Penelope Loves Lists: In Time Management from the Inside Out, you talk a lot about different calendaring system options. What is YOUR method? What tools do you use for calendaring yourself?

Julie Morgenstern: For my calendaring method, I use a Time Map, which is a tool that I have been teaching my clients for years. A Time Map eliminates your need to multi-task, and puts you back in control of your days. It helps you to become proactive amid the swirl of demands that come your way. Simply put, a Time Map is a budget of your day, week, or month that carves out distinct times for each of the key departments of your life. Instead of feeling that you have to act on every request the minute it crosses your path, your Time Map guides you, helping you determine whether you have time to handle an unexpected task, how much time you will devote to it and when you will do it. When you don’t have a Time Map, you have no idea what to do when. Every day is a total free-for-all. You just say yes to whatever screams loudest, with no perspective on how to prioritize incoming requests, and when you should be doing things. Of course, this is what leads to multi-tasking…just doing things as they come at you.

A Time Map provides structure to your day — carving out regular time for what is most essential to you. Rest assured that a Time Map can be adapted to your personal style, whether you thrive on routine or variety, whether you have complete or only partial control over your day. Built around your own custom set of priorities and personal style, your Time Map reflects who you are and what is important to you.

PLL: What are your “hot spots”? What are the physical places or work issues you struggle to keep organized? How do you handle them?

JM: I would say that like everyone, my systems become challenged when my company grows.  With each new service offering we develop, or for each division we add, my roles and responsibilities change, the information I need to track changes, and for a period of time, while in transition, my files, desk and even my schedule can become messy.  Until you know exactly what your new role is, and the information you need to manage a new aspect of your business, it’s hard to create a system.  So, with growth come periods where things are less buttoned down than I prefer to be.  But, those periods pass, and then a new system is born.

Julie doing some organizing

PLL: In what form (online, notebook, etc.) do you keep your daily To Do list?

JM: I view my to-do list as an extension of myself, so it is very important that I have chosen the right system. I prefer a paper planner. These work best for “visual/tactile” people (i.e. those who find physically writing things out pen to paper helps them think and remember more clearly).  Entering information into a paper planner is more instant than booting up an electronic device. Portability is essential for women on the go. Sometimes our work requires us to keep our schedules on the computer. If this is the case, combine these systems by printing out a planner sized version of your calendar each day, recording changes on the printout while out of the office.  Update your computer schedule first thing each morning.

Having a single, reliable to-do system puts me in command of my days by providing a complete picture of everything I need to do.  Prioritization is easier when I have full context.  And I am more confident staying focused on the moment, when everything is present and accounted for.

PLL: What’s your favorite organization tool?

JM: I use a tool that I designed called the “Julie Morgenstern Balanced Life Planner” to keep me on track and balance my time between writing, speaking, running a business, being a mom, spending time with friends, and still dedicating some time just for me.  This system gives helps me plan my days realistically so I feel excited, rather than overwhelmed, when I wake up. With this planner, I stay on track, create days that are meaningful, and connect my daily activities to my big picture goals.

Throughout my 20 years as a time management coach, I’ve found that there are certain key skills that make the difference between a day that feels in balance vs. out of balance.  And those are the skills I teach my clients in one on one sessions to create meaningful and fulfilling days.  In partnership with Franklin Covey, I wanted to design a planner that brought the coaching I do with my clients directly to you. The “Julie Morgenstern Balanced Life Planner” teaches you the 5 Gateway skills to staying in balance:

• Skill # 1-Time Estimating
• Skill # 2- The 4 D’s to streamline your to-do list
• Skill # 3-Group Similar Tasks
• Skill # 4- Creating a Time Map
• Skill # 5- Controlling the Nibblers

PLL: What does a typical Tuesday (or any weekday) schedule look like for you?

JM: On my Time Map, a typical day of the week is divided by distinct blocks of time. These blocks represent the key departments of work and my life. My schedule will generally look like this:

8:00 am – 9:00 am: Wake up, exercise, meditate, eat breakfast, feed my cats

9:00 am – 12:00 pm: Writing and creative time

12:00 pm – 2:00 pm: Touch base with staff and do media interviews

2:00 pm – 5:00 pm: Client Meetings

5:00 pm – 7:00 pm: Wrap-up and handle day’s requests

7:00 pm – 11:00 pm: Dinners out (business and leisure)

PLL: Are you working on something new? Can you give us a hint?

JM: I am working on some great new products that will help you stay organized. Stay tuned!

While we wait for Julie’s new products, let’s spend our time reading her latest book, SHED Your Stuff, Change Your Life: A Four-Step Guide to Getting Unstuck. I loved this book. It walks you through practical ways to break through whatever is keeping you from meeting your goals, whether it’s organization challenges or mental barriers.

I’m excited that Julie’s given me a copy of SHED Your Stuff, Change Your Life to GIVEAWAY to one of you. To qualify to be the randomly selected winner, tell me in the comments what it was that you liked about or learned from meeting Julie over the past week.

Deadline to enter is Friday, 9/10/10 at 9am PST.

Related posts:

1. An Interview with Organizing Guru Julie Morgenstern: Part 1 – Up Close and Personal
2. How This Blogger Stays Organized: Meet Benita from Chez Larsson
3. How This Blogger Stays Organized: meet Jules from Pancakes & French Fries

I got an email the other day from a delightful Penelope named Karen. She’s got a situation brewing and needs some feedback from the Penelope Community.

Here’s what Karen says:

“I have a family member whom I love dearly and with whom I’m very close, but who is also a little bit on the sensitive side.  He often visits my home and always insists on helping around the house… sounds nice, right?  Except, he doesn’t do things the way I would and it drives me batty.  If I make dinner, no amount of “oh, no, don’t worry about the dishes I’ll get them later” will stop him.  He insists on doing them… badly.

I know I’m a total nut about how dishes are done, which is why I never ask anyone else to do them. Also, I’m very very, very specific about where and how things are put away.  Again, I know that this is all just a quirk of mine and that other people aren’t wrong to put a wire whisk away still damp (mine is silicone, it’s not going to rust, but I Just Do Not Like It.).

After this family member has been to my house, I spend the next week searching for things that are in the wrong place and re-washing fry pans that haven’t had the toothpick treatment (you know, where you dig into the rivets with a toothpick to get the gunk out?).

And to be totally honest, even if he did all these tasks up to my totally wacky standards, I still wouldn’t want the help.  I like cleaning my kitchen.  It’s my time to relax and gather my thoughts at the end of the day.  I like to putter and straighten.  Trying to explain that to non-Penelopes is almost impossible. He thinks I’m just being “nice” or being a “good hostess”, but the truth is, if he doesn’t get the heck out of my kitchen I may have to move out of state!

So, how does a Penelope politely get a beloved, helpful, not-quite-Penelope (or should that be Percival??) out of my kitchen without hurting his feelings??”

Here’s my answer:

Hi Karen,

I think there are two possible approaches to this: you could opt to go the easier route and just give your family member different things to do while you clean up the kitchen. He could sweep or dry dishes. Easy stuff.

But, I don’t think that truly gets to the heart of your situation. I think you’re dealing with a deeper, more emotional issue. You’re telling him how you feel and he’s not listening. He’s certainly well-intentioned, but he’s not respecting you. He’s putting his need to help ahead of your happiness.

You have every right to say, nicely but oh-so-clearly, that this will not continue. That you fully understand the sweet, helpful place from which he’s coming, but you like doing things your way and you actually like cleaning and you’re going to do this yourself.

If he loves you like he says he does, he’ll respect this quirk of yours. You could even tell him you’re a Penelope and that you can’t help it – it’s your nature. Hey, refer him to our website, so he can see what he’s dealing with!

The point is, this is your kitchen and your domain. You make the rules. But, communicated lovingly, I think this can be handled with minimal emotional distress.

Don’t worry, Karen. You’ve got thousands of Penelopes standing in support.

Penelopes: weigh in with your thoughts in the comments. Karen and I really want to know what you think!

Related posts:

1. Tip for small space living: the Quarterly Cleanout
2. Terrible Inconvenience = Fantastic Opportunity: My new bed means a reorganized linen closet
3. On my mind: being able to plan can be a pain in the butt

I’m super jazzed to once again welcome Guest Poster and SAHM Penelope Melinda to the blog. Last time, she gave us some tips to help preserve our sanity during the kids’ summer vacation. This time, she’s helping us refine our kids’s daily tasks as we get into the school year.

The Back-To-School extravaganza is upon us and we are ready. School supplies purchased, check. New clothes washed and folded, check. Backpacks filled, check.

Lunches made…wait, not sure. Alarm clock set, oops, I forgot.

This is how it usually goes in the home of this Penelope. All of the big, exciting preparations are made but it’s those little yet crucial tasks that are quickly put on the back burner by our darling scholars.

Let’s face it: we can be as organized as possible and yet we still find ourselves bellowing up the stairs, “Don’t forget to brush your teeth!!”

It was actually my husband who provided me with this “aha” moment. One morning, he had the privilege of listening to my litany of reminder to my kids. And then he said, “They would forget it all if it weren’t for you.” And he was right…but it left me discouraged. My job as a parent it is to equip them to live without me! I needed a new plan, one that would encourage independence and self-sufficiency.

Enter The Sticks.

The System:

I grabbed a pile of popscicle sticks. On each stick, I wrote a morning job that needed to be completed (make bed, brush teeth, grab your lunch, take your vitamin). Same thing for the evening tasks. On the back of each was a consequence, some natural (be hungry because you forgot your lunch) others punitive (lose 30 minutes of computer time). If the child doesn’t complete that task, she knows exactly what the consequence will be. It’s consistent and there are never any surprises.

Then I made a set of “point sticks”. One stick = one point. If they successfully complete all of their tasks from the morning, they get one point, same thing for their evening tasks. For the school week, there are 10 possible points to be earned.

Next, I created a “sticks” pouch for the bedroom. Using old placemats and a sewing machine (or hot glue if you prefer), I fashioned these little creations, one for each of my school age children.

Idea: This entire system could also be done in a “no sew” way by using 2 sets of 3 labeled glass jars, and moving the sticks from the left jar to the middle and point sticks going in jar on the far right. Your kids could get into the game by labeling and decorating the jars themselves. Or not. Up to you. I know how we Penelopes love to label.

The top section is for the Morning Tasks, the bottom for the Nighttime Tasks (responsibilities such as taking out the trash or packing up homework).

The sticks all start the day on the left. (My kids actually have a stick to remind them to move their sticks over…ha!) When they complete a task, they move its stick to the middle. If they earn a point, the number stick goes in the last little pocket.

One of the things that I love about the sticks is that I can add or subtract jobs as needed. If they have short days and don’t need a lunch, I remove the stick. If they have laundry to put away, I add the laundry stick. “Point” sticks and “odd-job” sticks are kept in a mug on the dresser.

The Reward for the Kids:

My kids earn a point for each morning and evening set that they complete fully each day. If, at the end of the week, they have earned 8 of the 10 possible points, they are rewarded with a slightly later bedtime the following week. If they earn all 10 points, they get a later bedtime AND a movie night on Friday (big news in our house as we aren’t big TV people). Obviously, you know which rewards will give your kids the best buy-in…use it to your advantage.

Note that you can transition your kids as they get older from the “Sticks” Method into a “To Do List” method using a lot of these same concepts. You can create a daily list using the customizable FeelGood Lists we learned about a while ago. This would give your older kids a strong foundation for using list-making to keep themselves focused and on task.

The Payoff for Me:

This system may sound a bit complicated, but it has saved me a litany of reminders and has taught my children to be more self-sufficient. And, the fact the I’m not constantly nagging at them has made for a more peaceful household.

For this Penelope Mom of four in the throes of a new school year, a little peace and quiet is my new best friend.

Related posts:

1. Why do I own 1,000 pencils? A solution for vanishing school supplies
2. How Penelope keeps herself sane when the kids are out of school
3. More summer sanity solutions: three ways to get kids reading over summer vacation

Given that my family and I live in only 1,100 square feet of teeny tiny house, we have to consistently work to keep our home uncluttered. In order to do that, once a quarter, we dedicate a Saturday morning to the “Quarterly Cleanout”.

What is the Quarterly Cleanout?
It’s about one hour, once every 3 months, where every member of the family (our kids are 11 and 15) participates in thinning out and re-organizing his or her space.

How does it work?

1. First and foremost, I actually put the dates for these Cleanout Sessions on my calendar.
2. A week beforehand, I let my family know that the date is approaching so they can not make plans elsewhere during that time. They must be at home. If it weren’t for these first two steps, this whole process wouldn’t happen. Truth.
3. On the day, each of us makes 2 piles in the hall: one for donation, one for trash. We each spend 30 minutes in our rooms grabbing anything we’re not wearing, using or loving anymore. It’s always surprising to me how things pile up in just 3 months. {By the way, notice I said to take just 30 minutes. The time element is key here. Loyal readers, you’ll note this is almost always part of my strategy. You set a timer and move fast. If things take a hugely long time, you’re apt not to do them. So, set the clock and boogie. Don’t get distracted. Don’t answer the phone, don’t talk with each other. Just do it.}
4. At the end of the 30 minutes, we gather all items for donation, bag them up and put them immediately into the back of the car. All trash items go immediately outside to the big trash or recycling cans, awaiting collection.
5. After we’ve finished, we head out to the nearest Goodwill, donate our items and only then reward ourselves with a lunch at our favorite Greek place.

Why does this work?

• It happens regularly. The calendar tells us when to do it. We do it. Period.
• Every member of the family helps and is responsible for his or her own area.
• Everyone sees the benefits of living in less clutter. (Or, maybe it just jazzes the heck out of me and they do it to put me in a good mood and keep me from being Stabby Mommy. Either way is ok with me.)
• We do the whole thing in one fell swoop. We don’t leave bags of stuff hanging out to be dealt with later. This would prolong the task and make it feel much more arduous and annoying.

What’s the point?

Not only does this keep our house uncluttered, but it creates a habit of “thin living” for our children that we hope they’ll carry into their adult lives. (Fingers crossed!) And, I gotta say, it’s kinda fun, working together as a team.

Related posts:

1. Reader Quandry: Need Your Opinions, Penelopes!
2. Assignment: Computer Desktop de-clutter, or, do this now, you’ll be glad later
3. Tips for “Power” Grocery Shopping

Last Saturday morning, I woke up, stumbled to the bathroom, glanced in my shower and there was, I kid you not, a slug.

I know.

This bothered me in ways I can’t even explain. (And probably don’t need to to any of you.) Why was it there? How did it get in? What’s wrong with our plumbing? Aren’t slugs immensely dirty? Why was it coming into MY shower? My sanctuary? My cleanest of clean places? WHY? WHYYYYYYYY?

So, after getting rid of the slimy thing, I did what any Penelope would do: I Anxiety Cleaned.

You know what that is, right? It’s not just normal cleaning. It’s weird, obsessive, marching around with a determined look on your face cleaning. It’s the kind of cleaning you do at weird times because you’re compelled to do it. It’s cleaning every damn baseboard in your house because “how the HELL did they get this dirty and how are we living this way? Why are barns cleaner than our home?”

It’s cleaning behind things like toilets and microwaves. And refrigerators. It’s getting the sucker thing on your vacuum out and sucking every single object in your home and thinking “Hey, if it doesn’t get sucked in, it can stay.”

It’s the kind of cleaning you do when you look up and realize every living thing that shares your home with you- husband, children, pets- has disappeared. All afraid of getting in your way and incurring your wrath. You’ve literally scared everyone away.

You know this kind of cleaning rampage. You’ve done it. You do it to gain some semblance of control in a very, very dirty, uncontrollable world.

This was my morning that day. I was in a fit – a fury – a swirling hurricane of cleaning. For 2 hours.

When I finally did look up and realize my house was empty, I looked outside and there was my husband and son, both washing my car in the driveway. On a hot, sunny Saturday morning when I’m sure they both wanted to be sitting in the shade sipping some tea or watching some World Cup. I melted.

I asked J why he’d chosen that moment to wash my car and he said “I knew you were upset about the slug. I figured the best thing I could do is try to help your brain stop itching a bit. And a clean car does that for you.”

Cue the chorus of “awwwwww”. I know. He’s sooooo good.

What I realized that day was that my family knows me, loves me and wants to help me feel not so crazy. And that a slug in the shower is NOT the end of the world.

{I still put Comet around the drain before bed every night, though. If a bugger gets in, he’s damn well going through Comet first.}

Related posts:

1. How I Learned to Love My Spencer Pratt Chores
2. You might catch me dancing: music helps you boogie while you clean
3. Reader Quandry: Need Your Opinions, Penelopes!

I know most people enter their home from the garage, but I don’t. (It’s a weird thing I have about being attacked in my garage or back yard. Don’t ask. Ok, you can ask, but don’t expect an answer that’s sane.) I enter my house through my front door. So, one of the best small tasks I can do over a weekend is a quick cleanup of the porch area. Makes an unexpectedly huge difference in such a short time.

Even if you don’t ever go through your front door, the rest of the world enters that way. Do it for them. Heck, do it for your mailman. He needs a pick-me-up.

So, 10 minutes to a nice, tidy front door/porch area:

1. Grab a broom and sweep the porch. Move fast, don’t take a bunch of time to make it overly perfect. Yes, I said it.
2. Use that same broom and sweep around the frame of your front door, clearing all cobwebs, etc. Do the same for the walls around the porch. Just a few quick motions is all you need here.
3. If you have a window in your front door, grab some window cleaner and a cloth and give that glass a swish. Same thing for the door handle and the lock.
4. Look around your porch area and make sure there’s nothing there that shouldn’t be. Is it July and you’ve still got the Easter Bunny hanging out? Ditch that.
5. Give a quick swish to any furniture you have on your porch.
6. Make sure your front porch light is in working order and not covered in bugs and dust.
7. Finally, swish your mailbox with a cloth if it lives in that general area. I’m forever surprised how many cobwebs are attracted to that thing. And how spiffy it looks when I’ve given it just a bit of attention.

Step back and admire your work. Looks better, doesn’t it? Good job, Penelope.

Related posts:

1. Assignment: quick desk clean-up
2. Assignment: Pre-Christmas de-cluttering, or: do this now, you’ll be glad you did later
3. Because I’m not spending a grand on patio furniture

My husband and I have to have some electrical work done on our home. Not a huge job, but sizeable. Big enough that we’ve put it off for five years and realize our circuit breakers ain’t gettin’ any younger.

May I say here that having work done on my home is one of my least favorite things to do as a homeowner? Mainly because most companies just don’t provide the level of organization and service that I expect. And then I end up being the “foreman” on the job and have to chase the contractor to make sure every small thing gets done properly and on time. Like I don’t have enough to do already, right?

I have found some great companies over time (and I Yelp the heck out of them when I do!) , but I’m constantly surprised by how frustrating it can be to go through the home improvement or repair process.

Well, not all home repair companies are organized, but I sure am, so, in my normal Penelope style, I created what I’m calling a “Bid Sheet” for my job. This is a short document that lists all the items we want to have done as a part of this job, along with our contact info and a couple other salient points.

Click for the PDF version of this document

This bid sheet enables me to go over the list with the electrician while he’s here doing a walk through of the job and then jogs his memory when he’s back at his office actually writing up the proposal. It also helps me get detailed estimates from each potential company, and that means we can compare apples to apples when making our final choice as to whom we should award the job.

I was delighted when I greeted one of the electricians and handed him the bid sheet and he looked at it, then looked at me and said really sincerely, “Thank you so much for this. No one ever does this and it’s incredibly helpful.”

Well, he’s obviously never met a Penelope before.

Just for giggles, I’m attaching a sample of the bid sheet I used, in case you might find it helpful, either now, or in the future.

You can also click here for more detailed info on the nitty gritty of putting together the bid sheet and here for many, many other helpful articles on doing work on your home.

Click here for the PDF document :: HowtoCreateaBidSheet

Related posts:

1. Peeping Penelope: Home Office Before and After by Centsational Girl
2. See Jane Work’s “Desk of the Month”: More Evidence That I Have an Organization Addiction
3. Two tips for stopping those “doh!” email moments

Image courtesy Real Simple

As a Penelope, I like to clean, most of the time. Sure, when I’m tired I don’t feel like it, but mostly, cleaning is fun. I like a tidy, fresh living environment and my husband and kids do, too. We pitch in and generally, we’re pretty proud of our little abode.

There are a few chores, though, that I really dislike. I’m not quite sure why, I just hate doing them. They annoy me. These are what I’ve come to think of as my “Spencer Pratt” chores.

I decided to spend a week timing how long it actually takes me to do them, just to get a sense of how truly onerous these tasks are:

• Wet mop my hardwood floors (12 minutes)
• Cleaning the shower (10 minutes)
• De-crumbing the toaster and cleaning around it. (5 minutes)
• Paying bills (9 minutes)

WAIT! So, I spend more time dreading these tasks than it takes to actually do them? How dumb is that?

I challenge you to choose 3 tasks you really dislike either at work or at home and time how long they really take. Once you  know what your time investment actually is, you might find, as I did, that you can re-frame the task.

Rather than thinking “Geez, I really hate doing this, but, here goes…grumble grumble”, I now say “I’m going to take 12 minutes and then I’ll have floors that are nice and clean”. OK, that sentence is obnoxious and I want to smack myself, but you know what I mean.

It’s amazing what a little perspective will do for you. (I still loathe Spencer Pratt, though. That ain’t changin’.)

For more tips on doing some “dirty jobs” around the house, see this feature from Real Simple.

Related posts:

1. How I (barely) survived finding a slug in my shower : an ode to Anxiety Cleaning
2. On my mind: attention is love
3. Reader Quandry: Need Your Opinions, Penelopes!

For me, the absolute best thing about working on this site is the emails I get from fellow Penelopes. It’s so nice to know we all have a tribe and we understand each other so well.

I’m going to be sharing some of these emails with you from time to time, starting with this fantastic one from Angela, a true Penelope.

Here’s what she says:

Dear Meredith,

I thought of all the Penelopes out there as I mulled over something I did that made me feel so accomplished (yet embarrassed to admit) this weekend.

As I proceeded through the normal, weekly cleaning tasks around the house, I noticed the big cardboard box under the laundry room sink. It holds all of my English Bull Dog’s milk bones.  The site (and smell) were enough to send me into my organizational mode.

I quickly grabbed the car keys, headed up to the nearest store where I could purchase a large Tupperware bin with a secure seal (to hinder the stench of doggie treats), and then proceed to line the treats up in rows within the bin.

Angela's organized dog bones make my heart happy

I looked at it and felt great to have made the most of the space, but then wondered, who organizes dog bones?  Then I realized, Penelopes do! It’s so comforting to know that I’m not alone in my pursuits of peace in organizational tasks.

Just wanted to share,

Angela

Thanks, Angela. You’re so right. It IS comforting to know that organizing your dog’s bones is not crazy. It’s absolutely, perfectly sensible!

Do you have a Penelope Project you’d like to share? Send me an email, including a photo or two, and I may share your sweet, compulsive story with the rest of the Penelope world.

Related posts:

1. Penelope Loves the FeelGood List
2. Penelope’s Inspiration Board
3. An Interview with Julie Morgenstern: Part 2 – How Julie Stays Organized – plus a GIVEAWAY

For the longest time, I’ve wanted to get a set of dining furniture for our back deck. Nothing fancy, just a table, four chairs and an umbrella in a neutral palette. For reasons I can’t explain, I’ve put this off.

This spring, however, my husband and I decided it was time to get the deck up and running and who knows? Maybe have some people over for dinner. Would be nice, right?

So, we headed on over to Target (the mecca for all things “reasonably priced”) and started looking around. Within minutes, I knew what I wanted: the stylish, yet nicely neutral “Windsor Collection”. Perfect. Let’s pack it up and go.

And then we started doing some quick mental math. Even with a “temporary price cut”, this set was going to cost us a whopping $986 plus tax!

Holy Patio Furniture, Batman! I’m not spending a grand on stuff that will sit outside and get dirty for half the year.

I turned on my high-heeled boots and quickly walked out of the store and straight to my computer. Within minutes, I had logged onto Craigslist and found a very similar set within 20 miles of our house for just $150. And, they agreed to deliver it! Woot and double woot!

Here’s a couple shots of the set on our deck. Can you spy our Boston Terrier, Cooper, standing guard by the furniture in the first shot?

Ah, I love the smell of saved money in the morning.

Related posts:

1. Tips for “Power” Grocery Shopping
2. Get ready for tax time: I wish this were fun
3. Penelope Project: The Most Organized Dog Bones You’ve Ever Seen