Checklists.

Yesterday in Relief Society, my good friend Chelsea gave a great lesson based on the talk A Time to Prepare. She talked about all the things that keep us from accomplishing the things that really matter and that really need to be done during the day. I know I am guilty of always feeling too busy to do go to the temple or too busy to give that hour and half of service, but somehow I'm never too busy to watch 3 episodes of Arrested Development on Netflix. (And three episodes really isn't how many I watch in a row. That's being a little modest. It's more like 5 or 6.) She made a great point that everyone is given the same amount of minutes in a day and there are people with way more going on that accomplish way more than most. I am so not one of those people. As I contemplated what my biggest problem is, I realized 2 things: my motivation is somewhat lacking, and when I am motivated I feel scattered, so I just abort it all and hunker down with m'Netflix. What is really weird about the whole thing is that I'm a pretty organized person and always have been. I love making lists and I love checking off those lists. So, I thought, "Doi, let's make myself a weekly checklist to help me organize the things that really need to get done."



Part of the things that don't get done are things that my kids should be doing everyday. Hate to admit it, but a lot of nights I just throw those kids in bed with a kiss, and say goodnight. I know that my kids need to be read to, they need to learn to pray every night (not just every few nights), and they need to decompress and talk about their day. Unfortunately, I need to be reminded of this every night, I think. It's going on my checklist.

Chores. I know that if I have the kitchen clean before bed that in the morning I can hang with the kids instead of cleaning up dinner from the night before. I know this, but somehow I don't do it.
I know that laundry takes a whole day, so I should start early so nothing sits in the washer overnight. I know this, but instead, I always somehow start a load at 11:00 PM and then it sits all night and has to be re-washed the next day.
I know that Zach's diapers wreak and need to be taken out to the big trash. Yeah, I know this, but sometimes it is way easier to throw them in the bathroom and promise myself I'll take it out in a few minutes. What happens is I don't and the whole upstairs stinks.
For me, knowing and doing are two very different things. All these chores are going on my weekly checklist. (Not the diaper thing, that should be a no-brainer, right?)

Personal growth. I have never had a problem doing the "big" things that are required of us as members of my church, but those little, everyday things that are the most important for my personal growth always seem to get slipped onto the back burner. I always tell myself that by the next time I have to teach RS (which is only every 4 months), I will have read the B of M, or the D and C. It has yet to happen. I always start off pretty good, by old habits kick in and forget what I was working towards. Our ward is focusing on temple attendance this year and I made a goal to go once a month. It is now March 4th and I have gone zero times. These kind of things need to be on my checklist so I can physically check them off and maybe become a better person in the mean time.

I started searching Pinterest for charts or checklists, but the only things that came up were millions of ideas for kids' chore charts. It bruised me a little realizing what will actually kick me into gear is a system used to get kids to vacuum and brush their teeth. -_- I'm good though, I can take it. I printed up some checklists for myself and for my kids and hopefully our house will feel a little bit more on the ball with all areas of our lives. I want to still be able to watch all my shows on Netflix, but I will definitely feel better about it if I've accomplished the important stuff first.