Tag: Productivity

Categories
Faith Family Planning Productivity

Getting My Life Together

There was a meme recently that said, do you ever feel like you want to get your whole life together at 2 am? That’s me.  I consistently think of all the things I forgot to do and all the things I need to do in the middle of the night.  I can’t do this for another month.  I have got to get my life together!

Back in the day, I had it all together.  Or at least I thought I did when I was a planner.  I loved all things planning.  I liked knowing what to expect.  It became like a brain dump for me and allowed me to take stuff out of my mind and put them somewhere before I forgot them.

I remember using the agenda’s they gave you in school from a very early age and usually had a cheap one anytime I was taking college classes.

I graduated to the big leagues of planners when I got my first Erin Condren back in 2013/2014, and I haven’t looked back since when it comes to paper planners.

I also, over the last year or two, have found a love and appreciation for using technology to plan.  My google calendar tends to keep me on schedule with its alerts and reminders.

But as a housewife and a budding entrepreneur, I don’t have a strict schedule that I am forced to adhere to anymore.  That has shaken up my planning routine a bit.  I’m mostly relying on to-do lists (or completed lists) and just don’t feel as productive as I could be.  With me wanting to be intentional with keeping my home and faith a priority while working on my entrepreneurship adventures, I know planning for me is what will help me find the harmony in doing all of those things.

I decided to sit down and plan the month of May.  But I wanted to go a little beyond what I have been doing as of late, which is just writing down appointments, meetings, and webinars.  I looked at what I wanted to accomplish this month:

  • I want to keep home a priority
  • I want to keep my relationship with God a priority
  • I want to make sure our finances are stable
  • I want to cook from what I have in the house already before my next grocery order
  • I want to be more consistent on the blog and social media

 

I knew these would be things that I need to “schedule” in if I wanted to accomplish them.  So I grabbed May’s calendar from my Erin Condren binder system and stared at it.

How do I get this blank calendar to bring me comfort with the five things that I had listed?  Let me break down my thought process for each one and show you what I did.

Keeping Home a Priority

How do I do this? For me, it is making sure our house is clean, and our home has a calming atmosphere and is a sanctuary for us to relax in.

I’ve decided to follow the FlyLady program again when it comes to cleaning and decluttering our home.  So I will use her routines and calendar to help me focus on what needs to be done cleaning wise.

Keeping God #1

The way that I build my relationship with God is by spending time in His Word, praying, and worshiping.  I also attend church each week.

Bible reading and studying is a passion of mine.  I love learning more about God and what His plan is for His children.  For me, this is a daily practice.  At the end of April, I finished my Day by Day Chronological Bible, which is what I was using for my daily reading.  But now that I have read the full Bible (and the NT twice), in less than 12 months, I decided it’s time to really add studying to my routine.

In May, I want to focus on one to two chapters a day for my studying.  I want to allow room for God to truly teach me His Word and see what fruit comes from that knowledge.  I will most likely be using the Dayspring Illustrating Bible.  And because I know I prefer to also get in additional reading, I am following along with Annie F. Downs and reading the four gospels each month, in a different translation.  In May, I am starting with the NASB translation and am just using the YouVersion Bible app.

I want to do better with praying for groups of people.  I currently have a list in my reminders app and want to be more consistent with praying over it.  My list includes The Church (body of Christ, church leaders, and missionaries), Chris and our future children/legacy, family, friends, unbelievers, our nation, and the world.

I also want to go back to the practice of reviewing the sermon and my notes from Sunday.  I use to try and rewatch the message during the week, make sure I didn’t overlook any relevant notes, and then transfer what I learned to my ESV Journaling Bible.  I haven’t done that in a while, and I miss the reinforcement of the message from my pastors.

Keeping Our Money Healthy

If you have seen our budgeting spreadsheet, you probably think it is a beast to maintain.  And while that can be the case, thanks to me doing budget reviews every week, it isn’t that difficult.  In less than 30 minutes, I update it with the previous week’s transactions, have a conversation with Chris, and set our goals and intentions for the next week.

 

We Have Food At Home

I hate meal planning mostly because I cook based on our cravings.  I try to keep a variety of items stocked at the house to make that possible.  But I haven’t been doing a great job lately of making us balanced meals.  And I’ve been stuck on more than one occasion on what I should cook.  So I decided to venture back into meal planning.

Consistency is Key

I have no idea why I struggle so much with this.  Well, I kind of do.

Honestly, I am 75% over social media.  I have worked hard to curate what I have coming into my feeds, but there can still be a lot of junk.  And because I don’t want to see that, I stay away from the apps.  Which is a problem when I love sharing and connecting with others.

And as for my blog?  Perfectionism, my friend.  This is draft post number 46.  Now to be fair, some of those are future projects.  But a lot of them are ideas that I have for a blog post, and during the process of fleshing them out, perfectionism has paralyzed me.

So I need to overcome this by planning out my content for the month and sticking to it.

See What I Did There?

My blog and social media are how I share and connect with people.  I share what I am currently going through and what I am currently working on.  So when it comes to planning out the content for May, I kind of just did that with this post.  My blog and social media posts, in a way, help keep me accountable.  If I know that I want to post what I learned from the sermon on Sunday, I have to be sure I did the review of my notes.  Now, to be clear, I am not doing these things for the blog or social media.  I am doing these things for me and am choosing to share them after the fact in hopes that they help others that may be struggling with finding harmony with all the things they are trying to manage in life.

Finally, since I used my Erin Condren monthly pages as my draft, I went ahead and added these to my Tanisha Rhenáe google calendar.  Now I know what my end goal is and can set up alerts to help me remember.  If you read this post here, you know that I am using time blocking to help make my day more productive.  That means instead of just randomly jumping from task to task, I put like items together and focus on only those items until the next block.  So while the doing of my five goals will be done in either my Homemaking or Admin block, I will use my Content Creation block to build these out for my blog and social media.

Let me know in the comments below what your biggest struggle is with planning?

*I included my Erin Condren referral link in this post.  In addition to you getting $10 off your first purchase, I earn rewards as well!

*As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases using the links included in this post.

Categories
Home

Finally Loving Your Home: Cleaning With FlyLady

I talked a bit about creating a homemaking block in my most recent post here on the blog.  While I enjoy cleaning and, even more, a clean home, I can sometimes get in a rut where I’m just tired of cleaning.  But as I mentioned here, I need to get out of it if I want to have my home being a sanctuary for my husband and me.  So I thought back to when I truly enjoyed cleaning last.  And it was a year or two ago when I was following the Fly Lady routine. There are still pieces that I follow to this day, but because I am not doing the whole process, it doesn’t feel the same.

But my problem with the system itself was, it is tough to follow because the details are not in one place.  I mean, her website reminds me of the late 90’s/the early 2000s and is full of items to buy from her. Her technique is to get you to sign up for her email, and she sends you what needs to be done throughout the day. For example, I signed up again for her emails to get started and have already received at least eight emails a day.  And her site says that she averages ten emails a day.  It’s a bit overwhelming.  Especially for a planner like me, that would like to plan in advance.  I’ve scanned her site, and it’s a bit all over the place to find what you need.  So let me try and break down how it works.

Update: This post got long! I was thinking about breaking it up until multiple posts and decided that defeats the purpose of having everything in one place.  So while this lengthy post will be published as one, let’s focus on one topic at a time.  Join me on my Instagram, where I will post our focus for the day, and let’s talk about it!

FLYing Lessons

The site tells you to start here. FLYing is all about “Finally Loving Yourself,” which she describes as having “peace of mind, pride in your home, and a passion for living.”  In the emails I mentioned above, you get what is called Missions for your daily Zone.  But wait, before you do that, you focus on what she calls Baby Steps.  And the first one is this: Shine Your Sink.  Now, this is a practice that I have followed forever.  Before I go to bed, I do what I call “Shutting Down the Kitchen,” and that includes making sure the kitchen sink is not only empty, but I scrub it out with a powdered cleaner and dish liquid. This is the same process that Fly Lady calls Shine Your Sink, and she outlines a 12 step process to do it.

Next, she tells you to Get Dressed to Shoes.  That means to get dressed for the day, including wearing shoes.  And laced up shoes at that.  She insists that doing this prevents you from slipping them off and lounging around.  I disagree with this.  I mean, I understand it’s much harder to take a nap with the sneakers on, but if I am tired, those shoes won’t stop me.  I’ll take them off or leave my feet dangling off the couch or bed.  And I hate wearing shoes in my house.  I have thought about buying a pair just for inside (slippers or slides).  I do believe that getting up and getting dressed helps motivate you, though.  When I transitioned from working in Corporate to working from home, I went from wearing skirts that I loved most days to wearing 50’s style dresses.  I won’t call them house dresses because that reminds me of nightgowns.  But something about wearing the dresses gave me pride in what I was doing from home, and that included my cleaning.  Now thanks to one too many Krispy Kreme donuts, I can’t fit most of my dresses anymore, but with the seasons changing, I plan on getting back to wearing dresses again.  Maybe just a little bit more flowing.  But I will miss my basketball shorts and leggings.

Baby Steps

Now we are finally getting to the rest of those Baby Steps she talked about.  Fair warning, clicking on that link doesn’t get you to the baby steps without having to click on another link.  Which appears to contain the same info from the first link AND the info about Baby Step #1, which was Shining Your Sink all to just, redirect you back to the link I provided you up there.  See what I mean about the struggle with finding out the information? And we haven’t even started cleaning anything but the sink.  Oh, and you have to click a new link to get to each new Baby Step, but you then have to go back to the first page to get to the next link.  But I’m going to help you out by listing the rest below.  Now each Baby Step corresponds with a day.  So it will take you 31 days to get through all of them.  She says this is to help you establish small routines, build consistency, and to take your time enjoying the process.

  1. Shine Your Sink
  2. Get Dressed to Lace-Up Shoes
  3. Put Out A New Dish Towel Each Night – This is something I try to do each night using these towels.  I think the actual step for this day is to review the website, but I’m saving you 10 hours.
  4. Post Sticky Notes on Bathroom Mirror and Kitchen Sink – This is to remind you to do #1 and #2.  And is the beginning of what she calls your control journal.  More on that later.
  5. Turn Negative Thoughts into Positive Phrases – If you find yourself saying you don’t deserve a clean home, seeing this list should help.
  6. Take 2 Minutes to Clear a Hot Spot – Find that one spot in your house that stays cluttered, set a timer, and clear it.
  7. Pick Out Your Clothes At Night – I think everyone recognizes that this helps mornings go smoother.
  8. Create Your Control Journal – She recommends a binder and some paper and to now break Steps 1-7 into a morning and evening routine, with #6 happening in both.
  9. Five Minute Room Rescue – Spend 5 minutes clearing a path in your worst room.
  10. 15 Minutes: Pick Up Trash and Rest – Set a timer for 15 minutes, gather all the trash you can, and take it out.  Set a time for another 15 minutes and rest.
  11. Inspiration In 15 Minutes – Take 15 minutes to write some inspirational quotes.
  12. Delete Her Emails – It’s been less than five days since I signed up, and I have 30 emails from her.  If she averages ten a day as she says, you should be deleting 120 emails on Day 12.  This is ridiculous.  She doesn’t like clutter but is providing digital clutter.
  13. Do The Mission for the Day – Now for some cleaning.  Take a break here and jump to the next section on Zones and Missions.
  14. Time for a Calendar – Find a place for a calendar (high traffic area) and get one up.  We’ve used this one for a couple of years now.
  15. Make Your Bed – Add this to your morning routine.
  16. Back to the Website – She wants you to read what others are saying about the system.
  17. Set a Bedtime and Stick to It – Don’t wait until it’s time for bed to do your evening routine either.  Start right after dinner
  18. 11 Commandments – But wait…another list. Luckily this one is mostly a repeat of what she has already told you with additions like don’t be distracted, do one thing at a time, and pamper yourself.
  19. No Rushing – This one was hard to figure out as she had another testimonial in there.  But don’t rush, slow down and set a time if you need to.
  20. Laundry – Start a load of laundry at night, put it in the dryer when you wake up, fold/hang, and put away as part of your morning routines.
  21. Clean Out One Drawer – So technically, this day was to read more things on her website, but she also said to clean out one drawer for each family member to make it easier to put laundry away.
  22. Office in a Bag – Work on building your control journal and keep everything you need to pay bills, make a grocery list, etc. in one portable place.  Just in case you need more to do, here are 15 steps to create your control journal.
  23. Afternoon Routine – Start dinner in the afternoon.  Plan your meals a week at a time and get them added to your calendar.
  24. Swish and Swipe – Swish the toilet bowl with the brush and wipe out the sink and clean the countertops with a rag.
  25. More Reading – Read some more of her website, but if you have more than one bathroom, use a different one each time you need to go and do the swish and swipe.
  26. Never Behind – A reminder to start wherever you are, even if you get behind.  I also noticed she added lunch and to drink plenty of water to the afternoon routines.
  27. Dinner – Prepare for dinner either the night before or in the morning.  Remove anything from the freezer you need, and don’t forget your side dishes.
  28. Take Care of You – Set a timer for 15 minutes and read.  Remember to eat good food, drink your water, take breaks, and get some rest.
  29. Weekly Pamper Mission – It looks like the idea for the day was a testimonial from a reader who got a back rub from her hubby after a relaxing bath.  Breakfast was added to the morning routine.  Water, meds, and vitamins were added to both morning and evening routines.
  30. Important Dates – Look at the calendar for next month and see what important dates need to be planned for.  This is also where you learn about your weekly plan, which is more routines.  Head to that section below to learn more.
  31. Don’t Worry – Another reminder to not get overwhelmed with all of the things she has you doing.

Zones

Zones are different parts of the house that she assigns you to clean each week.  There are five zones, and ideally, you would hit them all in one month.  The goal is to spend 15 minutes a day cleaning your zone based on the mission you are given (see next section).  Here are the zones and when she says they would be cleaned:

  1. Entrance/Front Porch/Dining Room – the first few days of the month until Sunday
  2. Kitchen – the first full week of the month
  3. Main Bathroom/Extra Room – the second full week of the month
  4. Master Bedroom/Bath/Closet – the third full week of the month
  5. Living Room/Den/TV Room – the last few days of the month, starting on Monday

 

 

Missions

Missions are your daily to-dos for the day.  Each week she tells you one mission to do each day.  It doesn’t appear that this information is laid out in advance anywhere, so you only get one week at a time.  Here are last weeks (the current weeks is here), for example:

Monday

Spend 15 minutes getting rid of 27 things from the Main Bathroom.  Do the same in the Extra Room.

Tuesday

Shine your tub/shower in the Main Bathroom.  Set your timer for 15 minutes and get the guest bed ready for company.  Wash the sheets if needed.

Wednesday

Wash your Main Bathroom rugs, shower curtains, and accessories.  Dust in the Extra Room, ensuring you get those cobwebs in the corner.

Thursday

Toss old or unused cosmetics, perfumes, and other hygiene products.  For the Extra Room, either spend 15 minutes getting rid of 27 more things or sweep/vacuum.

Friday

Clean the counters and sink in the Main Bathroom.  Take 15 minutes to relax.

Weekly Plan

Monday’s – Weekly Home Blessing for an hour

This includes tossing old magazines, changing the sheets, emptying the trash, vacuuming, mop kitchen and bathroom, clean mirrors and doors, and dust.

Tuesday’s – Free Day

Water and fertilize plants.  Spend 15 minutes in the current Zone

Wednesday’s – Zone Cleaning and Partial Desk Time

Finish zone cleaning and weekly cleaning. Clean the fridge. Write thank-you notes. Work on the menu and grocery list for next week.  Balance checkbook.

Thursday’s – Grocery and Errand Day

Make sure your menu is ready for grocery shopping. Confirm the list before you leave.  Go grocery shopping and run errands.

Friday’s – Paperwork and Misc.

Date night. Get food from the freezer for next week.  File papers. Write letters and cards. Cleanout purse.  Mend clothes and polish shoes. Pet care. Clean out car and check fluids. Clean laundry room.

Saturday’s – Family Fun Day

Sunday’s – Renew Your Spirit Day

 

 

But Wait There Is More

But I am not about to make this post any longer.  I found her detailed before bed routine, morning routines, weekly checklist (not to be confused with the weekly plan), and finally, the detailed cleaning list. The list alone is nine pages long.

Seriously it is almost easier to check her emails every day to figure out what to do.  She sends what is called a flight plan that gives you the daily checklist, challenges, and missions.

My house needs a good deep spring cleaning, so I am going to take a look at everything else and determine if all of this information is truly needed.  Or maybe I can see if I can figure out a way to simplify this or find simpler systems.

Look forward to more post about cleaning our home as we make this happen.  Have you heard about Fly Lady? Tell me what you think below.

*I’ve used my referral link in this post for Grove.  This gives you a 5-piece gift set for first-time users.

*As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases using the links included in this post.

Categories
Home Productivity

Rhenáe’s Randoms: Failing At Time Management

Failing at Time Management, Routines, and Schedules

I had a much-needed therapy appointment this week.  I advocate for therapy on the regular, but in this season, it is needed!

I had a significant life change happen recently, and I’m not adjusting well. And because God knows what I need, my therapist stressed the importance of me creating a schedule, sticking to a routine, and doing something that helps me relax or brings me joy each day.

Then she said something that mimicked the same advice a friend gave me a little while ago.

You don’t have to schedule your routines necessarily but instead, know that you need to get them done and accomplish them when you can.

Why does this simple advice seem so profound to me?

I want to say I was this way before, but when I felt myself losing control, I recognized that I tried to hold onto what I had control of a bit tighter. And that’s when planning stopped being fun for me, and it was a struggle to just get through the day.  And in this recent season of my life, my routines have gone away completely.

But now that I’m focusing on making my home a sanctuary, I recognize the need to establish those routines again. Those routines, in turn, improve my time management and productivity.  With me starting on my journey to entrepreneurship, I can’t add more to my plate without managing what I currently have on it.   Which calls to mind two Bible verses:

‘Whoever is faithful in very little is also faithful in much, and whoever is unrighteous in very little is also unrighteous in much. So if you have not been faithful with worldly wealth, who will trust you with what is genuine? And if you have not been faithful with what belongs to someone else, who will give you what is your own? ‘ Luke 16:10-12 CSB

‘He must manage his own household competently and have his children under control with all dignity. (If anyone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he take care of God’s church?) ‘ 1 Timothy 3:4-5 CSB

I’ve started to take some steps to help me with this and will be looking into doing some things that I know have worked in the past.

I’ve been using technology.

I know you are probably like, didn’t you just get off of a digital detox?  Yes, and I still have most of my notifications off in this season.  But I’ve been using my Reminders app (on the iPhone).  I created many different lists and just started to add things to it that I need to do.  And as I think of things, I go and add it to my lists.  This helps me eliminate decision fatigue and I never have to spend time worrying about what needs to be done.

  • To-Do List – Anything that pops into my head that needs to be done.  Then I go and schedule when I want it done using my Erin Condren planner or Google Calendar.
  • Affirmations – If you caught my post about this, you know I had some reservations, but it’s biblical! So I’ve created some.  Or when I hear some that I love, I add.  I have some set up for me to say daily, weekly, and monthly.
  • Morning/Afternoon/Evenings Routines – Things I would like to do at that time of day or things I typically forget to do (like taking meds/vitamins).
  • Weekly/Monthly Routines – These are more house and Bambi girl related.  So I know which days to wash my comforter, change out Bambi’s litterbox, or even self-care items like exfoliating or doing a mask based on when I did them last.
  • Blog/SM Post – A loose schedule of what I would like to post.
  • Spirituality – Reminders to pray, express gratitude, repent/confess.  Reminders of different types of Bible reading I could do if I am in a rut (a Psalm, a chapter in Proverbs, a New Testament read, an Old Testament read, or scripture writing).
  • Prayer – Requests and topics I want to be sure I am covering each day/week.
  • Business/Personal Development – Whenever I come across a course or interesting blog/person that I want to look into, they get added here.  This mostly comes out of recent summits I have been attending.

Time Blocking

This is something that I need to start doing again.  Lately, I have been waking up and just randomly tackling my to-do list around meetings/calls I may have scheduled until it is time to start on dinner.  It’s annoying me, not to mention, I am not all that productive.  With time blocking, you group like tasks together, so you aren’t having to switch to something completely different and lose your groove.  For example, I would have the following blocks:

  • Homemaking Block – laundry, cleaning, and all things home related
  • Learning Block – This would be when I want to take courses, do webinars, do research, etc.
  • Writing Block – This could be journaling or writing for the blog.
  • Content Creation Block – Creating my social media post or creating printables to help me with my routines
  • Admin Block – Emails, budget review, and planning.

Obviously, there are other areas that aren’t covered here like my faith life, self-care, cooking, etc.  But when I start to test this out, I will make updates as needed.  Keep an eye out on my Instagram because that is where I will share day by day things I will be doing and learning.

Where I’m Winning

One thing I can say that I have been doing great at is ending my day.  Typically when Chris lets me know he is on his way home, is when I shut it down for the day and switch into wifey mode.  I start cooking dinner and try to finish any cleaning that I may have started early in the day.  And then, when Chris is home, I focus on spending time with him.  This is a direct result of some of the conversations we have been having in our marriage and me wanting to be more present with him.

I feel like relying on my reminders to help me with my routines and time blocking will help me set a baseline so I can start focusing on home as my top priority again.  I’m going to give this a try and see how it goes.  Let me know in the comments below if you have been able to stick to your routines and schedules.  I would love to hear some of your tips.

*I’ve included my Erin Condren referral link in this post.  This gives you $10 off your first purchase and I get reward points in return.

Categories
Down The TBR Hole

Down the TBR Hole #201 – 220

Welcome to Down the TBR Hole #201-220!  What is Down the TBR Hole?  It is where I grab 20 books from my incredibly long TBR list on Goodreads and decide if I am keeping or removing the books.  Need to catch up?  Click here to go to the previous post.  As a reminder, here are the rules:

This week has been a recoup and recover week from a stressful week with a family emergency that happened. I usually would turn to books, but I am not sure I read anything outside of some poems this week.  But I also didn’t add many books to the list, so I am starting this week with 4,663 books. Let’s get started.

 

1. The Art of War by Sun Tzu

I’ve heard so many great things about this book, and although it is about the military strategy, it is supposed to be great to use in business.  It’s one of those books that is probably considered a classic.  But I decided last year that just because a book is a classic doesn’t mean that I have to read it.  So while I am sure this is a great book, it isn’t something that I want to read at this time. I am removing it from my list.

 

 

 

2. The Art of War for Women: Sun Tzu’s Ancient Strategies and Wisdom for Winning Work by Chin-Ning Chu

The author uses Sun Tzu’s strategies and gears it towards women.  But like the book above, it just isn’t something I want to read in this season.  I am removing it from my list.

 

 

 

3. Simply Clean: The Proven Method for Keeping Your Home Organized, Clean, and Beautiful in Just 10 Minutes A Day by Becky Rapinchuk

When I quit my job, I had this dream of being the best damn housewife out there. So I wanted to learn all these additional things to make my house the best home for my husband and myself.  So I wanted to read all the books to do just that.  As much as I love cleaning and organizing, I feel like I can always learn a better way.  With that being said, I am keeping this one.

 

 

4. The Organically Clean Home: 150 Everyday Organic Cleaning Products You Can Make Yourself – The Natural, Chemical-Free Way by Becky Rapinchuk

Apart of me wanting to do better with cleaning and organizing was also to do so naturally.  I wanted to replace all of the things that weren’t good for us and our home.  So finding a book that can help me make my own cleaning products, was right up my alley.  So I am keeping this one.

 

 

 

 

5. The Power That Changes the World: Creating Eternal Impact in the Here and Now by Bill Johnson

I think this message has been given and packaged in many books, and there isn’t anything calling out to me about this book.  Because of that, I am going to remove it.

 

 

 

 

6. Big girls DO Cry: Letting God Heal Your Hurts From The Inside Out by Lisa K. Spivey

I think every Christian should know how to handle any type of loss before it happens spiritually.  I’ve seen so many people lose their faith after a tragic event, and it is heartbreaking.  Since this book talks about the way to turn to God during those times, it is a book I want to keep on my list.

 

 

 

 

7. God is With You Everyday by Max Lucado

Another devotional.  And as much as I love Max Lucado, I need to be honest with myself about if I’m going to read all of these devotionals.  And I am not.  So I am going to remove this one.

 

 

 

 

 

8. One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are by Ann Voskamp

Another book that I have heard great things about.  And being more appreciative of the everyday things and moments is something that I need to do.  I complain a lot and am hoping that in 2020 I can change that.  I am keeping this one.

 

 

 

 

9. Closer Than Your Skin: Unwrapping the Mystery of Intimacy with God by Susan D. Hill

Intimacy is something that I struggle with in my relationship with God.  I can honestly say that because He isn’t someone I can see or tangibly feel all the time, it’s easy for me to not really “feel” like He is here.  I know that isn’t the correct way, but it’s just my truth.  I am keeping this one to help with that, hopefully.

 

 

 

10. Steal Like An Artist: 10 Things Nobody Told You About Being Creative by Austin Kleon

Someone promoting being yourself and using our own creativity instead of being like everyone else?  Yup, I’m for it.  This seems like it will be a quick, motivational book.  I am keeping it.

 

 

 

 

11. Be You & Live Civil: Tools for Unlocking Your Potential & Living Your Purpose by Karen Civil

Karen Civil is one of those badass women who I sit back and watch and be amazed at all that she is and has accomplished.  So I will be happy to read all that she produces.  I am keeping this book.

 

 

 

 

 

12. But Are You Making Any Money?: Stop Being Busy and Start Creating Cash by Marley Majcher

I think this would be an excellent book for a different season.  I realized that I have shifted into one of those people that can sometimes get caught up in the creating and planning and struggle at times with the actual doing.  I am removing this one.

 

 

 

 

13. Girl Code: Unlocking the Secrets to Success, Sanity, and Happiness for the Female Entrepreneur by Cara Alwill Leyba

Another book I’ve heard a lot about specifically in the female entrepreneurship world.  It’s been on almost every recommended book list I’ve seen for business women.  I do want to read it.  I am keeping this one.

 

 

 

 

 

14. The One Thing: The Surprisingly Simple Truth Behind Extraordinary Results by Gary Keller

Success, productivity, and purpose.  Three things that I am interested in.  I am keeping this one.

 

 

 

 

15. Money, Possessions and Eternity by Randy Alcorn

Money is a hot topic in Christianity.  We think we should be blessed enough to have money but turn our nose up when those in ministry have money or ask for it.  I have my own opinion based on what I have read in the Bible, but I am always interested in hearing others’ views.  So I am keeping this one.

 

 

 

 

16. The Millionaire Next Door: The Surprising Secrets of America’s Wealthy by Thomas J. Stanley and William D. Danco

This is a book that has been on my personal list for a while now, even though it is a top-rated book.  I am keeping this one.

 

 

 

 

 

17. The Rules of Wealth: A Personal Code for Prosperity by Richard Templar

This doesn’t seem all that interesting, so I am removing it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

18. The One-Page Financial Plan: A Simple Way to Be Smart About Your Money by Carl Richards

My love for all things budgeting and finances made me interested in this book.  I am keeping it.

 

 

 

 

19. Nice Girls Don’t Get Rich: 75 Avoidable Mistakes Women Make with Money by Lois Frankel

What money mistakes am I making that is specific to being a woman?  Is there such a thing?  Those are questions that led me to add this book to the list.  I am keeping it there.

 

 

 

 

 

20. Rich Bitch: A Simple 12-Step Plan for Getting Your Financial Life Together…Finally by Nicole Lapin

It seems like Nicole Lapin’s approach to getting rich is different from others.  Because I love learning more about money and different ways to keep it, I am keeping this one on the list.

 

 

 

Final Count: Removing 6; Keeping 14

TBR Down to 4,657

This week’s list had quite a few books about money and finances, which go in line with January’s Year of Healthy theme.  Have you read any of these books? Did I make a mistake with removing or keeping one?

Categories
Down The TBR Hole

Down the TBR Hole #21-40

Welcome to Down the TBR Hole #21-40.  Have you been feeling inspired to go through your list of books that you have to read?  Or have you maybe found some books that I mentioned to add to your list?  Need to catch up?  Head here to see the last post.  As a reminder, here are the rules:

I am starting this week with 4,678 books.  Not sure how I ended up with more books than I started with last time.  I’m sure this reading slump I am in is not helping.  But of course, there is never a shortage of books to add to my list.  I also skipped last week so let’s double up this week.  Let’s get started.

1. Business Boutique: A Woman’s Guide to Making Money Doing What She Loves by Christy Wright

In a past life, I was all into finance and financial planning and thought that would be my career.  I also owned my own business for a bit. I found Christy Wright by way of Dave Ramsey and started listening to her podcast. I started reading this book, but for whatever reason, I didn’t finish it.  But from what I remember, it was good. I own it on Audible, so I’m keeping it.

2. The Secrets You Keep by Kate White

My best friend recommended this book to me.  I think it took 15 years for me to realize that we no longer have the same taste in books.  She leans heavy into suspense and psychological thrillers while I am more into non-fiction books and romance.  But that doesn’t mean I won’t try and read one of her recommendations.  But I wasted an audible credit on this one. Thirty minutes in and I could go further. I’m removing this one.

3. Presence: Bringing Your Boldest Self to Your Biggest Challenges by Amy Cuddy

This book was recommended to me by an SVP that I admired at my old job.  She continuously kicked butt in a male-dominated world and specifically with a couple of challenging males that I had to work with daily that she had previous experience with.  I’m forever thankful that she took the time out to help mentor me. I started to read this book after she recommended it, but we were so busy my projects took over my life, and I had to put the book down. But I have a physical copy of this book plus the Audible version so I’ll be keeping it.

4. The Goal: A Process of Ongoing Improvement by Eliyahu M. Goldratt 

This was the first book that we were to read as a team at my old job. Recommended by the same SVP from above.  The only problem was my team was crazy busy.  We kept having to move the meeting that we had to talk about the book.  I’m not even sure I had time to finish one chapter. I do remember that it had an interesting concept, and I also happen to own a physical copy and the Audible version.  I think I will be keeping this one.

5. The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business by Charles Duhigg

This book has been on almost every recommendation list for businesses owners that I have come across.  So I downloaded it on Audible.  I feel like building habits is part of my theme for the year, so I am keeping this one.

 

6. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change by Stephen R. Covey

Like the book above, I have yet to come across a list that didn’t have this book recommended. I think I downloaded this one on Audible at the same time as the last one.  But it’s another one I haven’t had a chance to listen to. It’s a book on habits and fits my theme, so I’m keeping it.

7. God, Are You There? by Kay Arthur

I discovered Kay Arthur last year through Right Now Media and the inductive Bible study method. I instantly fell in love with her style and how her message of just using the Bible to interpret the Bible was so clear. I went on a hunt and ordered a few of her books (as you can tell).  I did read one of them and enjoyed it so I will be keeping this one.

 

8. Lord, Teach Me to Study the Bible in 28 Days by Kay Arthur

While I think I understand already what she will teach in this book because of watching her studies, I am keeping this book since I have a physical copy of it.  I also think it will be a quick read.

 

9. Discover the Bible for Yourself: Helpful Introductions to Every Book, Practical Approaches for Study, Applications for Everyday Life by Kay Arthur

You guessed it; I’m keeping this one.

 

10. Don’t Settle for Safe: Embracing the Uncomfortable to Become Unstoppable by Sarah Jakes Roberts 

First and foremost, I stan for Sarah Jakes Roberts.  If people can stan for musicians and actors, I can stan for a pastor.  What I love about her is she keeps it honest.  She made mistakes, and she had to work through them.  I’ve read another book of hers and probably every sermon she has preached.  Plus I’ve had the pleasure of seeing her teach in person.  I’m keeping this one.

11. Brave Enough to Succeed: 40 Strategies for Getting Unstuck by Valorie Burton

My previous business mentor recommended this book to me.  I’ve never connected with Burton based on what she posts on social media, but I was willing to give this book a chance.  I wonder, would this help me with my reading slump?  I’m feeling kind of stuck.  I’m keeping it.

 

12. Simplify: Ten Practices to Unclutter Your Soul by Bill Hybels

This was the second book that was recommended by my business mentor.  I was a Professional Organizer, so a book about organizing your soul? I’m all for it.  I’m keeping this one.

 

13. Battlefield of the Mind Bible: Renew Your Mind Through the Power of God’s Word by Joyce Meyer

I started to read her book by the same title and knew I wanted to get the Bible as well.  But I have the Bible and was using it when reading the book.  I don’t think it belongs on this list anymore.  I’m going to be removing it and putting it on my read list

 

14. Hebrews Bible Study Book: The Nearness of King Jesus by Lisa Harper

This is a bible study that I started but never finished.  Honestly, the turnoff was I had to either rent the videos or pay a large sum to own the videos.  For some reason, Lifeway has the video studies priced so high that I can’t always justify the cost. It was a good study, and I love Lisa Harper, especially after hearing her in person.  I’m keeping this one with the hopes of one day being able to complete it.

15. Mrs. Meyer’s Clean Home: No-Nonsense Advice that Will Inspire You to Clean Like the Dickens by Thelma Meyer

I went through a phase where I was trying to do a better job at setting the atmosphere of my home. I already loved having a clean house, so I was open to see if there were alternative ways to doing things.  So I felt like I was buying all the cleaning books.  I’m removing it, but it will make some cute decor.

 

16. Clean My Space: The Secret to Cleaning Better, Faster, and Loving Your Home Every Day by Melissa Maker

Another book from my home cleaning phase.  I’m removing it from my list but will keep it for decor.

 

17. How to Start a Home-based Professional Organizing Business by Dawn Noble

I might have mentioned a time or two that I previously had a Professional Organizing business. So although I bought this book while doing my research, I found so much info online that I didn’t need it.  I’m removing it.

 

18. Stronger than the Struggle: Uncomplicating Your Spiritual Battle by Havilah Cunnington

I bought the study for this book after hearing Havilah speak.  I enjoyed the study and wanted to read the book behind it, so I purchased it.  I enjoy listening to her preach, and I expect the same from her books.  I’ll be keeping it.

 

19. Anonymous: Jesus Hidden Years…And Yours by Alicia Britt Chole

A friend recommended this book to me after they enjoyed it.  I haven’t had a chance to start reading it yet, but I do like the concept. I have a physical copy of this book, and I am keeping it.

 

20. Everyday Hope: Holding Fast to His Promise by Katie Orr

Now that I have done a study with Katie (Philippians study), I want to do all of her studies.  She is an amazing Bible teacher.  You will see next week that I have a few of her studies.  I’m keeping this one.

 

Final count: Removing 5; Keeping 15; TBR down to 4,674

*As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases using the links included in this post.

Categories
Down The TBR Hole

Down The TBR Hole #11-20

Welcome to Down the TBR Hole #11-20.  Head here to get more information on this meme that I am doing.  As a reminder, here are the rules:

I am starting this week with 4,676 books on my To Be Read list.

1. Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity by David Allen

This book is on every productivity recommendation list I have ever come across.  I have the physical copy of this book and had started to read it but ended up putting it down.  This was during the season where I couldn’t find joy in reading because of other things happening.  I will eventually read it, so I’m keeping it.

 

2. Grace for the Good Girl: Letting Go of the Try-Hard Life by Emily P. Freeman

Another book that I have a physical copy of.  As someone who is recovering from being all about doing things and doing them right to please others, I bought this one when I was in Altar’d State out of town.  I started another book by Emily P. Freeman recently, and it’s pretty good, so I think I will be keeping this one for now.

 

3. Sacred Influence: How God Uses Wives to Shape the Souls of Their Husbands by Gary L. Thomas

I will take all the books on marriage I can take.  It is literally the hardest thing I have done.  I am keeping this one.

4. Love & Respect: The Love She Most Desires; The Respect He Desperately Needs by Emerson Eggerichs

A friend let me borrow this book, and I fell in love with it.  I took my time reading it, took a ton of notes, started to implement some of the recommendations, and then decided to order my own along with the workbook.  Then I stopped reading it.  I started again on my sabbatical but couldn’t get back into the flow I was in before.  But this book is beyond amazing, and I will read it and soon.  I’m keeping it.

5. Sink Reflections: Overwhelmed? Disorganized? Living In Chaos? The FlyLady’s Simple FLYing Lessons Will Show You How to Get Your Home and Your Life in Order–and It All Starts with Shining Your Sink! by Marla Cilley

I use to follow the FlyLady, and it did wonders for keeping and maintaining my house clean and organized.  I still follow the essence of her advice as it has become routine for me, but I’m not strict with what she recommends.  I also believe I can find everything in this book on her website.  So although I own a kindle edition of this book, I am removing this one.

6. Boundaries in Marriage by Henry Cloud

I’ve had Dr. Cloud’s books recommended to me a million times.  I felt like he was a legend at my previous home church, and everyone swore by his books like they were the Bible (which should have been my first clue).  A friend let me borrow the audiobook.  I bought the workbook. I think I downloaded the eBook.  I could not get into this book.  Or the regular Boundaries book. And you know what I am done trying.  I’m removing it.

 

7. Lucky Suit by Lauren Blakely

This book was one of the books I picked from the free Audible Originals one month.  It looks like it will be a quick romance to listen to so I am keeping it.

 

8. Thrive: The Third Metric to Redefining Success and Creating a Life of Well-Being, Wisdom, and Wonder by Arianna Huffington

I love Arianna Huffington.  She’s done and launched amazing things.  Her story of burnout resonated with me from when I worked in Corporate America.  I have already read one of her books and loved it.  I own this one on Audible, so I am keeping it.

 

9. Win From Within: Finding Yourself by Facing Yourself by John Gray

I have been a fan of John Gray for a while and until recently would watch most of his sermons.  He went through some criticism lately, and his response to that was to become an angry preacher, so I stopped watching him.  But I do plan on reading his books, and maybe one day I’ll check back in on his messages.  I own this one on Audible, so I’m keeping it.

10. Feeding the Dragon by Sharon Washington

Another book I received for free from Audible Originals.  I love reading autobiographies from women of color, and her living on the top floor of a library made me want to add this to my collection.  Plus her father being a custodian and her love for literature was something that made me relate to her as my father had a job as a building custodian at one of the apartments we lived in, in New Jersey.  And I shouldn’t need to say how I relate to her love of literature…since you are on my book blog :).  Needless to say, I am keeping it.

Final count: Removing 2; Keeping 8; TBR down to 4,674

*As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases using the links included in this post.

Categories
Book Review Faith Book Review Family Book Review

Book Review: Do More Better – A Practical Guide to Productivity by Tim Challies

Title: Do More Better – A Practical Guide to Productivity

Author: Tim Challies

Genre: Christian

Publisher: Challies

Rating: Related imageRelated imageRelated imageRelated image

Do More Better breaks down the importance and practicalities of having a routine to increase your productivity.  Tim Challies has his hands in a lot.  He is a Pastor, husband, father, book reviewer, blogger, amongst many other titles. I found him while doing some research on YouTube one day and was distracted by him giving book recommendations. Which led me down a rabbit hole of watching a few of his other videos (I may have watched every book recommendation video he has, but I digress).  I went to his website to find out more information about him, signed up for his emails, and my first thought was, “How does he do all of this?”. When I saw that he had a book on productivity, it was a no-brainer for me to grab it.  It was a quick read, with a lot of information that I already knew but wouldn’t be bad for someone that needed the basics of increasing their productivity.

My Thoughts:

As this is a Biblical based book on productivity, it wasn’t a shocker to find “good works” a topic.  My experience is that many people are quick to downplay or flat out deny good works.  After all, we are saved by grace and not good works.  But like many other unpopular (as in you don’t hear them talked about often) bible verses, people tend to ignore what the Bible actually says about the good works we should be doing.  I wonder if so many people focus on the fact that we are saved by grace and not works to get away with doing good works?  I understand wanting to keep people away from thinking they can work their way to salvation.  But I don’t hear much preached about doing good works as a result of our salvation.  The reason we should be doing these good works?  For God’s glory.  Since our purpose in life is to do things for God’s glory, the things that prevent us from doing that is considered a theological problem per Challies.

Do More Better is an action based book.  Tim Challies starts by walking you through what is productivity, what is stopping you from being productive, and then he actually walks you through the steps that he does to help with his productivity.  Now I am one of those people who doesn’t usually do what a book tells me.  If it says stop and write this down, I won’t.  I’ll probably highlight it.  Think about going back to it later, maybe.  But unless I’m reading something for a specific reason, I just don’t do it. But since turning over a new leaf and actually trying to use the books and resources as tools for improvement, I am doing what I am told, and I am sharing with you.  After all, that is why my blog is much more than just a book review site.  By giving you my answers to the action items, you may consider the section to follow a bit of a SPOILER.  I don’t want to ruin the book for anyone, so I will bold the beginning and end of the parts that give some information away, and you can skip right past them.

*****BEGINNING OF WHAT MAY BE CONSIDERED A SPOILER*****

One of the first early action items Challies gives is to pick a habit other than productivity that you will work on outside of productivity.  Since I am currently on a sabbatical without any rigid responsibilities or timelines, my sleeping habits have been off.  I’m actually dealing with a reversal of my days and nights.  I can’t fall asleep at night, and I tend to fall asleep around 8 am. It’s been absolutely horrible.  With that said, my habit that I would like to work on is actually waking up at 9:00 am.  (I would prefer 5:00 am, but we will save that for another book review).

To create a plan for increasing your productivity, you need to understand what your current responsibilities are.  Challies calls them Areas of Responsibilities.  I won’t go into specifics of what he recommends (that’s why you need to read the book), but I listed the five areas I picked: Spiritual, Personal, Family, Family Management, Hobby.  Each Area of Responsibility then has what is called roles (or tasks/projects).  Mine are below which reflect where I am currently (as in today) in life.  Which means on sabbatical and traveling.  I expect mine to change when I am back home.

Now, according to Challies, you are ready to create mini mission statements for each role.  It helps you understand your why and will help make decision making more manageable in the future.

Spiritual

Bible Reading– Read the whole Bible, so I am familiar with all of the Bible stories and major themes

Bible Studying– Build a personal relationship with God by truly getting to know Him through His word

Prayer– Continuously communicate with God, whether scheduled or unscheduled

Discipleship– Continue to share my faith, primarily through social media, to show people the importance of reading and studying the Bible for themselves

Personal

Eating Habits– Continue to eliminate food triggers that activate my IBS or Malabsorption issues

Self Care– Take time daily to do things that relax me so I can truly feel joy and peace

Administration– Plan and review my life to ensure my purpose is on track

Family

Wife– Love and respect Chris the way God wants me to

Daughter/Sister– Love and communicate with my family

Friend– Show my appreciation and stay in contact with them

Family Management

Cleaning– Stay on top of cleaning, not only my area/stuff, but help others to show the love for the gifts that God has blessed us with

Cooking– A stress reliever that helps me show love for others and helps keep everyone eating right

Hobby

Reading– Continue to read and apply what I learn to my life

Blog– Document what I am reading and learning to share with others

*****END OF WHAT MAY BE CONSIDERED A SPOILER*****

As you can see, there are plenty of action items that are given during the audit of your responsibilities.  I appreciate Challies giving the details of not only his duties but showcasing how his wife’s and a friend’s audit looks different.

Moving on to the tools Challies finds essential to help with your productivity, he recommends some tools that I believe most of us are familiar with and probably use already.  These tools help with tasks, scheduling, and information.  I personally use 2 out of the 3 he recommends.  And the only reason I don’t use the first one he suggests is that I prefer to manage my task using option 2 AND 3 together (thanks to my previous project analyst/professional organizer life).

Because he outlines how to use all 3 tools, I personally didn’t need this information, but it was detailed enough that someone starting from scratch could follow along and set theirs up.  Rebuilding these types of habits has been a recent focus, so I actually had most of this setup and in a pretty similar fashion as Challies.  I did adapt some of his ideas: for example, when setting up a task, start with an action word and a colon to ensure you are only adding a task that requires an action.  For me, this also helps with block scheduling.  If I see that I have five tasks that start with Call: for the week, I can block those task to be completed together.

Although Challies is giving specifics for how he sets up the tools he recommends, they are generic enough that no matter which tool you use, you can follow his set up process.  Challies and I disagree on the efficiency of using all 3 of his recommend tools.  In my opinion, if you can find 1-2 tools that can handle task management, scheduling, and information management AND you actually organize it correctly, go for it. At first, I was thinking because it was an older book, some of the tools were still new, but the book was published in 2015.  Many employers, schools, or volunteer organizations have required the use of these tools for years now, and they just continue to be improved.  My opinion is it’s more efficient and practical to use fewer tools as long as they accomplish the same goal.  Challies doesn’t really give a reason to keep them separate other than he gave you the information.

I gave Do More Better 4-stars.  Although the book had a lot of information that I already know and practice, it was geared towards those who are just starting to get their productive lives together. It was well written just for that purpose.  Plus, I was still able to learn some things and apply them to my life.  The whole piece on Area of Responsibilities and writing out mini mission statements made me slow down and honestly audit what my life is currently about and what type of changes I need to make.  I know going back and reviewing that information alone will help me maintain my focus on my purpose.

*As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases using the links included in this post.