My New Notebook + How I Keep Track of Things
The other night I had zumba and pilates class at our gym, which is literally down the hall (which I love) though it didn’t end until 9 (which I hate). So that meant Shaun was on dinner duty (which I also love). Using some leftover lump crab meat from our Jets party on Saturday night, he whipped up some delicious crab cakes with a creamy cocktail sauce on the side! Where does he get these wonderful skills? I wanted to share this yesterday but didn’t get the photo uploaded in time. It was so yummy so I obviously could not let it pass by without sharing :)
So though I’m not necessarily down with starting a new year, a new year means I get to start a new notebook! Nerd alert!
I purchased 2 pink moleskin notebooks a couple of years ago and only recently started filling them up. I absolutely love new notebooks and all things paper in general (Shaun says I should have worked for Dunder-Mifflin).
I keep many things in here. To do lists, grocery lists, apartment furnishing ideas, new blogs and websites to check out, you name it. Most of my life is housed in those pages since I love having one go-to spot for everything. I’m constantly jotting down thoughts, especially about the blog and article ideas. I keep it with me all the time and find that I’m so much more useful in daily life when I have this little friend to keep me company. Some other things you might find in there? My list of The Little Things, party menus, my name doodled in fun ways...I cannot wait to break into the new one and start filling it up with ideas and personal organization!
The rest of my life? It’s housed in my Google calendar. Ah the Google calendar. It’s a borderline obsession. I love that I can color code different calendars and fill it in accordingly. I have one for my own stuff and reminders to myself. Here's a peak from a week in Sept/Oct:
One for Shaun’s things just so I can remember if he has drinks planned with friends or is scheduled to go to a client dinner or bachelor party. I also have a ‘humistons’ calendar which I am trying desperately to get Shaun to look at. So that way before he signs up for things - or signs us up for things - he can easily check the calendar. I also have a Giants/Jets calendar (royal blue and green respectively), a weather tracker, a {real} work calendar and a holiday calendar. Lastly, I have The Avid Appetite editorial calendar where I try to plan at least a week in advance what I’m going to be writing about. Sometimes things do change, though, if I’m just dying to tell you guys about something in particular! So that means I effectively have 8 color coded calendars on Google. But I like to think I’m fairly organized at least :) My hope is to eventually whittle down my-Shaun-Humistons calendar into one, but it may be a pipe dream.
So that's how I try my best to keep my life - and all of its moving parts - together. It's not a perfect system, but it's working for me right now! How do you keep yourself organized?
11 Comments | January 12, 2011 | Share Article | Email Article | tagged organization | in At Home, Shaun & Rachel Print Article | Permalink
Reader Comments (11)
I have lost my organizational skills as I've gotten older unfortunately :(
I want to try to be better though, maybe buying a new notebook will inspire me to start writing things down!
google calendars = LIFESAVER!
I also have one of those handy dandy notebooks where I keep my entire life, ideas, and things to remember. thank goodness for it!
and, if it makes you feel better, I may be a way bigger nerd than you. my dad and I are such STAPLES freaks that we'd have an annual trip to buy back-to-school products before school started. my favorite? new pens. :-D
P.S. check out my new blogroll - you're on it!
Thanks Alyssa, you are so sweet! I also love pens! I just bought a set of Pentel fine tip markers that has all different colors - it makes list-making so much more fun!
I'm not sure I do keep myself organized -- I used to have an amazing vera bradley pocket planner that went everywhere with me and kept me suuuper organized... but now I cant seem to find them anymore, even in the correct season! So i've gone plannerless this year and it is totally no bueno!
I love the smell and feel of a new notebook or art supplies... super weird =) but so true! haha!
Love the spreadsheet idea! I want to make something similar but maybe printed out? I spend sooo much time on the computer as it is!
xoxo
Oh how I love new notebooks, making to do lists, and color coded ANYTHING! I'm a list person all the way too! My hubs is trying to convert me into an excel spreadsheet person but somethings I just need to write down. He started us a google calendar, but I'm not good at keeping track! I need to give it another chance! haha
Wow, you go girl with your Google calendar skills!! :D
I love new notebooks too! I would also love to work at Dunder Mifflin, as long as Pam wasn't there ;)
I love crab cakes...they are my absolute favorite and I order them every time I go somewhere that has them!
I make a lot of lists to stay organized, and I also put things into category-piles. My college roommates always picked on me because I would sit on my bed surrounded with very neat piles of things. But it works for me!
I received an iPad for Christmas and I am trying to get used to typing everything on digital sticky notes, calendars, and to- do lists. Though, I do miss writing things down in my "paper" plan book, I don't miss my messy hand writing. Ps love your blog!!
you should definitely check out Evernote! it's kind of like a virtual group of notebooks where you can jot down anything and everything, and you can organize and tag things, and they'll be available and searchable forever. the even greater thing about it is that if you have an android phone or iphone, there's an evernote app that allows you to search all of your content in a snap--VERY helpful if you put all your most-frequently-used recipes in evernote, and then you're at the grocery store and decide that moment you want to make a certain dish but forgot what ingredients you need. you can just break out your phone and do a quick search. i use it for that all tlhe time. it's great! AND it's free :)
Wow, thanks for the tip Elaine! That sounds fantastic! I will absolutely check it out. Oh and so happy you found us!