Chocolate Vegetables

My Roles
(written originally in August 2007 after reading First Things First by Steven Covey)

WIFE:  
    I make special time for our marriage each week and really go all out to make my dh feel special and loved.  I do this happily as I recognize that our marriage vows are important to me.

MOTHER/TEACHER:  
    I give my children healthy habits such as enough rest, enough exercise, healthy eating with no hang-ups.  I teach my children to respect their bodies and to want the best for themselves.  I guide them in the best ways of living so that their physical bodies do not fail them.
    I guide my children in being able to be themselves in a relaxed manner in any social setting.  I teach my children to have good manners such as Please, Thank you, I am sorry.  I encourage them to be courteous to women and the elderly.
    I teach my children to have a good sense of right and wrong that is internally enforced.  I encourage my children to have a faith and belief in something outside themselves that they can rely on in times of need.
    My children are open to learning and excited by the world.  I do what I have to to give them the best start possible along the path to higher education so that they can achieve their full potential financially and mentally .
    I encourage my children to be confident and to know their own mind.  I teach them to be able to express themselves clearly and honestly.  I teach them to be kind, considerate and to show empathy for others.

HOMEMAKER:
    I am learning to cook nutritious well balanced meals on a budget.  I am guiding my family in healthier heating habits and am doing my best to follow my suggestions also.  We eat an abundance of fresh fruit, vegetables and whole grains.
    I look after the health of my family with the meals I prepare and the cleanliness of my home.  I also make sure that the medicines are always current and that the first aid items are accessible.
    I make rules for my children that help them to stay safe.  I also make sure that I tidy up the house so that unsafe items are secure.
    I keep track of our finances and control my spending so that we are living with our means.  I am careful to be frugal wherever possible and am learning to look for the true bargain.  I accept our current financial situation and learn from it.
    I am regular with my cleaning of our home and self disciplined with regards to doing each chore when I have planned to do it.  The health of my family and the appearance of my home are dependant on my cleaning efforts.

INDIVIDUAL:
    I look after myself mentally by reading good books, having a positive attitude and associating with uplifting people; spiritually by attending church and continuing to learn more, having personal prayer time and reading my scriptures; physically by looking after my health with regular exercise and good food, and emotionally by finding healthy ways to express myself and get my needs met.


I have others but haven't managed to expand them out as much with statements.  My other roles include friend, family member, church member and community member.

Hope this inspires you to create your own.

My Values
(written originally in August 2007 after reading First Things First by Steven Covey)

FAMILY:  
    I have a family which is happy to be together, who build each other and who we can feel totally safe with.  I give my children a secure feeling that I will accept them no matter what and that I can always be honest with them.  My relationship with my dh is strong with lasting ties, not just the flimsy one of a ring but a deep hearted reason.  I am a person who binds my extended family together so that we all have more than just ourselves in a crisis.

FINANCIAL SECURITY:  
    I am able to pay bills on time and also live frugally so that we have funds to do the fun things like a holiday regularly and a big holiday overseas.  I want to manage our resources so that we have more than enough no matter how little or much comes into our household.

PERSONAL HEALTH:  
    I am healthy physically because I am going to live to 100 years old.  I am healthy mentally so that I live those 100 years contributing and making a difference, not just sitting around vegetating.  I am healthy spiritually so that I am more at peace as I get older, not grumpier with a life of regrets.

WISDOM:  
    I am able to teach others what I know and also am teachable.  I am a valued member of my family because I listen and have an accepting attitude.

EDUCATION:  
    I am using my brain to its fullest extent.  I do not waste my potential with my education.

CONTRIBUTION:  
    I am making a contribution to society, on a small scale in the groups and church I attend, and in my neighbourhood, and in the future on a much larger scale by creating a family farm where families can learn to be families when the world tries to tear them apart.

CHILDREN:  
    I am passing on my values to my children.  I am teaching them by my example and principles to be responsible, community minded adults who know the value of hard work yet keep their lives balanced.

FRIENDS:  
    I develop friendships with as many people as possible and work at being a supportive friend for my closer friends.  I am open to new friends and keep my current friendships strong.

Hope these inspire you to do up your own.

This is my version of using the Franklin Covey system.  Please realise I got my first planner in 1993 in the paper form, then converted to the electronic version on a Palm when my binder was stolen in 2001.  

First Things First was my main inspiration for the below method.  The way I do the steps may very well not mesh with Steven Covey's more recent publications.  I would love to read his more recent book about the 8th Habit but I am still stuck back at the Quadrant level of prioritising my day.  Ahh well, it has still improved my life and as a busy homeschooling mother with a new baby I am happy with my level of productivity right now.

Step 1 Discover what matters most to you by
  - clarifying your values,
  - identifying and defining your roles;
  - thinking about who you want to be,want to have, want to do; and
  - creating a mission statement.

Step 2 Plan what matters most with the following steps:

  a. Create goals - From what you want to be, want to have, want to do create goals, remembering the S.M.A.R.T. (simple, measurable, achievable, reward and have a time frame) system.

I create a master goal sheet/index card for each goal I know will have multiple steps.  At first I brainstorm them and the ideas are all over the place but then I write them out in order and put dates beside each step.  Click here to download my goal sheet.

  b. Monthly and/or Weekly planning - Maybe some of you can plan out a month in advance but in my world of changing children and other life intrusions weekly planning is the most useful time frame for me.  Once a week I go through my values, read through my statements linked to my roles and read through my goals.  I note down a list of things I would like to work on in the following week from my goals, add in a focus for any roles that have been lacking in attention lately such as time with my poor hubby without children interruptions and then turn to my calender.  On my big calendar (A4 page folded up inside my small file box of index cards) I note down days that may best suit actioning any of the items on my list.

  c. Daily Focus - On a daily basis I re-read my roles and values, my mission statement or inspiring thought then I check my calendar, write things down on post its to add to my routine, check my school plans and add those notes in too.  (If you have come to this post first in my blog please check out this blog post on how I put together my index cards and album.)

Step 3 Review - If I manage to have an end of day rehash time I cross off the things done from my goal cards, remove the post it notes and check that my actions matched my priorities in life.  Sometimes this review is ugly.  Actually considering these are my days with a new baby make that most days are "ugly".  lol

I hope these tips help your days to be more productive.

Over the years I have tried many ways of planning.  A paper binder worked well bk (before kids) and my Tungsten E Palm was good too, but I got to a stage as a homeschooling, stay at home mama that neither of these tools were working for me.

That is when I transferred all my planning pages to index cards and created a paper version of the Franklin Covey software I like to use. I was finding that 20 minutes of daily planning was taking 2 hours of also checking emails, surfing links set in said emails, etc, and then signing off with several games of Spider Solitaire. Not a good start to the day!

Here is how I have worked it so if you're really not into the whole idea of mission statements, goal setting, prioritising etc this could be over the top. It is sort of a combination of FlyLady's CJ and a Franklin Covey planner.

I have my routines written on index cards and inserted into a photo album. The cards are in this order...

1. Morning Routine for me
2. Morning Routine once kids are up (or need to be kick started lol)
3. Breakfast and post breakfast routines
4. Chore Time only written on card
5. An empty space that I put that zone's card into each day as I do my planning (I have my house broken into 6 zones Mon - Sat and then have 4 different weeks that I rotate through for monthly tasks)
6. Yard Time routines
7. School Time only written on card
8. Space for putting post it note with quick details of school to be done
9. Morning Tea and School Time
10. Space for putting post it note with quick details of school to be done
11. Lunch and post-lunch routines
12. Table Time space for Science/History activities, Art/Craft ideas, Preschool activities, again with post it notes with prompts
13. Project Time space for my personal project time, time for kids to use PC or watch pre-approved DVD, or work together on a bunny trail from our lessons
14. Afternoon routines
15. Dinner and after dinner routines
16. Bedtime routines
17. My personal time routines

How I do my day...

On card 1 I have personal planning time. In this time in the morning I look through some index cards from a file box. These are:

1. Mission Statement/Inspirational Quote for this period of my life
2. Values eg Family, Education, Service with a short statement of what each means to me
3. Roles eg Mum/Teacher, Homemaker, Individual, Church Member, Family Member, Wife, Community Member each again with short brief statements of areas that are important to me in each role eg as Mum/Teacher giving my children basic skills in personal hygeine, 3Rs, etc suitable for their age
4. Project/Long Range Goals with tasks/steps necessary
Eg Homemaker Project 1
Goal: Tidy and catalogue outgrown boys clothing
Tasks: - Sort clothes by size into boxes
- Make a list for each size noting item brand, style of clothing, colour, condition
- Type up lists in Excel for analysis
- Send lists to my mum
- Put list in HMB (Home Management Binder)
- Move boxes to garage

I have cards for all sorts of projects and regularly check through them, pencil in dates when I write a step on a post it note for in my photo album, then cross off as done or rub out pencil because it has dropped in priority and I must do some other Project task more urgently.

I also have a Misc project card for those things that I want to do that are only one task to complete, like posting a letter off or hemming a certain skirt for instance.

Next I insert the appropriate zone card and write up lessons from my Homeschool binder onto post-its in a very brief summary form, sticking them in the appropriate spots in the photo album.

A list like in Franklin Covey overwhelms me or makes me want to do it all now and my routines fly out the window. Having only routines with no place to record big goals/projects or one off tasks wasn't working either, so this is my way of combining the two. Now I know to leave projects till the afternoon, to not get caught up cataloguing clothes when school hasn't been done yet, and other similar dilemmas.

Ok, was that overwhelming?

For me I needed to put it all in one place and my to do lists kept clashing with my routines and I was running around stressed but not doing anything important. So far this seems to be working for me.

Ask away if you have any questions.