I am still struggling with this whole "time" issue. I don't feel like I am setting too many goals for myself, however I am getting sidetracked with other projects and tasks. Maybe by Week 8 (out of 10.5) I will finally get the hang of achieving my goals. I am not going to post a recap, simply because I am not going to dwell on that which I did not complete.
Week 4 Goals
Personal - Read every day for personal reasons, not work-related. I have not quit the daily physical activity, but I feel it no longer needs to be my goal (that and if it is not a focus, maybe I will have better success)
Home - Prep and paint the front railing. I did the research last week, but I did not have the opportunity to complete the project.
Work - create the student packets for the music camp. That will take up a good chunk of time, so that's all for this category.
Sunday, June 24, 2012
Monday, June 18, 2012
Summer Goals - Week 3
Now that I have had a dose of what summer "break" will really be like on a weekly basis, I hope to get back on track this week (see my update about the chaos last week).
WEEK 3 GOALS
Personal - Keep up the daily physical activity and include at least 2 spinning (cycling) classes.
I need to do this... for me.
Home - Research how to paint the front railing (which is rusting) and then paint it. I also need to get dirt to fill my planting boxes (which I built myself... woman power!). I'll have to take some pictures...
Work - create the daily lesson plans for the music camp and begin creating the student packets; post to my music blog.
Does anyone else suffer from "not-enough-time-itis?" You mean, EVERYONE has this?!? No way!! It's an epidemic!
WEEK 3 GOALS
Personal - Keep up the daily physical activity and include at least 2 spinning (cycling) classes.
I need to do this... for me.
Home - Research how to paint the front railing (which is rusting) and then paint it. I also need to get dirt to fill my planting boxes (which I built myself... woman power!). I'll have to take some pictures...
Work - create the daily lesson plans for the music camp and begin creating the student packets; post to my music blog.
Does anyone else suffer from "not-enough-time-itis?" You mean, EVERYONE has this?!? No way!! It's an epidemic!
Summer Goals - Week 2 Recap
Where does the time go?!? Last week was more like what summer "break" is around this house: chaotic. Week 1 was relatively blissful since I was the only one home. Last Monday was similar since I was still the only one home. Then it was Tuesday... EVERYONE was home... all day. I sneaked out for a cycling class, but otherwise it was time for bed before I new it!! And this continued the rest of the week.
Update to Week 2 Goals:
Personal - I did not keep up with this goal. I did spend 2.5 hours cleaning out the garage on Monday (that definitely counts as physical activity) and I did go to the cycling class on Tuesday. And that was it. Wednesday was spent at "work," Thursday prepping for the garage sale, and Friday & Saturday holding the garage sale.
Home - Completely achieved... yay! I did clean and reorganize the garage and I did hold the garage sale. Although I did not sell as much as I hoped to, I did make $300... which I am using to upgrade the boys to a bunk-bed. See below for how I organized my garage sale.
Work - I did create the overall plan for the music camp and create the "basic" daily lesson plan, however that's as far as I got. I did not post to my music blog. Oh, well.
GARAGE SALE
I did some research online to pick up some tips to success. Some of the best tips that I employed was to make everything clean, to label prices and sizes clearly, and to make it very organized like shopping in a store. I put the large items in the driveway (with the hopes of attracting customers) and the smaller things on shelves, bins, and laid out on blankets in the garage.
I re-purposed some election yard signs (from a friend of my husband) to "Garage Sale" signs and placed those at the main roads leading to my housing development. Then I had smaller signs on the street sign and my mailbox. I only "advertised" on Craig's List and the local yard sale Facebook page. I probably could have gotten more foot traffic if I had remembered to contact the local newspaper.
As the garage sale was happening (Friday and Saturday mornings), I took pictures and listed some of the items on the yard sale Facebook page. I got a few sales from that page.
I still have lots of stuff left, so I took a bunch of pictures and listed them on the Facebook page. Later today, I will also put the items on Craig's List.
I will conquer the clutter. I will.
Update to Week 2 Goals:
Personal - I did not keep up with this goal. I did spend 2.5 hours cleaning out the garage on Monday (that definitely counts as physical activity) and I did go to the cycling class on Tuesday. And that was it. Wednesday was spent at "work," Thursday prepping for the garage sale, and Friday & Saturday holding the garage sale.
Home - Completely achieved... yay! I did clean and reorganize the garage and I did hold the garage sale. Although I did not sell as much as I hoped to, I did make $300... which I am using to upgrade the boys to a bunk-bed. See below for how I organized my garage sale.
Work - I did create the overall plan for the music camp and create the "basic" daily lesson plan, however that's as far as I got. I did not post to my music blog. Oh, well.
GARAGE SALE
I did some research online to pick up some tips to success. Some of the best tips that I employed was to make everything clean, to label prices and sizes clearly, and to make it very organized like shopping in a store. I put the large items in the driveway (with the hopes of attracting customers) and the smaller things on shelves, bins, and laid out on blankets in the garage.
I re-purposed some election yard signs (from a friend of my husband) to "Garage Sale" signs and placed those at the main roads leading to my housing development. Then I had smaller signs on the street sign and my mailbox. I only "advertised" on Craig's List and the local yard sale Facebook page. I probably could have gotten more foot traffic if I had remembered to contact the local newspaper.
As the garage sale was happening (Friday and Saturday mornings), I took pictures and listed some of the items on the yard sale Facebook page. I got a few sales from that page.
I still have lots of stuff left, so I took a bunch of pictures and listed them on the Facebook page. Later today, I will also put the items on Craig's List.
I will conquer the clutter. I will.
Sunday, June 10, 2012
Summer Goals - Week 2
One week of summer break has gone by and it was wonderful!! It was nice to have some time to myself. My husband (also a teacher) and my oldest were both still in school the full week, so I sent the youngest to daycare and enjoyed some peace and quiet. I did achieve my goals for the week (check the update post), as well as did other projects and tasks.
During this summer break, I am teaching music 4 different ways: private flute lessons (one student, 5 sessions, 30-minutes each), a babies & toddlers music class (7 sessions, 30-minutes each), a music camp for ages 6-9 (5 sessions, 3 hours each), and assisting with the New Horizons band (a band for retirees who want to learn to play a band instrument, 8 sessions, 1.5 hours each). Thankfully, most of these sessions occur on different days of the week so I still have a very flexible schedule.
WEEK 2 GOALS:
Personal - Keep up the daily physical activity and include at least 2 spinning (cycling) classes. I went to one class last week: the instructor was awesome, I loved the music choices, and the time of day works perfectly for me! The same instructor offers 3 different classes during the week, so I am going to make time for myself to go to at least 2 of them.
Home - clean and organize the garage, hold a yard/garage sale. I really hope to make a decent profit and clear out our house a bit.
Work - create the overall plan for the music camp, create the daily lesson plans, and begin creating the student packets; post to my music blog. So far, the music blog has been successful, so I need to keep putting my ideas out there and sharing them with other music teachers.
Now these are just the BIG goals for the week. I am not very good at doing "nothing" so there are lots of little things that I do throughout the week.
During this summer break, I am teaching music 4 different ways: private flute lessons (one student, 5 sessions, 30-minutes each), a babies & toddlers music class (7 sessions, 30-minutes each), a music camp for ages 6-9 (5 sessions, 3 hours each), and assisting with the New Horizons band (a band for retirees who want to learn to play a band instrument, 8 sessions, 1.5 hours each). Thankfully, most of these sessions occur on different days of the week so I still have a very flexible schedule.
WEEK 2 GOALS:
Personal - Keep up the daily physical activity and include at least 2 spinning (cycling) classes. I went to one class last week: the instructor was awesome, I loved the music choices, and the time of day works perfectly for me! The same instructor offers 3 different classes during the week, so I am going to make time for myself to go to at least 2 of them.
Home - clean and organize the garage, hold a yard/garage sale. I really hope to make a decent profit and clear out our house a bit.
Work - create the overall plan for the music camp, create the daily lesson plans, and begin creating the student packets; post to my music blog. So far, the music blog has been successful, so I need to keep putting my ideas out there and sharing them with other music teachers.
Now these are just the BIG goals for the week. I am not very good at doing "nothing" so there are lots of little things that I do throughout the week.
Saturday, June 9, 2012
Summer Goals - Week 1 Recap
REVIEW of WEEK 1 GOALS:
Personal - Do some type of physical activity every day, such as walking, biking, playing with the boys, going to the gym, or playing Wii Fit.
Sunday = played frisbee with CT
Monday = used Wii Fit
Tuesday = walked with my Beagle, Xerbi
Wednesday = got out the bike, discovered it needs some adjustment, so I walked with my other beagle, Doyle, instead.
Thursday = did some Pilates while watching the Today Show
Friday = went to my first spinning (cycling) class in YEARS!!
Saturday = the only day I did not complete my goal; I spent 4 hours in my car and 6 hours at a meeting, then had movie night with the family. Perhaps I will do 2 activities tomorrow to make up for it...
Home - re-organize & move downstairs shelves, collect & clean items for yard sale
I finished the shelving project Wednesday. Of course that project spawned a few other smaller projects that also were completed on Wednesday... with some carryover into Thursday. The collection of yard sale items gets bigger every day. I plan to hold the yard sale next weekend, so I'm sure you can guess what my next set of Home goals will be :)
Work - create task list (items that need to be completed prior to August 16th), post to my music blog
The task list is begun and ever growing. I guess next week is when I start actually working on the tasks, huh? I posted on my music blog and had a fantastic response to the post!! I'm feeling good about it since I just started it this spring.
See you tomorrow for Week 2 goals :)
Personal - Do some type of physical activity every day, such as walking, biking, playing with the boys, going to the gym, or playing Wii Fit.
Sunday = played frisbee with CT
Monday = used Wii Fit
Tuesday = walked with my Beagle, Xerbi
Wednesday = got out the bike, discovered it needs some adjustment, so I walked with my other beagle, Doyle, instead.
Thursday = did some Pilates while watching the Today Show
Friday = went to my first spinning (cycling) class in YEARS!!
Saturday = the only day I did not complete my goal; I spent 4 hours in my car and 6 hours at a meeting, then had movie night with the family. Perhaps I will do 2 activities tomorrow to make up for it...
Home - re-organize & move downstairs shelves, collect & clean items for yard sale
I finished the shelving project Wednesday. Of course that project spawned a few other smaller projects that also were completed on Wednesday... with some carryover into Thursday. The collection of yard sale items gets bigger every day. I plan to hold the yard sale next weekend, so I'm sure you can guess what my next set of Home goals will be :)
Work - create task list (items that need to be completed prior to August 16th), post to my music blog
The task list is begun and ever growing. I guess next week is when I start actually working on the tasks, huh? I posted on my music blog and had a fantastic response to the post!! I'm feeling good about it since I just started it this spring.
See you tomorrow for Week 2 goals :)
Wednesday, June 6, 2012
Chore Charts
CT has hit the wonderful age of 6... and he is constantly asking for things. Squinkies... Nerf guns... Legos... video games... a basketball. Enough, already!
I did some research on ideas for allowance based on the ages of my boys. I know CT can handle many different tasks and IG, who is 3, will have a shorter list of tasks. I want them to learn the lesson of earning money and prioritizing how to use that money, however I do not want them to expect payment for every little task they do. Somehow I'd like to find the right balance.
Here's the plan:
I created a Chore Chart for each boy. On the left are the tasks they should be doing every day; these tasks earn the weekly "allowance." CT will be paid $6 per week and IG will be paid $3 per week as long as they are being a functioning member of the family and doing these tasks (put clothes in basket, straighten bed, put away toys, etc.). On the right are additional tasks that can be completed for additional pay; a quarter per task for CT and a dime per task for IG.
I created the charts using PowerPoint, printed them on regular paper, and put them in frames from the dollar store. Now I can use them as "wipe off" charts. At the bottom are spaces that I can keep track of their day to day progress: if they completed the allowance tasks and how many extra tasks they completed. Pay day will be Saturday morning of each week.
While at the dollar store, I also lucked out and found Piggy Banks (!) so I bought four of them, 2 for each boy.
The plan is for one piggy to hold "Savings" and for the other piggy to hold "Spending." CT will be required to put at least $2 of his allowance in the savings piggy each week, while IG is required to put at least $1 in the savings piggy. At the end of each month, we will go to the bank and put the contents of the piggies in to their savings accounts. The other piggy is for their spending money. CT already has ideas for what he wants to buy. Once he picks his first item, I will research it's price and create a chart so he knows when he has enough money to buy the item.
This Saturday will be our first pay day. I have no clue whether this will work they way I would like it to or not. Somehow there has got to be a way to teach children about the importance of working hard to afford what they want without creating monsters that expect payment for everything they are asked to do. I see both of those types of children every day: the ones that expect handouts and the ones that ask "what do I get?"
I'll let you know how it goes...
I did some research on ideas for allowance based on the ages of my boys. I know CT can handle many different tasks and IG, who is 3, will have a shorter list of tasks. I want them to learn the lesson of earning money and prioritizing how to use that money, however I do not want them to expect payment for every little task they do. Somehow I'd like to find the right balance.
Here's the plan:
I created a Chore Chart for each boy. On the left are the tasks they should be doing every day; these tasks earn the weekly "allowance." CT will be paid $6 per week and IG will be paid $3 per week as long as they are being a functioning member of the family and doing these tasks (put clothes in basket, straighten bed, put away toys, etc.). On the right are additional tasks that can be completed for additional pay; a quarter per task for CT and a dime per task for IG.
I created the charts using PowerPoint, printed them on regular paper, and put them in frames from the dollar store. Now I can use them as "wipe off" charts. At the bottom are spaces that I can keep track of their day to day progress: if they completed the allowance tasks and how many extra tasks they completed. Pay day will be Saturday morning of each week.
While at the dollar store, I also lucked out and found Piggy Banks (!) so I bought four of them, 2 for each boy.
This Saturday will be our first pay day. I have no clue whether this will work they way I would like it to or not. Somehow there has got to be a way to teach children about the importance of working hard to afford what they want without creating monsters that expect payment for everything they are asked to do. I see both of those types of children every day: the ones that expect handouts and the ones that ask "what do I get?"
I'll let you know how it goes...
Sunday, June 3, 2012
Summer Goals - Introduction
Being a teacher, I get the opportunity to spend a couple of months refreshing myself and attempting to catch up on tasks that I kept pushing off (until summer). Although those who may not personally know a teacher often think teachers have a "dream" work schedule, those in-the-know realize teachers regularly take work home and rarely work a typical 8-hour work-day (for which there is no overtime!).
Let me step down off my soapbox... sorry 'bout that.
In my district, the last day with students was June 1st and I have one more day in the school building on June 4th, then summer break officially begins! Teachers report back to work on August 16th, so that gives me 10.5 weeks to do all the personal, home, and work tasks that I have set aside for myself to accomplish. I will also have a handful of meetings to attend and music classes & camps to teach during these weeks.
Every Sunday, I will set at least 3 goals for myself: one personal, one home, and one work. I hope this will help me to reach my goals this summer, but also to keep me from over-booking myself or getting too lazy.
WEEK 1 GOALS:
Personal - Do some type of physical activity every day, such as walking, biking, playing with the boys, going to the gym, or playing Wii Fit.
Home - re-organize & move downstairs shelves, collect & clean items for yard sale
Work - create task list (items that need to be completed prior to August 16th), post to my music blog
So once I post this, I am getting off my butt to start working on the shelves, and as soon as my hubby is finished mowing I am going for a bike ride.
Let me step down off my soapbox... sorry 'bout that.
In my district, the last day with students was June 1st and I have one more day in the school building on June 4th, then summer break officially begins! Teachers report back to work on August 16th, so that gives me 10.5 weeks to do all the personal, home, and work tasks that I have set aside for myself to accomplish. I will also have a handful of meetings to attend and music classes & camps to teach during these weeks.
Every Sunday, I will set at least 3 goals for myself: one personal, one home, and one work. I hope this will help me to reach my goals this summer, but also to keep me from over-booking myself or getting too lazy.
WEEK 1 GOALS:
Personal - Do some type of physical activity every day, such as walking, biking, playing with the boys, going to the gym, or playing Wii Fit.
Home - re-organize & move downstairs shelves, collect & clean items for yard sale
Work - create task list (items that need to be completed prior to August 16th), post to my music blog
So once I post this, I am getting off my butt to start working on the shelves, and as soon as my hubby is finished mowing I am going for a bike ride.
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