March 11, 2009

Getting Organized

Things are pretty slow in my shops these days so I'm trying to take this time to get myself organized. You never know when you're going to be moving or having a baby, so why not get ahead while you can, right?

One of the ways I've been organizing myself is by planning my meals. I created a Weekly Meal Planner for myself & it seems to be helping me a lot. I'm no longer standing at the fridge every day wondering what to make for dinner. And to be honest, I really enjoy flipping through my cookbooks to find new things to make. It's a lot easier to shop with your meals planned too.


Pop on over to my website and you can download my Weekly Meal Planner for free. You'll get a single PDF file with both a portrait and landscape version. There's also a handy metric conversion chart to download. It's helpful when reading Japanese patterns or when you want to know how many inches 5/8 of a yard is. Enjoy!


I'm also working on a cleaning schedule. Things are a little less stressful if they're spread out over the week. Who wants to spend a whole day cleaning house? Not me. I was saying to Nick that I'd like to make some of my own cleaning products too, and then we went to the book store.



You know those great Mrs. Meyer's cleaning products? The all-natural ones in the cool packaging? Well, there's a book too, Mrs. Meyer's Clean Home: No-nonsense advice that will inspire you to clean like the dickens. I got it last night and I'm already hooked. There are some great tips, recipes for easier ways to clean things without nasty chemicals, and a suggested weekly cleaning routine. I highly recommend it.

I also have this book, which is a great resource for living green and making your own cleaners. It's full of recipes and information.

Some other ways I get organized:
  • Go through the bookshelves, closets and dressers periodically to find things you can donate. I am very good at this, Nick is not. :)
  • Check all of your medicines, makeup and other toiletries for expiration dates. It's not just your food that needs to be thrown away after it gets old.
  • Give your computer a good look and see if you've got some files you can archive. Every 6 months or so I like to burn cd's of my photos and other files that I don't need to access as often.
Things to check out:

5 comments:

kayla said...

What a great idea! I am a weekly menu planner, but I don't have anything this cute to keep track of it. And I just came across the Mrs. Meyer's book online. I'm hoping my library will get it soon.

Jenn Maruska said...

Man, are you organized! How much do you charge an hour? (I can pay in cupcakes!)

; D

Christina J. said...

And do you travel?

(I can also pay in cupcakes!)

Anonymous said...

Thanks!! I've been trying to figure out what to do for myself as far as meal planning goes. I think ultimately I'm going to have to make my own meal planner since my schedule only allows me to make so many meals a week.

LizzieJane said...

After Jenn and Christina are finished with you can I rent you????
x