by Lois Breneman - 2008 - Heart to Heart
Common sense tips to save time and energy and make your life easier and more productive.
Common sense tips to save time and energy and make your life easier and more productive.
When you have a difficult decision to make, you and your husband may want to list the advantages and disadvantages on paper to help you see the situation in black and white. This really helps in making wise decisions!
Make a prayer list on large index cards or type out on the computer. You might alternate several different prayer lists, with some of the same requests listed on each one, as you and your husband pray together, as we do. Topics include our family, friends, church, pastors, those who have physical or spiritual needs, wayward children, single parents, our country, Christian ministries, missionaries (each card concentrates on a specific part of the world), the Heart to Heart Newsletter, subscribers, and other requests as they arise.
For your own personal Bible study time, some methods that may be helpful are: (1) Read through the Bible; (2) Study one particular book at a time; (3) Do topical studies - Example: Child Discipline, peace and contentment, the fruit of the spirit, courage, prayer, marriage, forgiveness, work, giving, etc.; (4) Study a verse word by word; (5) Write down all the verses you have memorized. Review them; (6) Write a poem centered around a Scripture verse or doctrine. (7) Sing hymns and choruses.
Store all your gift-wrapping items together - paper, bows, tape, scissors, cards, pen. A waste can is great for storing rolls of gift wrap. Plain Christmas gift wrap in a solid green, red, gold or silver is appropriate year round.
Store all your correspondence items in one place: stationery, cards, pens, stamps, return address labels, envelopes, stickers, rubber stamps, etc.
Plan a day to run errands all at once. List the places you need to go and what you need to buy or drop off there. This will eliminate back-tracking or forgetting. Planning your day in a clockwise manner to eliminate as many left-hand turns as possible also saves time and gas. Apply the same rule to yard sales.
Learn to double your time by multi-tasking. While waiting in the doctor's office, for children in a carpool or while watching TV, you could read, scan a book, write a letter, memorize scripture, cross-stitch or do mending. Or at home you could jump on a trampoline, ride an exercise bike or walk, while you memorize Scripture, pray or listen to a tape.
A large calendar is a great way to keep track of a busy family. Have everyone write in his or her own appointments in easy-to-spot, different colored inks. Teenagers should be responsible for getting their activities posted before the day of the activity so plans can be made.
Use a file folder system. If you can't keep up with the magazine and newspaper articles, tear them out, fold and file them. Read them when you can. This will save on a lot of clutter in your house. You will know where to look for information when you need it. Examples of categories: Recipes, Health, Cancer Prevention, Gardening, Children under Two, Children, Teenagers, Religion in the News, Home Schooling, Public Schools, Christian Schools, Alcohol and Driving, Appliances, Warranties, Use and Care Booklets, Roanoke, North Carolina Attractions, Abortion, Interior Design, Colleges, Weddings, Graduation, Marriage, Parenting, Crafts, etc.
Phone numbers to post by your phone: Time and Temperature, Emergency, Weather, Poison Control, Children's Stories, City or County Extension Agent (Home Economist and Horticulturist available to answer your questions).
Write or type names and phone numbers of people you call most often on a large colorful index card. Laminate and keep by the phone. Make one for each phone in the house. You will save a lot of time when in a hurry. Using the computer is an even more efficient way to do this.
Keep addresses in a recipe box on 3 x 5 index cards. If there is a change, you can keep it up to date by inserting a new card. No need to erase or cross out.
Make a weekly schedule of your family's favorite TV and radio programs with the times and stations listed. There are many educational TV programs which teach cooking, painting, drawing, sewing, gardening, home decorating, vocabulary, science, math, first aid, geography, language, etc. Many of these are very worthwhile. There are also many Christian radio and TV programs which are available, though discernment is needed. By listing special ones that would benefit your family, you would have all that information readily available at your fingertips.
A carrying caddy is nice for cleaning supplies or audio cassette tapes. They fit exactly.
The next time you pack for a trip, write up a Packing List on the computer, and print a few copies. This will save making a list each time, and you'll never forget panty hose, an umbrella or a blow dryer. Have a section for the various seasons. List things like "Arrangements for mail and newspaper," with the appropriate phone number or web site to hold your mail or newspaper. Have teens make their own list and pack for themselves.
Make or buy a pocket wall organizer to store things that normally make a pile of clutter in most homes. Clear shoe pocket organizers can work for this. Label the pockets temporarily with Post It Notes. After you decide what you want to store in the pockets, you could label in a more permanent way. Some suggested labels for pockets might be: Menus, Home Schooling, Church, Immediate Attention, Things to File, Receipts, Coupons, Craft Ideas, Correspondence Record, Gifts Given, Cute Quotes from Kids, Quotes & Poems, Money Saving Ideas, Items Ordered, Refunding, Grocery List, Youth Group, Pens, Index Cards, Scissors, etc.
Shelf expanders are great if you need more room for storage. Check department stores.
Clear storage boxes are nice for storing children's clothing, toys, seasonal decorations, extra knick knacks, you name it!
Clear plastic shoe pocket organizers are great for inside the coat closet for gloves, scarves, umbrellas, sunglasses. They are also great inside the hall closet for small medical supplies so you can see them at a glance for Band-Aids, small tubes of meds, thermometer, bulb syringe, and samples from mail. Being able to see things at a glance is important.
Clear plastic shoe boxes are also nice for storage. Sturdy cardboard shoe boxes (labeled) also work well. Cover with fabric and glue into place for nice looking stackable storage!
Shoe boxes make great gift boxes. Cover the lid with wrapping paper. Wrap the box separately. If you need a quick gift, just get a gift from your box with pre-purchased or pre-made gifts, and put it in your pre-wrapped box with some tissue paper! Here's where your organization pays off!
If you need a filing cabinet, purchase the deepest one you can find. The same amount of wall space is needed, no matter how deep, so you might as well get the maximum use.
Keep scrap paper and a pen handy - near each phone, in your bedside stand, as well as in the bathroom. You'll be surprised at all the ideas you'll have while putting on your makeup or lying in bed. Jot them down. A dull pencil in this case is better than the sharpest mind.
A divided tray can be used as a makeup tray.
Bricks are helpful in raising up items in the back of a deep shelf so you can see everything at a glance. Cover bricks with contact paper, if you wish.
Small pieces of scrap lumber are useful in creating more shelf space. Stand two pieces of 2 x 4" scraps on their sides. Lay a divided tray or a board for a shelf over the top, and you have an extra shelf.
Small baskets are handy for storing all kinds of things. If your grocery store displays fruits or vegetables in baskets, go early in the morning and ask if you may have the empty baskets, if they just toss them. Our grocery store used to have mushroom baskets that were free for the asking. Cloth liners could be sewn for them to be used for many different items.
Rubbermaid turntables are great for spices (in alphabetical order like at the store, so you can find them easily), medicine, cleaning supplies, etc. Check the dollar stores for these too.
Desk organizers help to keep paper clips, rubber bands, etc. orderly. Tiny boxes in a desk drawer also work well to separate items. Stationery and jewelry boxes work.
Six drawer organizers are great organizational and storage helpers! Multiple uses!
Have two clothes rods in your closet halfway across (upper for blouses and lower for skirts). Lower the rods in a child's room so he/she can reach them.
Vertical storage for socks and underwear works great! Store socks in drawers, folded in half, with heels always to the same side for neatness. Stand a pile of socks on their side, with socks back to back to each other. Use small boxes in a drawer to separate from other clothing items, if necessary. Underwear and boxer shorts both work well if folded into thirds (left side to center, right side to center, then folded in half the other way. Store in drawer in the same manner as the socks - on end. Handkerchiefs store neatly in this manner as well. This method helps keep a drawer neat and gives visibility to every item in the drawer! Works great!
You may want to keep a weight chart for you and your husband, so you know when you need to cut down and lose a few pounds. Then again, you may not!
A neat and orderly way to store necklaces and bracelets is by hanging them on push pins stuck into a bulletin board, cork board, or the side or back wall of your closet. They are out of sight if using the inside of your closet and don't collect dust.
Store your earrings in a shallow drawer. First line the drawer with a towel or piece of fabric that will not slide around. Place your earrings in groups according to color. This makes them easy to find at a glance.
If you have ever locked your car keys in your house, your car or your trunk, attach your house and car keys to your purse with a matching shoestring, sturdy ribbon or a key clip. This also prevents your keys from getting lost inside your purse. Keep an extra set of keys in your wallet, as well, in case you lock your keys in the car. Then hang on to your purse!
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