Organising my receipts with my digital planner

Until I got my digital planner I would have trouble deciding where to put things to keep them safe.

Only when I got my digital planner did I finally decide that I only needed digital copies of my receipts.

Until this year I felt that I had to have both paper and digital records but since most of my receipts are in email form I felt it was time to make all my receipts digital.

I now take photos of paper receipts and screen shots of receipts that were emailed to me.

It is such a relief to have finally made this decision. I am of an age where keeping receipts in a box or folder was the only way to keep them. Times have changed and I have finally moved on.

Using my digital planner to keep my receipts in order is so easy and convenient.

I use the Monthly Spending pages to keep receipts for my business supplies and personal purchases.

Each month I select those pages in Goodnotes and export them as a PDF to save in the cloud and on my desktop. I feel safe that I will be able to access them when I need them. However, I have weighed up the chances that Apple cloud will disappear compared to my house burning down and destroying paper items. The likelyhood of either happening is slim.

So how do I do it?

1. I take screen shots of my emails so they end up in Photos.
2. I then go to my planner Spendings page and add the screen shot to the relevant page.
3. I then fill out the index page with the item and cost and date.

Micro Task Magic

Have you set yourself a goal then pushed yourself to follow through only to give up without achieving your goal?

The easiest way to achieve your goals is to break them down into smaller and smaller tasks until you are able to complete the small task with enthusiasm.

Popularity of Micro Tasks

Did you know there is such a thing as micro task crowd sourcing? This involves one micro task and lots of people.
I thought it was a brilliant idea that NASA had when it posted it's planet finding data online for thousands of people to sift through. A four planet star system was discovered in the data!
Read more here if you didn't see it on the news.

Micro-task crowdsourcing is rapidly gaining popularity among research communities and businesses as a means to leverage Human Computation in their daily operations. Source

I love how things are evolving around the internet all the time!

How I use Micro Tasks to keep me On Task

Now lets get back to one person and lots of micro tasks.

I have recently realised that I was going about my To Do list the wrong way for me. I would put a seemingly ordinary task like "work on the newsletter" in my to do list and I would fit it between say breakfast and morning tea.

I would finish breakfast at varying times depending on when I finished my exercise routine for that day. So, at no specific time I would check my to do list and see "newsletter". I would then sit down at the computer and start work on the newsletter. After no set time I would think that I had done enough and go to have morning tea or lunch, depending on the time.

This is so ineffective for getting things done.

My strategy now is to:

1. Write down 2 or 3 sections of my newsletter that I am going to finish
2. I block out 2 hrs from 10am to 12pm
3. I start work and during the 2 hours I will start pacing myself faster to make sure I finish the sections I have listed.
4. If I finish early I can choose to relax or do another small business related task to fill the time.

I have created a Task List Printable to help me organise my larger procedures. It takes a while to work out exactly what are the micro tasks involved in a bigger goal or project. 

For Example:

Say you want to get the kids out to the bus on time but you are always struggling to get everything done. You can put 

• "Get the kids out to the bus on time and completing all the morning chores" in your goal box.
• Then break it down into "getting dressed",  "having breakfast", "making lunches", "checking school bags".
• Then each macro task can be broken down again. "put school clothes on the bedside chair the night before", "kids follow the bathroom checklist", "kids put all the school bag items on the floor next to the bag".
• Then you do micro tasks for having breakfast etc.

So now when the kids get out of bed you can say, 'Have you got your school clothes on?', 'Have you done your bathroom routine?', 'Have you laid out the school bag for packing?'. 'Now come and get breakfast' or list whatever the micro tasks where for getting breakfast.

It Works!

Since setting that specific time to start work I have been much more relaxed around breakfast time because I am not always thinking that I have to start work after breakfast, "I better finish breakfast quicker".

Now I am sitting at breakfast around 9 or 9.30 thinking, 'How nice, I have time to finish my second cup of tea'.

As I am writing this blog post it is just 11.30am. I set myself the tasks of designing a micro task check list printable and writing this blog post for my 2hr shift. I feel confident that I will finish in time. I have already designed the printable.

I now have 5 mins left to load my printable into Google Drive and put links in this post.

(It took me another 15 mins because I also had to preview and edit the blog post.)

You can DOWNLOAD my handy Micro Task List now.

Download Now

Happy Organising,

Val

Printing Straight onto Kikki K Large Planner Pages

I have several large planners that use A5 pages.
I like to pretty up the pages with layouts I have made myself.

How do I print onto A5 paper from Adobe Reader?

• For starters my printer takes A5 size paper. I just have to slide the paper guides to the narrower width.
• Open your A5 document in Adobe Reader.

• Select File > Print

• At the bottom left you will see a button for Page Setup. Click this.

• I get a message but just click Yes.
• Choose the A5 paper size.

• Something I noticed as odd was that the document didn't appear to fit onto the paper correctly in the preview image. 

• When I printed, it fitted on just fine. 
• I used Kikki K personal planner pages. I have ignored the header when making the page layout.
• The pages below are printed both sides. I print a right page then put the paper back in and print a left page.

If you would like to give it a go you can download my doll notes left and right pages. 

Doll Notes Left

Doll Notes Right

For me, the hardest part is getting the paper in the printer the right way around. Even with the little picture I still get confused. I think I have finally worked it out. On my printer I pull out the paper draw, then with the page header towards me I flip it over face down and put it in.

Because the file pages are only A5 they fit beautifully onto A5 paper. 

I guess if you don't want doll pictures you will have to wait until I make something else.

I am playing around with some quilt design note pages and some bookish note pages as well as some goal setting pages. 

Stay Organised,

Val

March Round-up

I have decided to put my round-up posts in my Organising Blog. That makes more sense than either of my sewing blogs. The round-ups are like a reflection on how well my organisation actions were for the month.
Last month wasn't so good because I just didn't get into writing my 'To Do List' every day.
March has been great because I spent time getting organised. I usually spend about 30 to 45 mins sitting and going through my journals, transferring things to my week at a glance to do list. I don't have a page with just a daily list. I like to see what I have done for the week and having the week on one page makes it easy to move things along if they need more time.

You can see how I set it out below.

You can download a blank A4 PDF by clicking on the image below.

From my March list I managed to complete 8 out of 10 items. 

I got the hankie skirt published.

I added new gallery pictures.

I made some progress on my quilt.

I found new things to pin on my Pinterest boards.

I read another e-book cosy mystery on my iPad. 

I listened to Six Sacred Stones by Matthew Reilly

For April I have a slightly longer list but if I work on the To Do list every day I should breeze through.

Publish 2 patterns

Publish a free skater skirt

List 3 clothes packages on Etsy

Pin 20 new pins (not repins)

Do all the ground work on a new outfit pattern bundle

Read an e-book

Get a new jigsaw puzzle half finished

Read 2 library books

Cut out more quilt applique elements

Add 2 gallery pictures to the doll clothes blog

Comment on 10 blogs

Comment on Google+ every day

Work on the 2004 dress for Australian Girl Doll

I made up a new vision board for April.

Along with my list for the month I have committed to working on the pattern updates every day. It bugs me that some of the patterns are not up to the standard I now have.

I will continue to put the housework on the To Do list. I have broken down listing the clothes packages into small steps for each day. It is one task that I continually procrastinate about. I don't really know why.

I have included walking out to the beach to sit and look or wander along for a short time whenever I feel like watching TV or eating sweet food. To make me think of it more I have decided to take a photo each time I go out and make a nice coffee table book from them on Snapfish.

The key to it all is getting things on the To Do list each day.

I hope you give yourself time to plan each day. It is time well spent.

Cheers,

Val

Making Organising a Habit

I will get my goals list under control soon. I went off the rails there for a few weeks but I so love the feeling of getting the things on the list ticked off so I am going to keep going with the To Do lists until it becomes easier.

I don't think it will ever become easy. It is just not in my nature to do things systematically. I really have to work at it.

I think that is why I love the Vision Board concept so much. I can be creative and go off on a tangent but the overall affect is a big To Do list with added inspiration.

I keep the board above my sewing machine and each month I create a new vision with new To Do's, new ideas and new inspiration.

I have been using my Goals Journal, my Habits Journal and my Dreams Journal to write up my daily To Do list. My habits and goals are part of what I need to do every day so this works really well.

My habit that I am working on this month is "write up a To Do list every morning". I want to make it a habit even if it is not a part of my genetic make up.

I have beautiful inspiration cards that I bought from Kikki K.

I also have some inspiration words that I printed up myself.

The words up there now are:

Sew, Laugh, Plan

Cheers,

Val

How to plan for your best year ever. No experience required.

Every day do something that will inch you closer to a better tomorrow.

I recently read an article about planning for the new year.
It included things like:

1. Answer some simple questions about last year.
2. Write down 25 things you want to accomplish.
3. What is your vision?
4. Write down your goals and make sure you review them regularly.

You may be thinking:

1. So if I am trying to get my act together what have I got from last year that I can review?
2. If I am only listing 25 things they better be important. The small stuff just won't fit.
3. What the heck is my vision?
4. I wrote my goals down last year but I lost the note book or I didn't leave any room for review.

As I read through the article I realised that I was already doing all the right things in an easy to follow method with lots of structure and all in one lovely book that I will not lose. I will be able to keep it and use it to review when I come to do my goals for 2017.
I am not affiliated with Kikki K in any way but I just love the Kikki K Goals Journal.
It is a perfect companion to my 101 Dreams Journal.
You really need both because the 101 Dreams Journal is all about listing what you wish for and the Goals Journal is all about getting what you wish for.

SMART goals are the way to go.

There are easy to work through activities.

1. Smart and Present Goals
2. My Dream Life
   - Including how to work out what my core values are, and
   - How I measure success in my life
3. How I'm Going to get There.
4. Ideal Weekly Planner
5. Things I'm Not Going to Do
6. Monthly sections with room to set out 4 goals for the month, a monthly planner page and a page for review.

You get examples of how to complete the activities.

I will be breaking down some of my long term dreams so I can get started on them this year. I will also be using my 1 year dreams from the Dreams Journal to fill out at least 2 of the 4 monthly goals each month to make sure I achieve as many as possible this year.

Inspiration and instructions

The journals are so easy to use because they include examples and break down the sections into easy to answer questions.

How to write a SMART goal

The 4 goals for each month have several sections to fill in so you know you are writing SMART goals.

Space for 4 goals each month

You can read the original article from Finance Girl.

You can buy from Kikki K online from most countries.
The Goals Journal

Life is just so much more fun when you are aiming for something.
Life is just so much more rewarding when you achieve success.

Happy New Year,
Val

How I Use the Calendars in Mom's Toolbelt

One thing I like about have a lifetime subscription to Mom's ToolBelt is having access to a variety of calendar page layouts and knowing I will get the new year's dates without having to look past my MTB download page.

Landscape month to a page Summer theme page 312 of mtb-calendar-monthly-2014-pdf

I love the landscape month to a page view for jotting down my blog planner but I now realise that I need a computer version so I can have active hyperlinks to linkup pages and pattern tutorials.
I link up with several different linky parties and I find it a nuisance to have to open my blog page up so I can scroll down and find the various link up addresses.

Excel version mtb-calendar-BASIC-5wk-xls9703  the basic 2pg (3) table

Today I used the excel version of the month to a page calendar to insert the links into the correct days and I also added a picture of the paper piecing pattern I am going to make as well as a link to the tutorial for the more complicated paper piecing block.
I included notes on what I want to sew each day so that when I walk into my sewing room I don't get side tracked by the first pretty fabric or pattern that I see.

I opened the xls with Numbers on my Mac. It converts just fine.
I merged the cells on one the day sections to add a picture as cell background and I created hyperlinks in other cells.

Export it as a PDF

When I finished I exported it as a PDF into my Google Docs drive so I could access it from my iPad. I didn't need the info about my posts on the iPad but I did want to be able to see the sewing plans and patterns links I had.
I like to use the iPad in the sewing room because it doesn't take up much space.
Here is an image of my calendar. The top photo is my beach :) The PDF maintains the hyperlinks too.

Laptop - Google Docs - iPad - Google Docs - Laptop

I can swap files back and forth from my laptop to my iPad using GoodReader on the iPad to link to Google Docs. A while back I paid $9.99 for the GoodReader app and it has been worth every cent.

I open all files I download in GoodReader now. I can read them, email them, make notes on them and upload them to Google Docs.

One reason I decided to pay for Mom's Tool Belt files was the convenience factor. Just like paying for GoodReader. You generally get what you pay for and if it is for free then it is often limited in its usefulness. Also I liked the drawings on the themed pages :)

I use affiliate links to MTB in this blog. I think Mom's ToolBelt is a good thing and I like sharing how I use it.


Happy Organising,
Val

Personal Planning - Training Your Brain with the 100 Days Calendar

When you don't get up, shower, dress, have breakfast, clean your teeth and put on your makeup then go to work it is pretty hard to set up a routine that you stick to. For a long time I have gotten up when I feel like it, had breakfast as late as 10 o'clock, forgotten to clean my teeth, had a shower after doing the garden or housework and tried to do some yoga in the evening. Really the only habit I had was to clean my teeth before bed.

I needed to find a way to make me feel happier about my day.

37 days ago I discovered the Hundred Days Calendar.  It is a very simple and amazingly affective way to train your brain. The link takes you to the site of the free printable.

I know that it is said you need to do something for 21 days before it will become a habit. I needed 30 days before I just did my 10 mins of yoga without thinking I had to do something else. Before then, each week we would go shopping in the morning and I skipped the yoga because I had to get ready or I just wandered into the kitchen and started breakfast without cleaning my teeth.

Why couldn't I just follow my plan of clean my teeth and do 10 mins of yoga before breakfast without ticking it off. I don't know. It was just too hard.
Knowing I had to tick off my calendar each day reminded me to do those things and also made me think that I would be disappointed if I didn't get to tick them off. It motivated me to get them done each morning.

There is room for three goals each day. I started with two. Clean my teeth and do 10 mins yoga before breakfast. Now I am comfortable with those I have added the morning shower. So regardless of what is planned for the day I am having my shower before breakfast. Just like I used to when I went out to work. If you are not retired you probably can't understand what I am talking about. Suddenly losing the daily routine is quite unsettling. I finally feel as if I am in control again.

This is why it is so important to set up routines with children. It makes them feel in control and safe.
Here is a cute routine I found at I Heart Organising blog.



My days are still pretty free form. I like to sew as soon as I get up so breakfast is still quite late and sometimes I like to sit in bed and play on the iPad but I always do my routine before breakfast.
If there is something that you would really like to include in your day then print out the Hundred Days Calendar and write it on each day. You will be surprised and pleased how well it works.

Happy Organising,
Val

Organising my Blogs

I don't plan to make a living from my blogs or related business but I do want them to generate some affiliate income from Mom's ToolBelt and I want to encourage visitors. After all my blogging is not just a personal journal it is a publication and I hope that I can give back some of what I get from reading other people's blogs.

With that in mind I decided to do a bit of organising :)

Mom's ToolBelt is mainly a household organiser but I really like the calendars and binder/notes pages. They can be used for any kind of organising and combined with some of the free printables around Mom's ToolBelt printables make awesome organiser folders.

The first thing I did was print out a February calendar and plan my sewing blog. I used page 120 of the mtb-calendar-monthly-2014 PDF from the Calendar section under Monthly Dated then PDF 2014. It has all the seasons and black and white calendars for each month in lots of page layouts.

I have lots of BoMs and Challenges on the go and I love to join up all the Linkies for them. Each one has to be linked up on a particular day so I had to organise what went where.

It has helped me decide what to sew each day and also motivated me to do more sewing and blog more. Getting organised has helped me find more time. Well, really it is allowing me to use my time more efficiently.

The next thing I did was look for some specific blog organising printables. I found a PDF at Living Well Spending Less that I downloaded for free and just printed out a few pages that suited me.

I liked the Long Term Goals page. It really made me think about what I wanted from my blog and how I might try to make it more inviting. I want it to be good for me and for the visitors.

I also liked the Year at a Glance page. I haven't quite worked out the best way to use this yet but I will probably print out one for each blog I write and put in some post headings or topics that I could use throughout the year. Kind of like a brainstorming page but with a little more purpose.

I have been getting March ready lately. I am quite a visual person so I have used different coloured pens to highlight the different posts I make such as linking up or sewing progress. This pretty March page is page 216 of the Mom's ToolBelt mtb_calendar_monthly_2014 PDF.

I don't actually have a folder for my blog planner yet but I will buy a small ring binder and set it up like my Home Planner with a cover and spine and dividers from Mom's ToolBelt.

If you like blogging it can be a very satisfying experience to turn your blog into more of a publication rather than just a few musings. Getting organised is a step in the right direction.

Happy Organising,
Val

2. Setting up 'My Home Planner' folder - Tab1 Goals

Using Mom's ToolBelt

Adding At a Glance pages and Journal pages for each goal.
I know what I want but that doesn't mean that I will get it. Time spent thinking about what you really want and how you might achieve it is time well spent. The time I spend playing with my planner printables, finding just the right one for what I want to write down is also time well spent. The more I fine tune it the more usable it gets.

It is easy to make goals. You only need to think of 4 or 5 areas that you want to make some progress in. My goals relate to

1. Finances - because I have a pocket money allowance that I can spend on anything I like and if I want everything I have to plan what I will spend it on. It sometimes links to my other goals too.
2. Gardening - because I have been traveling on and off the past few years and we have had the house on the market most of last year my gardening just stopped. I was never around at spring planting time or I went away and nothing got watered. I like to garden so I had to have a plan to get back into it.
3. Sewing for the home - because we are building a new house near the beach and I want to make new things with a beach/seaside theme.
4. Personal sewing - because I love to quilt and do BOMs and challenges and sew some colthes and I want to do it all.
5. Blogging - because most of my personal sewing is related to my blogging I wanted to make sure it all linked together nicely.

There are other things that I think about along the way like housework, meal planning, eating healthy, doing yoga and exercise but they have their own tabs in my folder or their own planner sheet so they get done.

Including At a Glance pages.

To write more specific goals for each month I selected At a Glance Planning from the topic list on the downloads page then downloaded the PDF in At a Glance Planning Pages directly below the zip file box. I chose page 1 because I figured I could use it from FEB through NOV. I typed in the goal and printed it out then retyped the next goal and printed that out until I had a page for each goal area 1 to 4. 

Here is my Garden Goals page:

Including Journal Pages

I also have a two journal pages after each At a Glance page so I can write in more detail how I will make things happen or just be a bit more specific. My Garden notes has a frame for a map of the yard. To get the journal pages I selected Journaling from the main list then downloaded the Summer PDF. For the Garden notes I used pages 5 and 4 to get them as facing pages. For the other notes pages I used pages 3 and 4.

In Acrobat Reader you can't type titles at the tops of the journal pages. I have Acrobat Professional that allows me to add in text boxes anywhere I like. Most of the Mom's ToolBelt pages are editable just in Reader though.

Here are my Personal Sewing pages:

Grouping all the goals on one page for the week:

I really like to do things more than one way. Flicking from page to page is OK but I like the look of this weekly glance. Even going through the process of writing weekly goals for each area helps me achieve them. It is time well spent.

This planner page is a free download from Money Saving Mom. Once on the page click Weekly Goals Saving Sheets in the Table of Contents and download the PDF sheet.

After downloading it you can type in the headings you want.

I will start using this in the coming week.

My next post will be how I organise my Housework schedule using the calendar from Mom's Tool Belt.

Happy Organising,

Val

1. Setting up the 'My Home Planner' Folder - Cover and Dividers

The first thing I did after buying my membership to Mom's Toolbelt was download the covers, spines and dividers file for Summer - mtb-covers-spines-dividers-SUMMER-pdfe

I thought the ready made title was perfect so I just printed out page 1 for the cover and slipped it in the folder cover sleeve.

I have an A4 2 D ring folder. The spine of my folder is 1 1/2 inches or about 4cm. 

I used the second narrowest spine on page 12, typing in My Home Planner. It always seems a shame to print out 4 spines when you only need one but I have kept the others just in case. I had to trim this one down a bit on each long side to fit neatly in my folder spine.

Then I did a bit of thinking about what I needed to have organised right then and there. I have a 5 tab set of divider sleeves that I got from Big W. So I needed 5 important areas to start with.

The desk went into storage so I used the kitchen table to get started.

I wanted to have a place to keep my goals for 2014 so I used page 5 as my divider, typed in my heading - Goals for 2014 - and printed it out.

My housework routine has been very successful for me since 2011 so that was my next divider. I used page 6 and typed in Housework Routine and printed it out.

Since we will have to plan for two weeks shopping and meals I thought I needed to include this. I love the different pages so I clicked through and chose page 16 for this divider and typed in Meal Planner and Shopping Lists. The text gets smaller automatically as you type more.

My husband took over doing the budget and the bills about 6 years ago and I am happy to let him keep doing it but it is easy to lose touch with what has to be paid and when. I decided to make a Budget divider so I could handle it all without a pause if need be. I used page 16 again. Just typing in the heading Budget. 

While looking in cupboards ready to pack up to move I realised that I had a lot of things that I would be hard put to remember if I needed to claim insurance so I started inventorying my dinner sets and tea pots and such. When I finish typing up the lists I will put them in my folder along with basic info on our larger appliance and furniture items. I thought since we would probably be buying some new things when we moved into the new house it would be good time to make a list. I have a very organised warranty and receipts folder set but I will cover that later.
Once again I used page 16 and typed in Inventory and Serial Numbers. Printed it out and put it in the divider sleeve.

The divider sleeves come with little cards to write on and slip in the tab but I had just bought some printable labels that almost fit so I used those instead.
The labels are Avery White Mailing Labels 33 to a page (64mm x 24.3mm).
Fairly small but I had to cut them down a bit for the tabs. The Avery site has great software for making the labels. Very easy to use.

My folders sit on the shelf of the makeshift pantry while we are renting for 6 months. When we get the desk back after the new house is built they will be stored there.

The next post I will go through what I put under each divider heading.

Happy Organising,
Val