Are you ever really busy and just wish that you had a spare hour so that you could spend time doing some of the things that you really want to do? Then on the other hand, do you ever find that you have a spare hour on your hands and you can’t recall what it was that you were going to do when you had some spare time?

Unfortunately I find myself in this situation quite regularly; either there seems to be too much to do and no time to fit everything in, or I have time but cannot remember any of those things that I “just needed some spare time” to be able to do it.

At work I feel that I am reasonably organised in as much as I have two “lists”. One is my Current List or Daily List, that gets added to constantly and also gets things crossed off it ocassionaly, and the other is my Rainy Day List or Wish List which is where I add the things that I would find useful to do if I had the time. Whenever I have a spare 30 mins or so at work I slowly plod away at the Wish List and eventually I do manage to clear clear this list and achieve some useful analysis/tools, whatever it is that I’m working on, every now and again.

So, cut to the chase, in an attempt to try and establish some order in my home life I have decided to follow a similar procedure. Obviously the Daily List is something that I just do anyway as part of my routine for example – going to work, shopping, housework, etc. It’s my Wish List that I have trouble remembering because in my head I think that something is a good idea but I don’t write it down and so the idea has gone before I can recall it…

This is going to stop, NOW!! The Wish List is born…

Wish List

Some of these are pleasurable, some may not be so pleasureable but all are things that I will either enjoy or just need doing (list to be updated):

10 Minutes to Spare

• File nails and make them feel prettier
• Disinfect door handles
• register to be an organ donor – DONE!
• Find out when and where the next blood donation clinic is around and get booked on

An Hour to Spare

• Plan meals for the week and prepare shopping list (may not take this long if I was fully prepared but it currently takes me about an hour!)
• Put some items up on eBay for sale
• Check out eBay for bargains: dresses, shoes, bags, fabric
• Plan birthday and Christmas gifts for everyone
• Make a start/continue to buy/make gifts
• Make a list of things that should be packed when going away for a weekend so that you know exactly what you need and not forget anything!
• Plan some day trips for all ocassions: rainy days, sunny days, cheap or free. Then on the next spare day you don’t have to waste time wondering what to do.

Half a Day to Spare

• Pick a room and clear some clutter: bin, recycle or put away in its proper place
• Clear a wardrobe: recycle anything that doesn’t fit, fix anything that needs repairs (buttons, hems, etc), and make a note of anything that is needed (ie. more shorts if summer is coming and the old ones are all being recycled)

A Day to Spare

• Paint a room
• Do a load of batch baking for the freezer: pies, chilli, etc
• Have a day trip

During 2010 I aim to get much more organised which I hope will manifest itself in several different ways:

Firstly I know that keeping my paperwork up to date and regularly reconciling my bank will ensure that I keep track of my finances which in turn will ensure that I stick to my budget and pay off credit cards which is my main aim for this year (and next) so get the balance down to zero.

Secondly, and this will help with the above as well, I want to plan all my gifts for the year in advance and aim to give homemade presents where possibile. I have already been going through some of my knitting books and planned a couple of the gifts I aim to make – hence the preparation needs to start now so that I will have time to make some of the gifts.

Thirdly I hope that in planning in advance I will ultimately save time (and money) since I will spend less time procrastinating and putting things off.

So below is my list of what I need to do so that I can get organised:

• Make a master gift list: list all people that I will need to get gifts for and sort into birthday order (so the closest ones are dealt with first) and write down ideas for birthdays and Christmas gifts
• Write everyone’s holidays onto the kitchen calendar and my own personal diary – this includes parents holidays to ensure continuity of childcare cover and school holidays along with big events like birthdays and my marathon.
• Make a “simple” housework plan of tasks that need to be carried out every week – see if any of these can be delegated along with estimated times to complete (this will come in handy soon)
• Make a list of household tasks that need to be carried out periodically (monthly, quarterly) and schedule when these can be done so that they are done evenly throughout the year, for example cleaning carpets, defrosting the freezer, turning mattresses, servicing the boiler, etc.
• I’ve already made a start on this during my time off from work this Christmas, but pick a room a month and spend a half day (or whatever is required) decluttering it.
• Make meal plans for each week so I know what needs to be bought when I go shopping and save money by not buying unnecessary food that will not be used.
• Sense Check: with everything that I want to fit into any given week – making gifts, training for a marathon, housework, “real” work, me-time – estimate the time that each task will take to ensure that I have some sort of balance and set out enough time to get everything done.  I might need to let some of the less important housework slide (or give pocket money out for dusting!) so that other things can take precedence
• Re-assess at the beginning of March to see how things are going, then again in June and October by which time I will hopefully be a long way towards having the Christmas gifts sorted and will develop a more detailed plan for Christmas itself which will include preparing the Christmas cake and pudding in advance (I had to pay £14 this year for a Christmas cake and it certainly wasn’t as tasty or as big as what I have made in the past…)