Nitty Gritty Monday- Learn to Make Lists That Clear Your Mind





Next week I'll be participating in another 5 Day Blog Hop sponsored by the Homeschool Review Crew. My Crewbies and I have been planning, prepping and posting, in order to bring you another week of fantastic reading on a plethora of topics ranging from Educational Apps, Organization, Field Trips, Mnemonics and so much more. My topic will be

The Working Woman's Guide to Homeschooling.

 

Homeschooling is growing - and for good reason- and those of us working while homecshooling are growing by leaps and bounds as well.

 

If you work seasonally, part time or full time, I hope this series will speak to you. I've interviewed several working Homeschooling Moms for this series to bring btdt wisdome to you!

 

To whet your appetite for what's to come I wanted to introduce you to my blogger buddy, Mystie. We "met" on-line last year in a fantastic thread on Getting Things Done, inspired by the book of the same name by David Allen.  Mystie took the concepts in Allen's book and made them accessible and do-able for homeschoolers.  When you are done reading, take a minute to stop by Mystie's blog- she has tons of resources and helps for homeschoolers!

Learn to Make Lists That Clear Your Mind

I first read the time-management classic, Getting Things Done, about eight years ago, and implemented a few of its strategies. Almost three years later, after my fourth baby turned one, I returned to it again, because four children and a lack of sleep severely affected my brain power. Following his instructions, even though they are targeted at business people, yielded amazing results in mental clarity. We all go through seasons that feel like we are perpetual drowning. Sometimes, no matter how much I do, it never feels like progress is made.

 

Going through the steps outlined in Getting Things Done helps me to overcome that feeling and slowly climb back into the driver seat of my routines, my stuff, and my responsibilities. The book is all about “black-belt” list-making. I slowly worked at implementing a more complete GTD system, and every step yielded significant improvement in my peace of mind by banishing that awful, constant nagging sense of things unknown left undone and that sense upon entering any room or glancing any direction and seeing only things that you should do, but aren’t.

 

“Anxiety,” claims David Allen in Getting Things Done, “is caused by a lack of control, organization, preparation, and action.” He posits that most people know how to plan and they know what to do, they just don’t do it. So his book is a step-by-step coaching towards doing completely and well what most people only do in crises or in a scattered manner. Getting Things Done is about managing your stuff and your actions, and once those are under control, your mind is left more free and clear to focus on the present moment with your family. In GTD for Homemakers, I take his principles and make them practical for our situation as involved, busy mothers, giving examples that relate to our lives, rather than assuming an office setting.

 

GTD for Homemakers is not about turning our homes and families into a well-oiled machine, but about being in control of our tasks and stuff rather than letting them control us, so that instead of running around like chickens with heads cut off, we may be more free and calm to clearly see what the right "next thing" is to do.

 

If you’d like to try this process for yourself, explained step-by-step by someone who knows what life at home with littles is like, check out GTD for Homemakers.  This week only, use discount code laughing to get 30% off! bio: Mystie Winckler is a wife, mother, homemaker, and home-educator. Mystie has been married for twelve years to her only sweetheart, Matt, and both are homeschool graduates themselves. Now they raise & educate their five young children at home. Mystie blogs at Simply Convivial on homemaking and home-educating and at Simplified Organization about organization and productivity for intentional moms. You can receive her ebook, A Quickstart Guide to GTD for Moms for free! –Mystie

 

"The business done in the home is nothing less than the shaping of the bodies and souls of humanity." – G.K. Chesterton Simply Convivial: Weekend Reads Simple Pantry Cooking: What’s for Dinner? Menu Plan Monday

Stop by all next week for more great posts!

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