The List | 10.25
1.
To read
Pro Organizers Say “Adult Kid Junk” Is a MAJOR Problem - Here’s How to Tackle It, House Beautiful
Do you still store sentimental items in your parents’ home?
Stop it, you guys.
There. I said it.
2.
To listen
Like me, have you relied on paper calendars and paper to-do lists your entire life? I didn’t just rely on them; I got great satisfaction from checking things off. I love a list. This very newsletter is a list, m’kay?
But last year, in a dramatic departure from the only reality I knew to exist, I started tiptoeing into the digital world of time management. The idea might never have occurred to me were it not for Kelly Nolan’s The Bright Method Podcast.
Does this all sound blasphemous, yet is curiosity piqued? Been there. Start with this 19-minute intro. Or, to get a sense of it in real time, listen to a recent episode: Halloween: A great example of mental load & how a calendar can help.
3.
To do
I didn’t just quit paper calendaring cold turkey. But I was overwhelmed and dropping balls, and I don’t like either of those things.
When I downloaded the Google Tasks app to my phone and synced it with my Google Calendar(s), something shifted.
Since then, I’ve created different task lists for different areas of my life - home, Less is Maura, travel hacking (more on my fave hobby soon!), etc.
I can assign a date and time for a task if I need to.
I can even make tasks recurring.
Google Tasks is my assistant, and I love her.
I still get the same satisfaction when checking things off as I did when I used paper and pencil. I didn’t think it was possible.
What do you do to stay on top of things?
4.
To audit
Annual audits keep the clutter at bay.
I like to audit cool weather clothes in the fall because, if they’re no longer right for me but still in great condition, thrift and secondhand stores will be accepting them. If I wait til the spring, I need to hold on to them til next fall anyway. Boo. Let it go.
Add it to your tasks this month.
5.
To remember
Once a month, we declutter and organize our photos & videos from last month. We do not - I repeat, we do not - make a mountain out of a molehill. We tend to the monthly molehill so it doesn’t become a mountain!
LAST CALL
Final day of the birthday sale!
