Category: Time Management

Take the Misery and Mystery Out of Packing School Lunches!

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lunch

 

Way back in June, a number of people mentioned how glad they were that summer was here because they wouldn’t have to pack school lunches anymore!  I decided then to write a Back-To-School blog to help! 

 

Here are 5 ways to make School Lunches easier, cheaper and more appealing:

  • Communicate with your Kids.
    • Have an honest conversation about what they will actually eat, and how much time is provided for lunch at school. 
    • For example, my teens have early start times, so breakfast has to be nutritious, portable and easy.  And the freshman has only half a lunch period, due to a biology lab class, so lunch will also need to be nutritious, portable and easy!
    • In the interest of time, my youngest asked for half-sandwiches and soft fruits like grapes, dried cherries or raisins, etc., because carrots and apples are yummy but require a lot of chewing.  I willingly agreed, since less food is wasted and he actually wants to eat his fruit.
    • Packing lunches together offers an opportunity to discuss good nutrition like serving sizes, food groups and pyramids, pros and cons of fresh foods and convenience or pre-packaged foods, etc.
  • Choose the right space and time to pack lunches. 
    • Establish a lunch packing zone with lunch bags, sandwich bags, fresh fruit, napkins, plastic spoons, etc. 
    • Our family is much better at packing lunches after dinner than we are at packing in the morning before school.  So as we clean up from dinner, we pack for the next day. When helps us to ….
  • Strategically plan and package leftovers.
    • Taco night?  Put together some tortillas with refried and cheese, they freeze great and stay cold!
    • My youngest loves cold pasta (I can’t explain it, but he loves it!)  So if I make homemade mac and cheese, spaghetti or other pastas, we portion the left overs into 2 or 3 containers for lunches.  Ham for dinner tonight means ham sandwiches tomorrow, etc.
  • Do as much prep as possible at home.
    • When my kids were younger, I learned the lunch room monitors spend a lot of time helping really little kids open hard-to-open packaging.  Make sure your kids can navigate their own sandwich bags, prepackaged chips or snacks, and water bottle.  And peel the oranges at home!
  • Assemble the lunches for the week all at once, if that helps.
    • Use reusable containers and lunch boxes, if possible.  We use lots of little Gladware bowls for prepacking our lunches!
    • I spent half an hour last night chopping fresh veggies into snack-able sizes. 001
    • Pre-package your own foods, to save time and money.  On Sunday, we fill Gladware bowls with servings of pretzels, chex mx, cookies and dried fruit, then use them throughout the week for speedy lunch assembly!
    • For example: I traveled to New Mexico in June, and in preparation,  my 10 year old and I packed as much of his lunch for sports camp as possible for the days I was going to be gone.   We lined up 5 paper lunch bags, and put his name on them.  Then we dropped in apples, bags of chips and bagged up cookies.  We also made 5 ham and cheese sandwiches, cut them into wedges, bagged them up and froze them.  So every morning, he just grabbed a bag from the counter, tossed in his frozen sandwich and cold juice pouch and was ready for camp.   (He loved it so much, we did the same thing the next week, even though I was home!).

Meet the school lunch challenge head on with a few of these tips.  Happy munching!  

And here are a few more resources on the topic:

 

Tweak Your Morning Routines this Week!

This past week provided excellent practice for heading back to school.  All three of my sons have had morning activities, helping us refresh our morning routines morning-clipart-5-free-summer-clipart-illustration-of-a-happy-smiling-sunbefore school actually starts.  We have discovered some stumbling blocks, and can now clear them before the first day in a few weeks.

Whether you are going back to school or not, I recommend we all take some time to tweak our morning routines this week.  Here is how:

  1. Sit down with everyone involved in your morning routine. Discuss start times, breakfast options, bedtimes, carpooling, etc.  If your schedule is the only one to consider, sit down with a pen and paper, and think about your morning routine.
  2. Look at what works:
    1. My youngest son’s schedule is unchanged, so he and I will stick with our regular plan, in the 7 am to 8:20 time slot.
    2. I have the most flexibility in the morning, since I am up really early but don’t need to be anywhere until I drop off the little guy.  I’ll move my routine around everyone else.
  3. Look at what needs fixed:
    1. We have to rearrange our shower schedule from years past, as we’ll have two high-schoolers with a 7 am start time and my husband still needs to be up and out of the house by 6:45.  (I am just going to stand back, though, and let the three earliest risers figure out their plan).
    2. We need to recommit to better breakfasts.
  4. Get everyone their own clock, and make they know how to use it correctly!  Kids need alarm clocks.  Because Mom is tired of nagging (or maybe that’s just me).
  5. Make breakfast portable.  Not everyone likes to eat breakfast before 7 am, at least not in my house, but they still need to have something nutritious with them.  So healthy and portable breakfasts are going to be very important this year.  With my kids’ collaboration, I’m planning on breakfast bars or granola bars, microwaveable breakfast sandwiches and fresh fruit.
  6. Plan ahead now!  Regardless of your student’s age (or yours), determine bed times and wake-up times.  And start adjusting your current sleep and wake times to line up with the new ones.  For example, we came home earlier than normal on Sunday night  from a weekend away, because early Monday morning was just too chaotic last week.   As mentioned, great practice for back-to-school!

Spend a little time this week improving your morning routine, and reap benefits all year long!

5 Ways to Find Productivity in Little Bits of Time

Since Chicago is a transportation hub, we have train and truck traffic in my neighborhood, and we hourglassget stuck by trains.  Drivers get justifiably aggravated with train traffic.  My Village of Evergreen Park listed the customer service number for a troublesome train line on their lighted marquee… right next to an intersection often blocked by those trains.  Genius!

I confess, I enjoy getting stopped by a train, so long as it’s a brief stop.  It is a reasonable excuse for being a few minutes late – texting “Train.  Sorry.  Be there soon”, folks will understand.  And it’s a mini-break in the midst of a busy day.  I grab a productive few minutes to check email, make a call, send a text, clean out my bag or car, or just play a game of Sudoku on my Iphone. As an added bonus, I find having something to do while I wait distracts me from getting aggravated, too.

We all benefit from improved time management and productivity.  Productivity means getting things done, managing our tasks and time well, taking good care of our responsibilities and relationships.  It means taking care of business effectively, so we can move on to something else.  I prefer to work in large, uninterrupted blocks of time, but rarely get that luxury.  Subsequently, I work hard to make the most of little bits of time, stuck by a train or between appointments, tasks, obligations and fun, especially in the summer!

Ideas for Finding Productivity in Little Pieces:

  1. Recognize that large tasks are comprised of related small tasks.  For example, I have “Client Care” on my to-do list every Tuesday.  “Client care” consists of emailing, texting or calling 5-10 clients, to arrange or confirm appointments, or just check in, and can occur in little pieces around other appointments and activities.  Any 2 or 3 minute pause can be used for “Client Care”.
  2. Keep a detailed to-do list.  “Run Errands” is not detailed enough.  “1. Drop off donations; 2. Pick up order at doctor’s office; 3. Make banking deposit; and 4. Drop off dry cleaning” is detailed.  And with today’s personal to-do list in hand, you can accomplish these tasks around other blocks of time on your schedule.  An errand or two on the way to work, at lunch and on the way home.  Details are key.
  3. Set your brain on a task or a question, and be open to the answer.  At the top of my to-do list I write “Unique gift idea for wedding?”  Or “Creative blog topic for next Tuesday?”  I’m always amazed at the people or ideas that come to me when I do this, providing inspiration!  Perhaps song lyrics, a client question, an on-line article, even a billboard.  I could waste a lot of time and mental energy forcing ideas or I can just let them come to me in small pieces.
  4. Boost productivity and assign “time allotments” to your tasks.  Looking at today’s tasks, I assign 5-10-15-30 and 60 minute labels to them.  Then throughout my day, when I have a few minutes, I can reach for the 5 or 10 minute tasks (make appointment, confirm client, make grocery list) and complete them in those little bits of time.
  5. Create a habit of checking and re-checking your efforts during your day. Many times a day, I stop and ask myself if I am working on what I need to be working on.  Or, am I aimlessly following links on Facebook?  I am not suggesting that you can’t just relax for a few minutes – relaxing is necessary for productivity, too!  But I am suggesting that we relax for a few minutes, and then return to the task at hand.

Next time you find yourself stuck by a train, in line at Starbuck’s, or waiting for your kids to get out of practice, seize the moment.  Breathe deeply and gently stretch your neck from side to side.  Then think through today’s tasks and spend a productive few minutes.  These little bits of productive time really add up by the end of the day!

Dedicated to JS, thanks for editing with me!

Swap 60 Minutes With Your Mail for 167 Worry-Free Hours! 

Does this sound familiar? mailbox-clip-art_436249

Piles of new / old / opened / mystery mail are scattered on flat surfaces all over your home.  Somewhere there’s a utility bill that might be due, and that reimbursement check from work is missing.  You are always vaguely worried about business falling through the cracks.

You’re not alone.  I worked with a client just last week with a similar challenge, and here’s how we cleaned up her surfaces, took care of this week’s mail and took care of business, in no time at all. Try it for yourself!

First, we collected the mail from the hall table, kitchen counter, dresser, mail box and desk top.  We wiped off a counter top, and made some space to get to work.

As we worked, I shared these truths with my client:

  1. The Pareto Principle (a.k.a. The 80/20 Rule)
    1. 80% of what we use in 20% of what we have.
    2. In business, the 80/20 rule says that 80% of our business comes from 20% of our clients.
    3. In a closet, the 80/20 rule says that if we own 10 pairs of pants, we wear the same 2 or 3 all the time.  In the kitchen, if we have 10 appliances, we use the same 2 or 3 every day.
    4. And if we get 10 pieces of mail today, we actually need to keep and act on 2 or 3.
  2. You will receive mail you don’t need and didn’t ask for.  Just because someone sent you something doesn’t mean you need it.
  3. Your daily mail is unlikely to contain anything truly urgent.
  4. Once you’re organized, maintenance takes no time at all.
  5. Sometimes a conscious effort once a week to work on mail all the way to completion is better than halfhearted dealings every day.

With these truths in mind, we tackled this week’s mail (and you can, too!):

  1. We pulled out ads and old newspapers, and recycled them.
  2. We pulled out magazines, confirmed my client actually wanted to read them, and created a reading pile.
  3. Next we opened up every envelope.  Why?
    1. Just like the book and cover analogy, you can’t judge your mail by the envelope.  For example, health insurance reimbursement checks look just like Explanation of Benefit envelopes.  In addition, credit card solicitations don’t always look personalized on the outside envelope, but can contain personal information inside and therefore require shredding.
    2. We can recycle parts of every mail item. For example, my client’s ComEd envelope contained a bill page, a return envelope, a “customer privacy info” sheet and an advertisement.  We kept only the bill page, as she pays her bill on-line and didn’t need the return envelope,
  4. Next, we put the “bills to pay” and the follow-up items in a small pile, for my client to complete when our session was over.  Since we had purged 80% of the papers, there were only 3 or 4 action items, which will take maybe 15 minutes to complete.
  5. We took out the recycling, shred a few papers containing personal info and filed the rest (just a few).
  6. Total elapsed time – 15 minutes. Done and Done.

For many of us, tackling the mail once a week is enough.  And by “tackling”, I mean taking our daily mail all the way from the mailbox to complete and filed.  This approach requires up to an our once a week, uninterrupted, but surely an hour of hard work and focus is worth the freedom from paper management tasks for the other 167 hours!  Give it a try!

Who’s Driving This Car Anyway? You. You Are In Charge. 

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Every day, we’re bombarded by unwanted pressures influencing our decisions.  To improve time management, clear mental clutter and find Peace of Mind, it is important to remember Who Is Driving This Car, Anyway?  You are.  You own your decisions.

It’s hot outside, but a client just purchased flannel sheets… patterned with snowflakes. Why?  Because he keeps a running list of household items he needs, and then peruses emails from his favorite retailers, waiting for a good sale and free shipping.  He found some high quality sheets on clearance, got a great deal plus free shipping.  This client is driving the car.  He’s in charge, and uses retailer offers to his best advantage.

Speaking of sheets, another client asked “Why should I buy sheets in January?” Major retailers typically offer White Sales and special deals on bedding, towels, etc. in January, but she resents pressure from outside forces to buy bedding only in January.  If we need new bedding now, why wait?  And if we don’t need bedding or towels, we may succumb to advertising pressure and begin to think maybe we really DO need them, since the advertisements say we do.  This client is in charge, and will buy bedding based on needs, not on advertising pressures.

What should guide your actions:

  • Your beliefs, faith, personal goals and objectives
  • The needs and wants (within reason) of your loved ones / the people you are responsible for
  • Your own needs and wants, in that order
  • Your work responsibilities, your own agenda, personally and professionally, and the tasks attached

What should NOT guide your actions:

  • Indecision. Fear. Procrastination. Inertia.  Busy work.
  • Pop-culture pressures.  Anything you see on TV or in a catalog, article or newspaper, unless it fits in with the list above of “Should Guide Your Actions”
  • The unsolicited suggestions or opinions of strangers, or other people’s drama / goals / objectives

I mentioned in a paper management class last week that we should unsubscribe from every Catalog.  We live very happily without an item until we see it in the shiny pages of a catalog.  And then we are reeled in with the artfully crafted ad and MUST HAVE that piece!  A class participant shared an insight she gained from that statement:

She has been struggling to stay inside her weekly food budget. She dutifully reviews the grocery store ads for the best deals on her food items, and uses coupons, too.  However, she lets the ads dictate her grocery list, instead of looking first at what she already has on hand in her kitchen.  The stores were driving the car, not her own needs.  She will now shop for what she needs, and not just what is on sale.

I read an article last week about how double spacing between sentences is now outdated, and everyone should single space after a period.  The writer reasoned that the age of computers has eliminated the need for double spacing as fonts are more readable now than on a typewriter.  Reading this reasonable (single spaced) article could influence me to edit the last 20 years of my articles, just to conform to this writers’ assertion.

But… it turns out, I don’t care.

I don’t care if my sentences are single or double spaced. Perhaps I should, and perhaps I will try to start that new habit, but probably not.  I could spend hours and days adhering to some stranger’s suggestion.  But I won’t.  Because 1.  both ways are technically correct, 2. I have other things to do with my time, and 3. I’m driving THIS car.

Get clear on your own beliefs, values, needs and wants. Make sure you are the one Driving This Car.  You will make better decisions, and be less likely to cave under external pressures.

What Do “Fat” Pants and Empty File Cabinets Have in Common? 

What Do “Fat” Pants and Empty File Cabinets Have in Common? Well, let me tell you.

Recently, a client rejoiced about losing 50 pounds over a two year period.  Awesome!  However, she can’t seem to part with a few pair of pants from those past heavier days.  Her concern?  “What if I gain some weight back? I’ll need these (old, stretched, faded) pants.”

Another client recognizes that his work office is overcrowded.  He and I have worked for months, converting his papers to either digital documents or to shredding.  And even though he has lightened his paper load considerably, he is still hesitant to get rid of the old empty file cabinets. “What if I accumulate all that paper again?”

“What If?” or “…Just In Case…” is what “fat” pants and empty file cabinets have in common.  We rejoice with positive change, but don’t always trust our good fortune or good intentions to last.  So we keep clutter, instead of purging it.  And it piles up.

We all have some “What If? / Just In Case” items cluttering our space or brains.  I’m a planner and a Mom, so I spend a lot of time considering “What If? / Just In Case”.  For example, I packed for a 7 mile hike last week – “What if it rains? Or someone gets hurt?  Better pack the rain gear, first aid kit, and some extra water, just in case.”

Some “What If? / Just In Case” is necessary.  But saving too much for “someday” gets us into trouble, by subconsciously giving us permission to fall back into past negative behaviors.  Or we crowd our closets and offices with STUFF saved for “What If? / Just In Case”, for some possible future far down the road.  And all that STUFF gets in the way of today’s reality.

I helped a client de-furnish her space last week.  We moved a large table out of her living / dining area, and moved a desk, chair, box fan and mirror out to the curb.  Some stranger will come along, pick up the items and be happy.  She let go of the “What If? / Just In Case” items, and has more room to breathe and move, plus less visual clutter.

How?  She knows she has all the stuff she needs, and now she needs clear space and peace of mind.  She has changed her habits over time, and knows that regardless of what life brings, the uncomfortable chair and outdated desk won’t be needed.  Empty boxes or furniture is great, but sometimes attracts more clutter.

Over the weekend, another client was seeking motivation to go through some clothes, papers and religious items.  I suggested she start looking at her stuff with the belief “I know I have everything I need”.  Then she supplied the important rest of the question:  “Since I have everything I need, Could someone else use this, more than me?”  The coat we save for “What If” could keep someone warm today.  The old dishes or household goods could help a woman getting back on her feet after homelessness.

So when “What If?” or “… Just In Case…” has got you stuck, change your internal sound track and make some changes.  Tell yourself:

  • Letting go of STUFF will provide me with Peace of mind, clear and uncluttered space, perhaps a little extra $$ in my pocket or a charitable donation tax write-off.  Those are real and immediate benefits, to counteract the vague and uncertain “What If? / Just In Case”
  • I have everything I need.  And more.
  • Since I have everything I need, I can let some things go.
  • If I let something go and then someday need it again, I can borrow it / rent it / be creative and make do.
  • Having the fat pants / empty file cabinets will tempt me into sliding back into old and bad habits.

Conquer “What if?”  or “… Just In Case…”, make some permanent positive change, and purge that clutter!  Gone, gone, gone is Good!!

I’ll Never Be A Secret Agent (And I’m OK With That)

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secret agentI’ll Never Be A Secret Agent (And I’m OK With That).  Or, this article could also be titled “How being organized and predictable makes me a better mom, driver, dry cleaner customer and person.”

I have been thinking a lot about time management lately, to prepare for 2 productivity presentations.

My sons and I like to watch “NCIS LA” together, it’s one of our favorite shows.  The characters, the agents, often discuss how they vary their schedule every day – rarely stopping at the same coffee shop or taking the same route to work, all in the interest of their personal and professional safety.  For them, having a predictable routine could encourage an attack, so they shake it up every day.

I, on the other hand, am apparently predictable.  Or so says my son.  Last week on his birthday, he and some fellow band students stayed late to help with an evening event.  I let his band director know that I would bring cupcakes for the kids who stayed late, to help my son celebrate.  It’s a good thing I did, too, because when I mentioned it to my son, he said “I sort of expected it, Mom, you did it last year for the same reason, I figured you would do it this year, too.  You’re kind of predictable like that.”

Predictable sounds rather dull, but finding out that predictable means I consistently do nice things for my son and he knows he can count on me makes me think predictable is pretty great.

I stopped by the dry cleaners this morning, to drop off my husband’s work clothes.

The nice lady I see every week at the Cleaners:  “Good morning.  You’re early today!”

Me:  “Yes, lots of people to see and things to do”.

Nice lady:  “And you’re dressed for working, you must have people to help.”

Me: “Yes!  No jeans or skirts today!”  Then….

Nice lady: “6 pants and 5 shirts this week? Did your husband buy some new pants?”

Me:  “Why yes, yes he did.”   Then, at the end….

Nice Lady: “See you next Monday!”

This is typical.  And as I think about it, being consistent and predictable in my errand running has made it really easy for my Cleaners to take good care of me (and she really is a very nice lady!!).  Interesting.

My oldest son is learning to drive.  Lately, many conversations center on the logistics of driving, but also the spirit of driving.  For example, on the expressway yesterday, we talked about how important it is for all the drivers on the road to follow the rules.  The three lanes of expressway traffic flow much better when slow cars stick to the right lanes, and when the left lane is used solely for passing.  Other drivers depend on us to follow rules and be predictable in our actions, so they can make their decisions, too.

So, looking at my three examples, and taking a metaphorical leap:

  1. Being predictably organized make it easy for my kids and family members to count on me;
  2. Being predictably consistent improves my relationship with others, to our mutual benefit; and
  3. Acting predictably makes for a safer and more positive flow in life.  Unless you are a secret agent.
  4. (I suppose I could be predictably bad, too, if I never showed up for stuff or did things consistently wrong, but that’s not today’s topic.)

Now, I know some instances in life require spontaneity and creativity, and I can step up with both of those, too, I am not advocating only predictable and organized behavior.  I am recommending, however, that you spend a little time today and this week considering how creating and maintaining routines and predictability could improve your performance or relationships.  Meeting the same friend or co-worker for a weekly chat, consistently getting your work submitted ahead of time, creating routines for making everyone’s day less stressful and more enjoyable.  Sounds pretty good to me!  So, I’m ok with never being a secret agent. I have other things to do.

Command Center Part 2: Your Paper & Scheduling Challenges (& Solutions)!

A few weeks ago, I asked my FB friends to tell me their most and least favorite things about their Command Centers.  And because I know absolutely awesome people, I received great input and ideas!

The biggest challenges for my contributors were Paper Management and Scheduling.  There was a third area, Technology, but I will address that in a separate blog article!

So, Command Center Paper Management and Scheduling ideas – here we go!!!!

Paper:

  • Did you know?  There are three main types of paper: Active, Passive and Archival.  And each requires slightly different handling.
  • Active (requires an action):
    • If a paper needs returned to school, sign it immediately, note any necessary info on your calendar of choice, attach a check or cash if necessary, then send it back to school.  Right away!
    • Tuck Bills-to-Pay in their own folder, so everything’s together when the weekly bill-paying time comes.
    • If the action required is to jot down a date or details in your planner, make time to do this everyday.  Maintaining our active papers daily keeps them from building up.
  • Passive (keep for a predetermined amount of time, then purge):
    • If you keep schedules or notices for upcoming events on hand, keep them all on one single clip, with the soonest event on top.  Keeping too many notices or reminders causes visual clutter, and we stop really seeing what’s in front of us.
    • Kid papers – admire-then-purge daily papers, if possible.  If papers need to be kept for a few weeks, tuck them in hanging folders per person, and purge monthly.
    • Display kid art on the fridge, and purge old items as new ones come along.
    • Purge passive papers ruthlessly!  Once a week is preferred, once a month is a Must.
  • Archival (papers we expect to make a permanent record)
    • Keep a binder per person for long term papers, or papers you want to keep.  Each of my sons has a binder for their academic records, award certificates, team photos, etc., organized by academic year.
  • With each piece of paper in hand, ask yourself a few questions:
    • What is the next action to take on this paper?  (Act, File, toss)
    • If I choose to keep this paper, why am I choosing to keep this paper?  For example:
      • Academic records?  someone may ask for it some day.
      • Today’s completed and graded spelling test?  No one needs it anymore.  And no, your child will not want to look at it again in 20 years.

Scheduling:

Many of you have scheduling challenges, and I absolutely understand.  My sons, while awesome!!, are often a little light on calendar and event details.

Good scheduling requires regular effort, strategic planning, cooperation from all participants, and communication!  Communication is key.

We have planning sessions with both parents and two teenagers, typically on Sunday night after dinner. The 9 year old gets the highlights and then is dismissed.  I keep everyone’s calendar in MS Outlook, so our planning sessions consist of making sure everyone has the same information in front of them.  We had one a few weeks ago, we probably need to have another one this week since we just added another sports team and schedule.  My husband and the teenagers use Google Calendars, so they can synchronize their own pertinent info, and invite me via email to important events.  I have not yet made the switch.

A few of you asked about scheduling “consequences / rewards”, but I don’t give parenting advice!  However, we have a few guidelines:

  • If you want to add an event to the calendar, tell me in writing / text/ email so I won’t forget it
  • You are one person in a 5 person household.  Keep that in mind when making time and event requests.
  • If you didn’t inform me of an event with adequate warning, it’s possible you may not be able to attend.  You know I will always try, but the answer may be “no”.
  • At any time, the answer may be “No”. And school, family time and church can trump anything else.

If your challenges are also paper and scheduling, try one of these solutions today!

Five (Really!) Simple Steps To Start Menu Planning!

Many of my clients have “Start Menu Planning” on their list of projects. And many never get around to it.  Meal planning is such an invaluable practice, for home management and peace of mind, nutrition and wellness.  People know Menu Planning is a good idea, but getting started proves too daunting.

Why Bother with Menu Planning?  Spending 30 minutes once a week to menu plan will:

  • Save money (shopping the sales, using coupons, using your food better)
  • Save time (plan ahead, cook once and eat twice)
  • Decrease stress. (Avoid the 4 pm emergency grocery run FOREVER!)
  • Allow more flexibility in your schedule.  (Be in command of Dinner Time, instead of a slave to it!
  • Provide better nutrition for you and your family.   (Home cooking is almost always the most nutritious, and family dinners are the foundation of family communications!)

But you probably know all that, just like my clients do.  So the hurdles are still “How do I start?  Where do I start?  What is the small first step that I need to take to start making this good idea a reality?”

Start Where You Are, with What You Have.  And Start Right Now. 

It takes little time and no tools. 

Just start.

  1. Start In Your Kitchen, not at the grocery.  Take an inventory, and base your Menu on what you have.  I was recently in a client’s kitchen, and she had made a list of what was in the freezer.  Brilliant!  Most kitchens I am in have too much food, which means most of us more challenged by “How to use what I have?” than by “Help, the cupboards are bare!”  So, now that you know what you have…..
  2. Make a list of your Family Favorites, and start with those (and not intimidating new recipes).  Start with meals you know your family will eat.  Have everyone list their favorites, and work those into your plan.
  3. Start with just today.  This morning, look in the kitchen and decide what is for dinner.  Decide on your dinner time, thenIMG_1520 check your recipes, if you use them, to determine when you need to get started.  Now pull out 2 baking dishes.  Load one on the counter with the non-perishables to make dinner tonight.  Put the other in the fridge with the perishables.  If you are feeling really ambitious, plan breakfast and lunch while you’re at it.
  4. Do this every day for a few days, until you get the feel for how it works.  Now go the next step, and plan a few days ahead.  Look at that!  You’re Menu Planning!
  5. Be open to changing your kitchen and your habits:
    1. A client suggested buying an extra set of measuring scoops to leave in your canisters.  The largest scoop can go in the flour, second largest in the sugar, third largest in the brown sugar, etc.  Or go to the dollar store, grab all 1 Cup scoops, and leave those in every canister. (thanks LG!)
    2. I am working on a chart for my kitchen cabinets.  The list contains all the items that I tend to use, and how many of IMG_1285each I need in a typical 2 week period (that’s how often I do my major grocery shopping).  For example, if I tend to use 4 cans of tomatoes every 2 weeks, I need 4 on hand, or I need to add some to my grocery list.  Your grocery stores have re-order points, consider this inventory control.
    3. I may not have mentioned it lately, but I love my crock pot.  At least once a week, I spend 20 minutes and assemble dinner at 8 am.  I love coming home those days to the smell of dinner cooking!
    4. A friend shared this link on Facebook, just as I was editing this article!  http://blog.myfitnesspal.com/2014/03/plan-prep-party-3-steps-to-a-cooking-at-home-habit/
    5. Also, go to www.cookingwithchefkate.wordpress.com, and sign up to receive Kate’s blogs.  She has a handy “search option”, and so many of my new favorite recipes come from Kate! (and she is a friend and just delightful!)  Check it out!
    6. Use your prep time for twice the impact.  Soup is on today’s menu, which is great because I can spend 10 extra minutes, clean and cut all the carrots and celery I bought the other day, and have carrot sticks for snacks and diced veggies for a meal later in the week.

So, I hope I have taken some of the “overwhelm” out of getting started with Menu Planning.  It really is a great practice, and saves so much time and money.   Start In Your Own Kitchen, Start Small – Just START!

Strategic Planning: My March Marching Orders

I’m working on my Strategic Plan this week, and you should, too.

My 2014 so far:

January:  snow; back-to-school and holiday wrap up; Get Organized Month, presentations and new clients; busy family life.

February: snow; my son’s Confirmation and the associated preparations, sacramental and otherwise; my Dad’s illness and the travel and planning associated (he’s better now); and busy family life.

These are all good things.  I’ve been focusing on details and getting things done, and that’s great.  But now I need to check my Big Picture, and make sure I’m looking at the right details and getting the right things done, plus plot my personal and professional path for the next couple of months.   Onward March!!

What and where:  Strategic planning is a useful activity to help us see the Big Picture, and determine:

  • What we’re doing;
  • where we are;
  • where we are actually going;
  • where we are should be heading;
  • where other people around us are going, and
  • what we have at our disposal to get us where we want to go, either personally or professionally.

There are often times when we just need to move forward, but only after we know where “forward” is, since we wouldn’t want to charge off a metaphorical or actual cliff…

When: 

I am a planner.  So trust me when I say, “Don’t Spend Too Much Time Planning”.  We can over-analyze and over-plan, leading to Analysis Paralysis and getting “stuck”.

Never Let Planning Take the Place of Action.

Regularly review your Plan and make sure you are still on the right path, doing the right things, moving towards the right goal.  I discussed this topic with my husband recently, and he mentioned that his department’s implementing weekly meetings, for everyone to check in on work flow plus elements of their strategic plan.

I can’t tell you the right percentage of time to spend time in planning.  It is necessary, but so is doing your actual work!  So make time for both!

Why and How:

  1. Strategic Planning takes the view from 30,000 feet.  Focusing solely on details for long periods of time stresses me out.  The closer we look at something, often the less we see.  So backing up, and looking at an overview gives us perspective and a break.  For example, looking ahead perhaps I see a conference coming up in April – I can note that, and start preliminary planning or book my travel plans, but I certainly don’t need to start packing.
  2. It always feels better to have a plan.  Most of us don’t like feeling out of control.  I understand the benefits of planning for events and the unexpected.  And just because sometimes things don’t go as planned, they often do.  And the act of planning is invaluable.  “In preparing for battle I have always found that plans are useless, but planning is indispensable”.  Dwight D. Eisenhower
  3. Strategic Planning elevates the mundane, and gives purpose to our actions.  When we look at the Big Picture, we seen that our every-day work is part of something bigger and grander.  Hope is a huge motivator!
  4. Strategic Planning helps us recognize and allocate resources.  My biggest resource challenge right now is my own time.  I have ideas and energy to spare, but a busy schedule to manage.  I wouldn’t want it any other way.  But it means I have to allocate my most valuable resource very carefully.  Which leads me to ….
  5. Priorities: I have 7 index cards sitting here on my desk, with one word written on each, representing my main priorities.  Knowing that time is my most valuable resource, any new requests on my time have to fit in of those priorities, or the answer is “No, thanks”.
  6. Master To-Do List:  My master To-Do List is not the same as my Strategic Plan.  The Plan has broad categories and steps, and the To-Do List a very detailed list of tasks.  I couldn’t have one without the other.  My Strategic Plan dictates my tasks, and having my Master To-Do List ensures that work gets done, because it collects tasks and ideas for 4 or 6 months down the road, so the Plan and the List rely on each other.

This is a very broad topic, and I’ve given you a lot to think about today.  I have taken entire college courses on similar subjects, so I know Strategic Planning can feel a little overwhelming.  But invest some time this week on your Strategic Plan.  Gain perspective, look ahead, cultivate some hope, elevate your “everyday”.  Time well spent, I promise!