De-Cluttering Archives - Living Above the Noise

Choosing A Planner….So Many Options!

February 3, 2015 By livingabovethenoise

I know it’s February, but….it takes me a bit of time to get over the holidays and realize that the year is upon me! And then I have to research…. :)

It’s funny how we seek after some “thing” hoping it will “do the job.” I’ve wasted years searching for that “holy grail” and have finally come to understand something. It’s not the idea or product that gets the job done, but the person using it! That’s a duh! (Okay, I’m a bit slow.)

Now extend this reality to our topic of goal setting and planners.

When it come to goal setting and being organized, it’s not the planner, but the “D” word! DISCIPLINE. We user requires discipline to carry out any plan well.

A commenter on my post, Goals…and A Planner, A Necessary Part of Success, called it “determined to be disciplined.” I really like that!

First, we need to stop striving for the end-all — perfection — and instead, exert our efforts to being determined to live out our goals. It’s all about ATTITUDE.
Next, understand the process of getting things out of our heads and onto paper really helps ease our overwhelm.
Then it’s the actual doing that reaps the rewards of goals met. The process is what really gets us to the productive stage.

It’s simply the work of life. We can do this!

We just need a plan, and a place to plan.

Planners Beaucoup! – (hint: /bōˈko͞o/)

Okay, so I promised I’d share what I discovered in my quest to find a planner or goal-setting product that would inspire me to get going this year. (Caveat: even as I’ve researched and launched into my new planner, I’m still learning just how easy it is to get carried away with details instead of just doing the work! Argh.)

I’ve listed some of my results below, both in options and favorites:

Pre-Decorated Planner (My Favorite!) – Mom’s On The Go Planner –

It’s all the trend to embellish planners with stickers, markers, and washi tape. This was new to me, but looked like a lot of work. This planner has all the design work done for me, in a colorful, tactful display! You’ll find these planners at – In The Leafy Treetops. As you can see above, it’s a pretty planner (we girls like that!) complete with lots of creative pages to set goals (and these goals focus on much more than home management, like relationships with family, friends, and God. How great is that?!)

I’m really impressed and think it will help me love my planning time, and remind me of the importance God places on my responsibilities as a wife, mother, and friend. (The creator of this planner designed it for Mormon moms, but offers one for non-Mormon moms. I got the Mormon mom one and will alter the pages designed for the LDS family for my homeschool/Bible study planning for our family.) I love this planner!

PS – I even bought washi tape and stickers to highlight some of my most important events. Pretty fun stuff!
PPS – Since using this planner for a few weeks, I can see that having one in a spiral (even though it’s beautiful, strong, and metal) is, for my OCD brain, a bit limiting….yikes…it’s excruciating! But I may take it out of the spiral, punch holes, and put it in my personal, adjustable, comfortable, binder! Ahhh…..smile.) You see, planners are only as good as they fit your personal style! Yes!

Popular Undecorated Planner – Erin Condren Planners –

These planners are extremely popular but expensive! They’re similar in content to the Mom’s On The Go planner, but they are not decorated at all. Just a simple page layout you can decorate if you want a pretty planner. Above is an example of a simple page decorated with washi tape, multi-colored pens, and stickers. Although you can use these planners simply, women have taken scrapbooking to a whole new level with these planners! You’ve got to check out some of these planners here! I guess the scrapbooking crowd just had to have a place to create!

Printable Planner Pages – The Polka Dot Posie

This Etsy shop has some attractive, printable planner pages already designed for you. They’re colorful and simple in design and include: monthly & weekly layouts, plus daily planning pages, notes, lists and journal pages, just the options I like in a planner. These work well if you have a personal, multi-ring planner and you want to arrange your planner to fit your needs. Just print what you need, punch holes to fit your planner, and you’re ready to get organized!

I recently started using Canva for my photo creations for my blog, Pinterest, and Facebook. But they have a nice variety of free planner templates to download. Check them out here!

(My penny pinching brain has a hard time wrapping around the copier ink needed to print these, or the cost of going to an office supply store to have them printed. I’ll have to work on that for next year because I still love being able to add a page here or take out one there!)

Basic Planner – The Homemakers Friend

There are many basic planners out there at reasonable prices, like these at Walmart and Target. I prefer to support the entrepreneur so The Homemaker’s Friend is a simple yet cute option and includes Scripture on many pages. It includes general task lists, monthly and weekly calendars, projects/events pages, shopping lists. I really like having a task list on the same page as the weekly calendar. I choose items from my general To-Do list to add to a specific week’s to-do list, planning out what tasks are best for what week. Plus, I really need to have an easy place to jot down those last minute to-do’s that come to mind! Here’s a post where Sue describes seven planner perks. Always nice to hear other’s perspective!

A Few Less Traditional Planning Methods

I may try these on for size in the coming years. They come from creative minds that are less concerned about tradition and seeking to pull from different styles of learning (think right vs. left brain).

Hand Drafted Planner – Bullet Journal

Bullet Journaling is the minimalist method of planning. Call it “freestyle” planning. You call the shots on what your planner looks like, how it’s laid out, what goes on what page and let it grow as the mood or need fits. You’ll find ways to keep your goals, tasks, and planning in easily used pages with: bullets, tasks, notes, events, monthly and daily calendar pages, and pages for collections of information, page numbers and indexing so you can find your all your info easily. Try it, you might just like it!

Brain Dump Style Planner – Planner Pads

Planner Pads has a practical and unique style of planning. I really like it. Just list out your project Warehouse (Brain dump of to-do’s) and funnel them down into the next row – your daily to-do’s. Below that, list our your daily appointments. Simple and easy way to prioritize, organize, and plan life activities.

Life Coach Style Planner – Passion Planner

Passion Planner is a great place to brainstorm and define life goals. It helps you create an action plan to start moving toward them. It offers plenty of space to get focused, declutter your mind, journal, manage your time, and challenge yourself to positively live your dreams.

It’s easy to find a multitude of ideas for planner types and styles. Just Google what type of planner page you’re looking for (weekly, monthly, daily) and wah-lah! Click “images” and you’ll have hundreds of pictures of planner ideas, then click on the image page to find how to use it, where to buy it, or copy for free or a small fee.

Pinterest has tons of ideas for planners, along with many sites you can click on to find ideas and videos to learn the best tips from those who use them well.

To Sum Up

Well, there you have it! I hope my research helped you discover some options for organizing your life. It’s so important to find a planner that fits your personality and needs. Remember….

It’s not about perfect or perfectly organized, it’s about viewing your work in a more productive way. When we gain fresh perspective about the necessity of what we do each day and throughout my week, it helps motivate and give confidence to do even better.

Let’s determine to make this the best and most productive year yet!

The plans of the heart belong to man,
But the answer of the tongue is from the Lord.

The mind of man plans his way,
But the Lord directs his steps.

Proverbs 16:1, 9

Are You Equipped For Home Management?

April 4, 2013 By livingabovethenoise

Do you have the right personality for home management? Have you ever asked yourself that question? Have you ever felt like you just weren’t cut out for all this cleaning, organizing, maintenance, and more? I can relate! It took me ten years of home management to realize that I just didn’t have the skills necessary for the job. Yep, ten years!

I would let the clothes pile up in the laundry room – and I mean pile up – three feet high! And one time, when we had a repairman coming to our home, we actually put a bath towel over the dishes piled high in both sides of the sink so he wouldn’t see them! I honestly just waited until the sink was overflowing to get them washed. I was not prepared for this job of home manager!

An often forgotten aspect of becoming a good homemaker is our need to discover who we are and how we’re wired. Success in home management is not all wrapped up in the techniques you use or in the perfect cleaning schedule. A huge factor is knowing what makes you tick and how you think.

: Ah, the simple life – but not an easy one!

Are you a cleanie or a free spirit?

Ah, notice I said free spirit. Betcha thought I was gonna say messie! I like a more positive approach. I have wrestled with my free spirit for my 33 years of marriage. I’ve read all the books that convince me that I can do this house-cleaning thing like my very organized cleanie friends. It’s been a battle. Doesn’t there seem to be a battle around every corner?

But life is about growing and accepting the challenge to learn new things and become all that God intended for us to be! In the past—in my “I’m doing great (doing things my way), while God takes care of me” stage—I thought growth was about learning things in my timing and in my way—while God was just waiting around to pick up the pieces.

But living the Christian life is about growing and accepting right where God has us today and learning to follow Him around! My husband looked at me recently and said, “I think I like getting older.” Now that may sound odd to put in this post, and yet, getting older is about maturing, mellowing, and accepting the need for growth God’s way. Even growth that isn’t in our timing or our way.

“But she came and began to bow down before Him, saying, “Lord, help me!” And He answered and said, “It is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” But she said, “Yes, Lord; but even the dogs feed on the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table.” Then Jesus said to her, “O woman, your faith is great…”

Matthew 15:24-28

Okay, so how’s this relate to house keeping? It’s about discovering who you are and how you’re created and wired to function and accepting the challenge to find God’s best for you, no matter what your original picture or ideal was. It’s about living in the here and now with what you have in front of you, not hoping or striving for what that perfect picture in your mind (or in that magazine) is.

So, are you a cleanie or messie? Organized or free spirit? Left or right brained? This is where you begin. Ask God to reveal how you are wired. And when you discover it, accept it! Find how you function best and stop trying to be someone else.

Stop trying to get your home to look like Sue’s. Stop seeking to use Betty’s daily schedule. Stop searching for the perfect way to organize your home. I’ve had to tell myself over and over! I’ve tried and sought and searched for the right way over the years.

That isn’t to say we can’t learn from others or read books for ideas. Just keep yourself from the trap of thinking that if you become like them you’ll have arrived. You’ll probably just get frustrated.

One simple fact: all of us, organizers and free spirits alike, must manage our homes. It’s the style and the priorities that change.

Let all things be done decently and in order.

1 Corinthians 14:40

Work With Your Personality

Another thing we hear all too often is, “this shouldn’t be that hard.” Think about that for a minute. The first question we might ask is “who says?” Shoulds are very stifling. The only shoulds we have should come from the Bible. Any others only trap us into thinking there is one right way.

God created a myriad of personalities and talents and lifestyles that fit well within His parameters for godly and faithful living. Our job is to find our personality and talents and work within them. If we’re always concentrating on our weak areas, we waste all the potential that our strengths could accomplish.

So my point? Seek Truth. Where? It can only be found in the Bible. Know what God commands of you as a wife, mother, and homemaker. Then, consider who you are. Discover how you’re wired to best function in your day. Me? I’m a messie, a free spirit, a right brained thinker. And believe it or not, I’m a bit OCD at the same time.

It’s been a long battle trying to figure out how I function best. Crazy, I know, but I think my upbringing by a West Point father made me seek to find the best ways to do things, but fear of being caught doing something wrong was also a great motivator; hence my back and forth between creative thought and perfectionism.

But as I’ve discovered who I am and how I function, it has given me freedom to know what I need to do to make my day, my home, and my schedule work. It’s made it easier to “obey God rather than man.” The goal is to get your personality to work for you, not against you.

I think for so many years, I was trying to be someone else. To do things their way. To have a home that worked for them. Now I function just fine doing things that work for my thinking processes, my personality, and my talents, with the goal of glorifying God in and through it all.

A few resources to help you on this journey:

Busy Homemaker – This article really confirmed what I was discovering about my homemaking style. It’s a fascinating part of the equation for our enjoyment or failures as a home manager.

Desperate – Hope for the Mom Who Needs to Breathe by Sarah Mae and Sally Clarkson

31 Days to Clean – Having a Martha House the Mary Way by Sarah Mae

“….The high priest questioned them, saying, “We gave you strict orders not to continue teaching in this name, and yet, you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and intend to bring this man’s blood upon us.” But Peter and the apostles answered, ‘We must obey God rather than men.'”

Acts 5:27-29

: Oh, to have the simplicity of a Woodpecker’s home!

Be Comfortable in Your Skin – and Your Home!

I’m not one to worry much about having a perfectly clean home. But compared to when I first was married, I’m organized! I used to have no discipline at all, but I didn’t know it was necessary! Then God gave me ten children to purge me of that naïveté! So I’ve struck a balance. I could stress about having a much neater home, but I’ve come to see my own need for a home that feels lived in. I want to know we are living a full life, not living our life fully to keep our home perfect.

Something new I’ve discovered about my personality style – if things get put away, like a project or a magazine, I forget they exist! Really. So I need things out in front of me to remember their importance. Fortunately, this goes for projects, not people or God. And I’m glad for that!

Even this small truth about my personality is so helpful, because I don’t have to fight against it anymore. It doesn’t stress me out the way it used to. My home isn’t going to be in Better Homes and Gardens, and I’m comfortable with that. I need personality, life, activity, and most of all, people in my home.

The moral of this blog post? Discover how you’re wired. Find what works for you. Understand how God designed you and work with it. And grow into the person He created you to be! You will be blessed and He will be glorified. It’s not about being perfect, it’s about being used to serve the King!

Let all things be done decently and in order. 1 Corinthians 14:40

Time Management – Making Your Priorities Center Around Relationships

December 29, 2012 By livingabovethenoise

There’s not a better time to be looking at our priorities than at the beginning of a new year!

Amy at Blogging With Amy wrote an excellent post, Time Management Tips: It’s Not All About To-Dos. She nailed what so many of us are trying to do. Discovering that habits and expectations are not what makes the world go ’round!

We could be doing what the rest of the world is doing – simply existing to fill our wallets, or micro-managing to find perfection, or just getting by out of sheer exhaustion, while finding no rest or true success in life. And what is true success anyway? Money, cars, a big home, a degree….?

Rather, our family and many others are finding what really works for us, not just doing what everyone else does. We’re asking questions to find what isn’t working for each of us, and finding solutions to those problems. And those solutions will always include people at the core, the center of our lives.

So please read Amy’s post . It has more than time management tips. It’s really about our choices, our work, and our priorities. You can find more ideas for how to ‘break the mold’ here: Breaking The Mold For Raising Responsible Adults and Constructing Successful Adults.

So when choosing how we’ll live – I’ll vote for family and relationships every time!
Thanks Amy, for your words of wisdom!

There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every event under heaven… Ecclesiastes 3:1

De-Cluttering – One Avenue To Freedom

June 27, 2012 By livingabovethenoise

We’re moving. And that entails lots of sorting, cleaning, and decision making. As any of you know from your own moves, those decisions will live with you for a long time. How many of us have wished we’d kept that keepsake from Granny, or that simple tool we gave away in a binge of de-cluttering? And if any of you are like me, the thought of future effects from those decisions weighs heavily.

I know, I know. Some of you are born organized and just can’t understand what it’s like for us hanger-on-ers! I have a few children like you – I just don’t know where they got their gene pool! You can simply open that garbage can and toss. Or you can throw it in your trunk and drop it off at Good Will – as easy as pie! But for “us” it’s a different story.

We pause and reflect; we consider the options; we dream of future uses for “that” item. Oh, how we’d like to be different – but we’re not. And so we must pull up our bootstraps, take a deep breath, and “consider our ways” like Proverbs says. But, we must try as hard as we can to be objective about our objects. Why?

Because being free of clutter and unnecessary items is actually, well, very freeing! It gives space for new thoughts, new plans, and new items to work those plans. Really! And until you’ve tried it you just won’t believe it. So give it a go!

Steps to De-cluttering –

Take the opportunity to toss when you get frustrated at your stuff. When you can’t find your son’s shoes for the umpteenth time (yep, that’s experience writing!), or you can’t get somewhere on time because someone doesn’t have something they need (yep, me again!) – use that momentum to sort through a drawer or closet. Toss, toss, toss.
Take a day or a week and take inventory of your belongings. Just do a room at a time if that’s all the energy you can muster up. Then prioritize that stuff. Give each item a number or symbol for where it stands in your family’s life. Is it: necessary – unnecessary – trash – mementos ? Really think about each item’s value. It might have meant something five years ago, but does it still? From that list, decide what you can part with.
Consider others in need, who might put to good use something that you really don’t use anymore.
Do like we do! Move! Years ago, we were so desperate that we actually considered taking everything out of our house, so that when we’d put it back it would be easier to see how unimportant it was. Nah, we never did it, but we do happen to move every few years, which serves the same purpose. I know, we’re crazy, but it helps! :o)
Take thought of the Scripture that tells us to “do all things decently and in order.” Is your home orderly? Do you have to hide behind the door when someone knocks, or meet them on the front porch so they won’t see the mess? I’ve done that, too, I’ll admit. That will be another post – training your children – my mom didn’t and it took years for me to learn how to manage a home.
Try as hard as you can to be objective about the things and activities you have. We can become cluttered with the things we do, not just the things we own. Do you need them anymore? Do you even like spending time on them? We just sold our dairy goats and gave away our bunny. Oh, the sense of freedom we feel from not having those “to do’s” anymore! They served their time and now we’re moving onto new and more relevant activities. What a weight off our shoulders. Yes, we’ll miss them and the wonderful memories they offered, but we’re on to new memories.

Say Goodbye To Junk — We Love Free Dump Day!

Oh, and one really great advantage to being a pack-rat and clutter queen – my children have all become minimalists and are neat and tidy in their rooms and homes. Yep! They actually got so tired of my stuff that they swore off clutter and too many possessions! Hey, at least I’m helping the next generation!

Well, here’s to a productive and energy-filled summer divesting yourself of all those things you don’t need to own or do! Let me know how you’re doing or add your own ideas on de-cluttering in the comments section.

Hi ho, hi ho – I’m off to wage war on my garage clutter…..

I passed by the field of the sluggard
And by the vineyard of the man lacking sense,

And behold, it was completely overgrown with thistles;
Its surface was covered with nettles,
And its stone wall was broken down.

When I saw, I reflected upon it;
I looked, and received instruction.

“A little sleep, a little slumber,
A little folding of the hands to rest,”

Then your poverty will come as a robber
And your want like an armed man.

Proverbs 24:30-34