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Volume 11, Issue 27: My Weekly Lists

Picking up from last week's post about planning, we are now considering some of the lists we maintain to aid planning. We will use my weekly lists as an example of some of the lists that we find useful in managing how we do life on a weekly basis. In case you are just joining us now, I recommend that you first read last week's post then jump right back onto this one.

Related article: Planning Ahead

List #1. Meals for the week

In this list I jot down the meals we are going to have for the coming week, for each day of the week. For meals, my week starts on Friday as that's when we do our meal prep. The week ends on Thursday, then I start again. With this, I never have to deal with the mental fatigue of figuring out what we are going to have for dinner any given day, or find myself in a position where I want to make a meal that I don't have some ingredients for. This practice also ensures that we eat healthy and balanced meals.

List #2. Audiobooks I am listening to

I hardly ever do mundane things without an audiobook or a podcast playing in the background. This habit has got me listen to so many books. I listen to most books twice over, but a few books get a few repeats over time. I listen to an audiobook from 6 o'clock in the morning when I am working out after my walk until about 8am when I am done with morning house keeping and getting ready for work or for the day. I also listen to an audiobook or a podcast when on commute or when cooking or doing other home making tasks around the house.

List #3 Books I am reading

Other than audiobooks, I also try to read a book for about an hour every day. This is either a hard cover book or an ebook in my kindle library or on iBooks app on my iPad. I have enjoyed finding an audiobook for an ebook I have read or vice versa. It makes the absorption of the content so much better.

List #4. Outfits for the week

Don't you just hate standing in front of your wardrobe every morning wondering what to wear? I hate it when I start my week without a list of what to wear for each of the seven days of the week. Maintaining this list also helps me dress really well every day. It takes me just a few minutes to come up with the list while standing in front of my wardrobe at the end of each week.

List #5. Workouts for the week

I have now transitioned to working out from home since COVID. I went back to the gym when the restrictions for the first phase in my location were eased, but when the gym had to be closed for the second time I found the thought of switching back and forth destabilizing. By then, I had already set up a good library of workouts from YouTube on the TV. I don't like the time wastage that results from trying to pick a workout from my playlist each day or scroll through random videos on YouTube. I preselect my workouts for the week in advance.

List #6. Grocery list

If you are anything like me, you often come back home from the supermarket without one or two things you needed to buy. I have a standard grocery list for my weekly grocery shopping that I update whenever something comes up during the week. When I go to the grocery store at the end of the week, I refer to my list to make sure I get everything I need to get, as well as wade off impulse buying.

List #7. Homemaking list

I am a home maker at heart. I enjoy cleaning and organizing and making my home comfortable and running smoothly. Maintaining a house keeping list is very vital for me as it's helps set boundaries to my cleaning and organizing. Without a list and set duration for tasks, I could clean endlessly. I like to set a timer whenever I start on a task to keep me from going overboard. Since I have a full plate, I can only spare a couple of minutes each day for house keeping, but it makes all the difference. I have a daily house keeping list, a weekly list and a monthly list.

List #8. Extras for the week

And then there are extras. You can't keep a ship running well without extras, can you? These are the things I can't fit into my daily or weekly or monthly housekeeping lists but need to get done every now and then. One of the items on my extras list for this week is decluttering and tidying up my son's room. I require him to keep his room neat and tidy but there's only so much he can do. So every now and then I schedule time to spruce up his room, and my daughter's room. I also want to try and remove bedroom curtains for cleaning this weekend, so that's on my extras list too. I keep this list to no more than 3 items so I don't get overwhelmed. I also limit the time I spend on extras to no more than 2 hours each week so I don't overwork myself on my rest days.

 

For His Glory,

Lillian Chebosi