedule yet. To keep from making any rash decisions, these thoughts need to stew and simmer until…

THURSDAY!!!

Safe Schedules?

Happy September everyone!

Last night, during my Bible study time, I came to a revelation. Or possibly, God sent me a revelation. My Bible study group just started “Experiencing God” by Henry and Richard Blackaby. In the first week, they touch on a few basics for having a relationship with God and knowing God’s will. Day 3 discussed what it means to be God’s servant—and that’s when I got my revelation.

“…you do not have the ability to carry out the Lord’s command except to be where He wants you to be.” (pg 18)

Let that settle for a moment as I continue.

As you know, I am a stay-at-home mom to three kids, all four and under. I’m also a wife to an Army soldier who travels quite a bit. On top of that, I’m a fiction writer who hopes to get published sometime in the near future. Add in church and sports and homeschooling…life gets pretty hectic.

I spend a lot of time planning out my week to help smooth out my days. I make lists…lots of lists. I try to structure my days to ease my stress level. However, more often than not, the schedule falls through the cracks. Something always comes up.

Then my stress level goes through the roof. I feel like I’m not getting anything done. I get overwhelmed—sometimes to the point that I just don’t do anything—which of course is probably the worst thing to do.

But maybe there’s a reason my plans don’t work out.

“…you do not have the ability to carry out the Lord’s command except to be where He wants you to be.” (pg 18)

Maybe I am too busy planning out my life to allow for the flexibility for God to work through me. Maybe I get too focused on my own business that I miss opportunities God places in front of me.

That is definitely an important lesson for me. I need to let God lead my life day-by-day and trust in what He has in store for me.

Do you allow enough flexibility in your life to let God work through you?

It is Finished!

Okay, folks...prepare yourselves for big news.

The first draft of Dividing Spirits is officially completed.

EEEEEEEEEEEKKKKKKKK!

Last Friday, I finally typed those infamous words--"The End".

What a feeling! I mean, this is techically my third completed novel, and still, the feeling never changes. The whole "I can't believe I actually did it--again." I breathed a sigh of relief and was high all weekend.

Of course, along with the floating on the clouds feeling came the mind-numbing doubt. DS needs a lot of work, and I know that. Yet, I always get that nagging in the back of my mind. It'll never be good enough. Who would want to read this? Why are you investing so much time in something that will never go beyond a select few friends and family?

Yeah...I get that a lot.

This being my third attempt, though, I've learned how to push those doubts aside and put my trust in the Lord. It's true--this manuscript may never go beyond my crit partners, and the few family members and friends that enjoy reading my work. Being that Dividing Spirits is a supernatural suspense, it may not find a place in the market right now. But you know what? God allowed this experience to run its course for a reason. I may not know it...I may not even ever see it, but I know there is a reason.

A great way to take my mind off of my fears is to set goals. You all know how important I think they are. So, here's my goals for the next few months.

1. I will finish my first couple rounds of edits by August 31st. Writing time will be scarce, so I'm not sure how I'll do this, but we'll see.

2. I will send my first few chapters to friend and editor, Salley Bradley (check out her website). While she has those, I'll prepare my query letter and synopsis.

3. When I get back her suggestions, I'll do another round of edits. Then I will prepare the manuscript for submission. I have a couple of agents/editors that I know I want to query, but I'm also going to submit to the CWG First Novel Contest.

So what now?

I dust off my keyboard, pull out the notebook full of notes, and sit down. I pop open my Diet Coke, and open that first chapter once more.

Time to edit.

Up and Coming!

I got that bug again.

Yep.

I have to write. Something. Anything. And I want to share with my friends!

So, starting in August, it is my goal to post Monday thru Friday on my blog. I’ve designed a layout of sorts that will hopefully keep me on track. This way I’ll be able to get my blogs done quickly and still have fun with them. After all, what’s the point if I’m not having fun, right? Or, more importantly, if YOU’re not having fun?

Why August? Why not now?

Two reasons. The major one being that I want to give myself a little more time to “adjust” to having three children, one of them being a newborn. The other being that I have a lot going on this month.

My parents and sisters will be here this weekend—which is great because hubby will be leaving on another work trip next Monday. My family is staying for a week and then they are going to visit some other relatives and taking my girls with them! So the following week, being with only the baby, I hope to have a writing intensive week in which I will finish Dividing Spirits. Yep—that’s the goal. The last week in July, my girls will be back, so I’ll be getting used to taking care of all three kids all by myself. I’m grateful that I get to kind of “ease” into it.

Back to the blog—

I have some fun new things planned, posts which include Friend of the Week, Websites/Blogs to see, Product Reviews…and some more of the old favorites: Let’s Share!, Verse of the Week, and lots on the life and craft of writing.

For the rest of July, I still plan to update as much as I can. But more likely they will be life/family related…although, there may be lots of complaining and moaning and cheering during the writing intensive week.

I considered going offline for writing intensive week, but I think the only way I’ll stay sane is to continue to connect with my online friends. I’ll just restrict my time to early in the morning and late at night with maybe a brief venture in the middle of the afternoon. We’ll see…

So, I hope you’ll continue on this journey with me. What’s new in your life? What changes are in your future?

A Time to Learn

Over this past week, I discovered two new things about myself. Perhaps I’ve always been this way, and never noticed, or perhaps this is a fairly recent development (ie since I’ve had kids). Either way, I have just now come to terms with these realizations, a little late for the ACFW conference, but in good time for post-conference goals!

1. I am NOT a SOTP type of person. I must have order and organization when it comes to my writing (this doesn’t necessarily apply to my house, by the way, which is almost always in a state of chaos).
2. I DO NOT work well under extreme pressure. Some pressure is good…it motivates me to get my rear in fear. However lots of pressure (like 20K in five days with no husband at home and a list of non-writing chores to finish before I leave).

Like I said, this will be a lesson learned for the future. Chances are I won’t be quite as prepared for the ACFW conference as I would like to be, but instead of beating myself up about it, I’ll choose to learn from it and apply it in the future.

Some things I’ll do when I get back from the ACFW conference:

1. Make better use of my calendar. Not only will I write stuff on my calendar, but I will look at it—daily. Yes, I know that sounds silly, but you’ll be surprised how often I write stuff down, but then never review the calendar. Many a birthday cards have been late/not sent because of this. (sad…very sad)
2. Make better use of my time. As a stay-at-home mom, which comes with a set of stipulations of its own, with a military husband who is home as much as he is gone, majority of my time is obviously spent on my kids. In return, my writing time can be very restricted. So, as I figure out the best time for me, I need to make sure I make the best use of it…balancing fresh writing with CWG Apprentice homework, freelance work (which I hope to start), and reviews. A new schedule will be written up when I get back.
3. Set deadlines for myself and make out a plan to reach that deadline. How many words per day? Per week? How much time will I need for editing/revising?
4. Spend adequate time during the week dedicated to learning/honing the craft and researching the business.

I think that’s a start, don’t you?

A writer is basically self-employed. Unless we are under contract, it is our job to set standards for ourselves—deadlines, work schedule, etc. No one is going to do it for us. No one is going to call if we are thirty minutes late to the keyboard. No one is going to care if we call in sick. No one is going to miss us if we don’t finish our novel.

No, no one will miss us because the next big thing will have taken our place.

So, upon return to reality after the ACFW conference (and a short visit to my sister’s), I will revamp my writing lifestyle to accommodate the discoveries I have made. But what about you? What can you do to improve your writing time? Do you need to be more conscious of how you use your time? Do you need to learn to write even when you don’t feel like it? Does your writing area need a thorough cleaning and redecorated to help the muse work?