What to Do with a Windfall

Sometimes, life just brings nice surprises with it.

Friday morning, I got up as usual, exercised, took my shower, and was getting ready for work when Tyler came out of the bedroom and notified me that my phone had been ringing. No one I know calls me (ever), let alone before 6:30 in the morning, so I was worried. I checked my voicemail to discover that school was delayed for two hours due to snow... Snow?!

Yep. For the first time ever since I've lived here, we got snow before Thanksgiving. (We've also had near-record-breaking cold weather here lately, which is extremely unpleasant.)

So, having already awoken and performed necessary morning routines, I was faced with a windfall of approximately two hours. Incidentally, these originally-scheduled two hours were some I had not been looking forward to, so I was ecstatic.

Windfalls in any form are always welcome of course. If you get an unexpected monetary bonus for example, you can save it, spend it on something fun, or use it to pay a bill that you otherwise couldn't have paid. (You'd be surprised how many times in my poorer days I ended up with a "windfall" just when I needed it.)

The same goes for a time windfall. You really can't save it up as such, but you can certainly spend it on something fun, or use it to get something done that you had been behind on. The last two weeks have been a little nutty around our house, so I opted for cleaning the kitchen (a chore long overdue) after taking a little bit of time to relax and eat a nice breakfast.

Today was an example of a major time windfall, but these little extras come around more than you might imagine. Examples include canceled meetings, arriving somewhere early, getting something done more quickly than projected, or even sitting in a traffic jam.

What are some of the ways you use you time windfalls wisely? For some of these scenarios, I can't wait to get a new iPhone in February so I can keep up with Google Reader and various other time-spenders no matter where my time windfall happens.

Is that a purse or a duffle bag?

There is no doubt in my mind that physical space is at more of a premium now than ever. Airline luggage is just one example. It used to be nothing for my grandparents to seriously over-pack and end up with their two carry-on items each, plus two checked bags each, every time they came to visit. Now, they'll be paying out the wazoo to do such a thing. Since my post today is more about everyday space-saving, I'll direct you to this post from Unclutterer for avoiding bag check fees at airports by packing more efficiently. I'm a pretty good packer already (winner for smallest/lightest baggage on church trip to London two years ago), but a lot of the pointers at Unclutterer are specifically for newer airport regulations and restrictions, so it is quite helpful.

As far as day-to-day packing, I do have a few favorites.

1. Space-Saving Items: If you must carry it with you, at least try to find it in a compact size. Some of my space-saving items:

• fold-up shopping bag from Target -- For 99 cents, I get a reusable shopping bag that folds to the size of a check book. The bag isn't huge, but it works for quick trips, and I don't forget to bring it into the store because it's already in my purse.
• fold-up hair brush with compact mirror -- Gotta have it, and it would be completely impractical to carry around a full-size hairbrush.
• teeny tiny flat Bible -- Not completely necessary to carry around everywhere, but nice to have at times. I got this as a gift. It is the thinnest one I have ever seen, and it's leather bound, so it holds together well. I think it would make a great backpacking Bible also, for my outdoor-adventure-seeking friends.

2. One item I wish I had: iPhone. In another great post by Unclutterer, Erin posts about iPhone apps that reduce clutter.

• planner: Instead of carrying a calendar or planner, use the iPhone to access your Google Calendar.
• wallet: Instead of carrying around huge amounts of store membership cards, take digital pictures of them, and put them in your iPhone. Sonja gave me a great demo of this on her iPhone. It really is snazzy.
• address book: Duh, you don't need one if all your contact info is accessible by iPhone.

3. Other stuff to remember:

• If you don't use it, don't bring it. I used to carry around one of those little tiny stuffed-in-a-bag rain slickers in my purse, but I never ever used it. Too much trouble. I keep it in my glove compartment now, and that pretty much does the trick. By way of another example, I don't carry Advil anymore. I only rarely need it, and it's usually at work, so I keep a bottle in a locked desk drawer at work. No more rattly purse.
  
• Empty spare change periodically. For as much as I do not use cash, spare change weighs a lot for little benefit. Put it in a jar at home, and buy something when the jar gets full.
• Carry in pockets when practical. The last thing I want to do at a concert is lug a purse. I'll put my driver's license and my debit card and maybe some cash in my pocket and lock my purse in the trunk. This would work well for movie theaters too if I could remember. Theater floors are gross and not really somewhere I want to put my purse.
• Carry a smaller purse. Instead of using a huge purse because you have all kinds of crap to put in it, try using a smaller purse so you'll be forced to take only the essentials. You'll be surprised by how well you can live off a small one in most cases.

Leave some reader tips on reducing carried clutter in the comments!

Chore Scheduling for Sanity's Sake

I'm looking forward to going back to work full-time in a couple of weeks. Summers are great, but I miss doing what I love, which -- fortunately for me -- is my job. But that's not to say I haven't enjoyed pursuing some new hobbies, projects, and much-needed relaxation this summer. I've even started some good habits (exercising daily for example) that I need to really make an effort not to drop when my schedule gets fuller again.

One time-saving tactic that has been a lifesaver for me in recent months has been the development of a chore schedule. My husband initially balked at the very idea that I would do this. His feeling was that I would become a slave to it, but the fact is, the schedule has freed me up; I was already a slave to needing to get stuff done, and I didn't have a good way to handle it.

I pretty much have one or two chores and a load of laundry scheduled for most weekdays. So, here's what my week looks like:

• Monday: I go shopping after school using the list that I created Sunday. This is supposed to be the major trip for the week where I go to WalMart (evil corporation I know, but cheap and convenient) for groceries and everything else we need. This is also the day I wash bed and couch linens as needed. (Limiting laundry to no more than one load per day and none on weekends has improved my marriage greatly.) In the evening, I change all the towels in the kitchen and the bathrooms so that I can just throw the dirty ones in the washer before I go to work in the morning.
  
• Tuesday: I clean bathrooms (spot clean or deep clean as needed) and wash a load of towels. My new and exciting washing machine has a delay feature, so I usually throw the laundry in the washer before work and set the delay so that the load is finishing around the time I come home. Then, I can throw the stuff in the dryer right away when I get home without my wet laundry sitting in the washer getting stinky all day.
• Wednesday: I clean the kitchen and wash a load of regular cycle clothes. Wednesday is our church small group night, so I fix a snack for the group instead of a full dinner, so it's a good day to clean the kitchen, since I won't be turning right around and messing it up when I'm finished.
• Thursday: I vacuum and dust (only if I can't stand it) and wash a load of delicate and permanent press clothes. Sometimes, vacuuming has to happen more than once a week because of Scratchy the Dirty Beast, but Thursday is when it officially gets done.
• Friday: Rest and have fun! Also, change the towels in the evening, because they're usually getting yucky by this point, and I hate smelly towels.
• Saturday: Fun fun fun, all day long!
• Sunday: Plan three dinners and a Wednesday night snack for the week. Create grocery list based on meal needs and regular needs. I usually jot my list down on paper while I'm creating and then transfer it to a spreadsheet for easier store-wandering. My spreadsheet is currently on Google docs so my husband and I can make additions and changes during the day on Monday while we're at work. I have it categorized by store area. Here is the list I used yesterday:

Some other housework considerations: We have a cleaning service, and they come in once a month. That means I never have to mop or scrub floors or scrub the bathtub, and lots of months, I can get away without dusting. Those are the chores I abhor, so it's worth it to have the service. And also, if I get totally behind, and my house gets totally disgusting, it's not that big of a deal because it won't be long before the cleaning service comes, even if I don't get my act together.

Some other food considerations: As far as grocery shopping and cooking, I am usually responsible for weeknight meals, although my wonderful husband pitches in on it too. My husband usually takes care of most weekend meals, and he often cooks a big vat of deliciousness on Sunday night so that we'll have leftovers to take to work for lunches during the week. Many times, he'll do the grocery shopping for the meals he wants to make, unless he gets to me on Sunday or Monday to make his requests known.

Some other management considerations: I have my Remember the Milk service set up to remind me which chores to do each day at work and at home. I also keep daily to-dos on the list, so everything is together. The Remember the Milk gadget for iGoogle is excellent, so I usually just keep iGoogle up all day, now that my OS doesn't hate it anymore. (Incidentally, my other stuff on iGoogle includes Gmail, Google Reader, Facebook, Google Bookmarks, Google Calendar, and Weather. All excellent applications and gadgets.)

Some other approval considerations: I am taking a bit of a leap posting this for everyone to see because the initial reaction of others to my system is usually unmitigated disapproval. If you adopt a system similar to mine, people will call you names and assume that you have a stick up your butt. Let them. If it works for you (as it does for me), do it anyway.

Stuff Someone Should Invent to Make My Life Easier

I have great ideas (I think), but I am no developer. So, here are some freebies for any developers/inventors who might be reading. And if there are things like these out there that you readers know about, please leave me a comment, because I'm in the dark.

1. decent shopping list application: Right now, I have my shopping list in a Google spreadsheet because I can't find an application I like. It just needs to be a simple thing, but I want categories to be allowed. For example, I shop with the categories Produce, Frig/Freezer, Dry/Canned, and Other. So, really, I just need somebody to make me an application where I can make one list with four different headings. And I want a usable print option. And an iPhone app to go with it would be great. (Even though I don't have an iPhone yet, I suffer from acute iPhone envy.)

2. on-line budget tool that works right: At the moment, I am using a tweaked Excel template to keep track of my budget because I just don't like anything I've seen out there other than my custom-built thing. I did try Mint.com, but after messing with the settings for two hours and then discovering a really annoying bug that was messing all my numbers up, I quit. So, my Excel sheet works fine for now, but I can only work on it from home (unless I go try out all the many syncing tools available and get my computers synced up), and it's not available remotely.

3. inexpensive lawn sprinkler that won't break after a month: The $5 WalMart sprinkler that "waves" water back and forth is a great low-cost option, but it becomes less effective when the thing breaks and only waters about a quarter of the vegetable garden when left to its own devices. I've been looking like a moron out in the garden lately, picking up the sprinkler and aiming it where I want it to go. This method works better than leaving the sprinkler to its own devices, but saves no time, as I'm back to manual watering instead of turn-it-on-and-leave-it watering.

That's all I can think of at the moment. Have I overlooked something that would fulfill my requirements for any of these items? What inventions or applications would make you gleeful?

DVD Catalog!

Ask and you shall receive. Sonja just did a great post on a DVD cataloging system she just started using here.

Now, I need a remote backup server or a really cheap external hard drive... I think I can go back through my Google Reader blogs and find something, but if you have any ideas, leave me a comment. :)

I am fodder for satire and biting social commentary.

With more and more people jumping on the productivity bandwagon -- reading all the books, magazines, and blogs, and even becoming productivity hobbyists -- it's no surprise that productivity satire is beginning to creep into the media. Tyler and I watched Chaos Theory a couple of weeks ago. He liked it, and I did too, but I'm sure I appreciated it more than he did. I had to explain that even the main character, Frank Allen (played by Ryan Reynolds), is a really really thinly-veiled David Allen character. In the movie, Frank is an "efficiency expert" who has written a wildly popular book on productivity and efficiency and travels the country giving speeches at conferences about his system and how it works. (Frank's system is basically a list-making management scheme a la Getting Things Done.) So, I thought the movie was really well done and funny in an absurd kind of way, which also caused a bit of a sheepish reaction, since I could definitely be considered a productivity/efficiency/organization geek.

While I don't think my style of organization is particularly absurd, it does come off that way to people. Last night, we were talking with some friends, and Judy (who I love dearly) commented that she wished she had more of my gift for administration and organization.

"You're a list-maker, aren't you?" she asked.

I nodded, and my husband nodded vigorously, probably mentally noting the multiple lists I have strategically placed in at least three rooms in our small house and all over my office at work.

"But," Judy continued, "when you make a list and then don't get something done on your list, do you feel like a failure?"

I paused but then nodded again ruefully, and my husband nodded vigorously, probably mentally noting the numerous occasions on which I have apologized to him for not doing things he didn't even know (or care if) I was supposed to be doing.

So, I guess one of the major pits that list-makers like me can easily fall into is irrational pressure placed on oneself with resulting unfounded and legalistic guilt.

But, like I told the group, I don't think my lists are a bad thing; they do help me work more productively and efficiently, and I'm getting better about the irrational guilt/pressure/legalism thing. That stuff happens because I'm a perfectionist, not because I'm a list-maker.

I'm going to keep on making my lists and reorganizing my closets and reading my productivity blogs, books, and magazines. I am a librarian, after all. And the nice thing about having a habit (or, gag, a hobby) that people view as absurd is that you can just laugh along with them because you know that whatever they think about it, your absurdity serves you well.

In my case, I think about how fortunate I am that my propensities and tendencies work so well for me in my chosen profession. I mean, really, could I have a job that more fully suits me? I think not. And what a blessing to have found this niche that I just knew had to be out there somewhere!