Why this summer was great August 15, 2007

These days I can’t help feeling a bit agitated for not having rested-studied-relaxed-socialized-prepared-cleaned-ironed more. I know that in a bit more than a week from now, I won’t have any time to rest-study-relax-socialize-prepare-clean-iron so I feel bad about not having used my time in the best possible way.

But. When I made a list today of what I did this summer, it made me happy. I did almost everything on my list. I think the problem is not that I didn’t manage to do what I wanted to do, but that while doing these things I kept feeling guilty for not doing something else. When I slept, I felt bad for not working. When I studied, I felt bad for not relaxing. When I blogged, I felt bad for not cleaning. Enough of that!

THINGS I DID THIS SUMMER

- Slept

- Took long showers

- Bought new glasses

- Bought new clothes in summer sales

- Visited museum

- Found sports class for next year

- Started new knitting project

- Got rid of old clothes

- Took tons of driving lessons

- Studied for theory driving exam

- Made new filing system for school stuff

- Bought teacher’s diary

- Made reading list of primary sources

- Finished reading book on classroom management

- Finished editing manuscript of professor

- Finished reading novel

- Blogged

- Read blogs

- Baked cake

- Made sushi

- Made two trips to other countries

- Spent time with friend from Shanghai

- Cleaned e-mail folder

- Cleaned attic

- Selected material for jewish history syllabus

- Ordered books online

My to-do-list for my last vacation week looks like this:

- Take theory driving exam

- Make four day trip to Antwerp

- Set meeting with fellow history teacher

- Finish curriculum for five classes

- Finish syllabus for two classes

- Plan first week of school

- Buy new cupboard

- Write letters

- Buy yarn for new knitting project

- Visit one more museum

Now I am going to pack our bags for our trip to Antwerp. Will be back on Sunday!

Flylady teacher control journal August 9, 2007

For some time I have wanted to write about the Flylady website. Flylady offers advise on how to organize your life- and all aspects of it. Every week she gives you advise and support to clean a different area of your house. Through daily e-mails she helps you eliminate clutter, establishing morning and bedtime routines, eat healthy food, and take time for yourself.

I must admit that I am still a beginner in the Flylady system, but so far Flylady has helped me to improve my cleaning skills and established a morning routine I am happy with. This morning I discovered the Flylady Teacher control journal, which applies Flylady’s advice to the daily practice of teaching. This is really a must read document for all teachers that are about to go back to school.

Life Laundry II August 3, 2007

When I came back from our 5 day trip, I had 72 new mails which weren’t even spam. They were all from maillists that I once subscribed to. New releases of publishing houses, job vacancies (I subscribed to the list when I couldn’t find a job two years ago), inspiring quotes, etc.

Today I unsubscribed to all of them and I feel very light and happy. I also figured that checking e-mail twice a week should really be enough to remain on top of everything, without missing important mails. I feel that a lot of time gets wasted by continuous e-mail checking, and still I don’t answer all mails I should have answered. I want to set two weekly mail-hours to delete old mail and answer new mails. What is your e-mail policy?

Life laundry June 10, 2007

Since a week or so I have been reading into the subject of home management. Over the past year, I obtained books with titles such as ‘Simple steps. 10 weeks of getting control over your life’, ‘Chochmat nashim’ (female wisdom), ‘It’s about time’ and endless websites on time management, menu planning and nutrition.

I finally decided that I need one system, and stick to it. I bought binders and notebooks, and found what I believe is the perfect system: Flylady.net. I will post more on Flylady next time, but I can tell that I really believe there will be some lasting progress here. Now that the schoolyear is over, I feel a very urgent need to be on top of things and in control once the new year will start.

Number one of revolutionary resolutions: No more coffee. It actually started with my hub who decided to cut on his cafeine-intake after being sick for a week. He turned into a totally different person, less stressed, more vital, and even with a more healthy color on his face. It’s unbelievable what coffee can do to a person. Because of this, I have been off coffee since Thursday. Although I don’t feel anything revolutionary and I definately miss the shot of energy a warm cup of coffee gives, I do believe it is a good thing to do. I must say though, that a quick google on coffee gives both pro’s and con’s for coffee, either depicting cafeine as a wholesome ingredient or as a harmful drug. I guess it all depends on the way your body reacts on it.

I intend to post more on ‘getting control over my life’ aka life laundry over the summer. In the mean time, what are you readers doing to stay on top of things?

Chores in chaos June 7, 2007

Given the fact that this is the end of the school year, it might be no surprise that I am totally exhausted. I have tons of things to do, and I can’t even think properly. The house is a mess. I have a bunch of final exams to make and hand in tomorrow. I have to check exams that are done. I have to make planners for next year. I have to attend meetings. I have to I have to I have to.

When I read the latest post at Lime’s blog I realised how different the sense of time of a child is. Grownups are just planning their days, which turn into weeks and months and before you know the year is gone. Sometimes I wonder if we don’t plan too much.

Imagine. I am not even a corporate lawyer chased by a blackberry.