Posted By FarmerJ on November 9, 2009

How can this be?  How is it possible that we are already approaching the middle of November?  November, as in the eleventh month of the year.  I feel like I just barely got the gardening tools put away and here it is almost time to start thawing the turkey.

There’s no point in me spending too much time trying to deny it ~ all that will accomplish is yet more time having gone by.  Heehee!  I figure the best thing I can do is accept it and try to prepare and continue to manage my time as efficiently as possible.

Okay, I’ll admit I may be a little OCD when it comes to planning and checklists.  I haven’t reached the point to where I have a checklist to keep track of my checklists, but I do have lists.  Multiple lists.  I like my lists.  Must have lists.  [Breathe, Farmer J.]  Nice tangible paper lists, not electronic lists on a miniature hand-held device.

I remember starting to feel a little anxious back in the July time frame because half of my Day Timer was already gone and I didn’t have anything in place for 2010 ~ but the 86 pounds of zucchini and yellow crookneck squash we were pulling out of the garden every day must have distracted me…because here I am in the middle of November with only six pages left in my Day Timer.  Sheer panic alert, for sure.

It wasn’t so much that I hadn’t gone out and picked up a new calendar yet as much as it was not being sure of exactly what I wanted.  I’d done quite a bit of searching, and at one point, I even tried creating my own time management system, but nothing seemed to scream, ‘Sha-zam!’  Until yesterday.

I gave a last-ditch effort to find something online that might fit the bill before just breaking down and getting another calendar like the one I’ve been using this year ~ it works, but it also lacks a little.  Behold!  I happened upon a gold mine!  Truly a treasure chest for OCD list people like me.

I am so tickled, I just have to share it with you!  The template I ended up downloading is as if it was created for me.  There is a section for appointments, and a section for…get this…lists!  Multiple lists.  There is a daily to-do list; a special project list; a weekly to-do list; a section for miscellaneous notes; and, one of my favorites…a section to keep track of evening schedules.

It’s formatted to fit in my 8.5 x 5.5 Day Timer and is in my favorite layout ~ two page per week.  It was super easy to customize the list sections so that it’s applicable to me and my schedule/routine.  And, the dates automatically adjust throughout the calendar with one simple entry so it can be used year after year, or you can even start in the middle of the year, if you’d like.

It’s called Classic Chaos.  Click on that link if you’re interested in seeing more of the features of this free, printable time management system.  Visit D*I*Y Planner to see a huge variety of other styles, sizes and types of lists, calendars and tracking systems available.

What type of time management system do you use to keep some sort of organized chaos?  Share your ideas and tried and true methods!

Categories: Plainly Ponderings
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