Check!

Quick Side-Note: I've been getting a lot of comments and emails lately asking me about my Word Work activities.  I haven't had a chance yet, but am planning on doing a post describing all of my activities and choices, as well as materials management.  Stay tuned!!!

I'm a list maker...big time.  Post-it notes, planners, and to-do lists are my friend.  Here's an example of one particularly epic to-do week I made during an especially stressful week at school last year...

A few weeks ago, I realized that I'd been neglecting some of the little chores I usually keep up with pretty well: my apartment was disorganized, I'd been "too tired" to floss my teeth before bed (because it takes so much energy?!?), my bed had been unmade for days (confession: one night of that time involved me actually sleeping with NO SHEETS on the bed because I had taken them off to wash and never put them back on)...you get the idea.  I know not everyone cares if they have a few stray things on the floor and their bed is unmade, but I start to feel sloppy when things are messy, and feeling sloppy makes it easier to let other things go too.

My affinity for lists being what it is, I remembered a post I had seen on Healthy Tipping Point awhile back.  Caitlin decided to start making a daily check list for the little things she wanted to remember to do each day like cardio, sleep 8 hours, etc.  I decided it was worth a shot, and made this no frills version of Caitlin's chart:

(All the while making this, I was thinking, "God I am such a teacher.  This is exactly what I'd do for a forgetful and/or lazy kiddo...)  Turns out, it worked (mostly)!  I think all it takes for me to get my act together is a REMINDER that these things are important to me and worth taking the time to do.  Honestly, each individual act takes almost zero time, minus the workout, but since I'm not in training, I need a daily reminder to make time for that too.

My list:

• Take vitamins
• Make bed
• 3 real meals (I can be a big grazer and am a total lazy cook, so this one is tough...)
• Daily Sweat
• PT Exercises
• Floss teeth
• Nightly Cleanup (This is a new one: I'm trying to get in the habit of walking around the apartment every night before bed and putting away/picking up the little things that are left out.  Remote, coasters, dishes, stray shoes, etc.  No deep cleaning--just quick and easy tidying.)

That's it!  Last week, I had 3 blank "Make Bed" squares in a row...I think when I skip something for a couple days, I start thinking it's not so important.  On the other hand, when I have done something almost every day that week, it makes me want to keep doing it!  Funny how that works. :)  This week, I've been falling short of the "3 real meals" goal...with afternoons spent working in my classroom, lunch has looked a lot like this lately:

Tonight my "dinner" was a PBJ on this...

LAME, even by my lazy cook standards.  (Note to self: add bread to the list and actually bring the list to the grocery store with me!!!  I've gone twice in the past week and forgotten bread both times...)  I'm not sure if I'll keep up this silly check list long term, but hopefully it will at least help me stay on top of the little things once school starts (it's so easy to let the little things slip right around school starting...I think summer school starting last week is a big reason why I started to let the little things go in the first place!).  Also, once these things become habit with the check list for a few weeks, they will hopefully STAY habit without it!

INJURY UPDATE:

Last week, my PT decided he thought I was ready to continue my strength training and exercises on my own without continuing to see him.  While I still have work to do, he thinks I'm headed in the right direction and have a good self-treatment plan.  (Because of my HMO insurance, I need to seek a referral for every chunk of sessions of PT, so I can't just go indefinitely.  The good thing about that is that I pay $0.  The bad thing is that, well, I can't go indefinitely!)  If my problems continue/worsen, I'll go back to my doc and ask for another referral to start over again.  Cross your fingers that I don't have to do that!  (But it's nice to know the option exists.)

Anyways, I managed a nice little 2 mile run Monday!  It actually was really enjoyable.  My hip flexors were tight at the end, but not as bad as last week's run.  I'm planning on stretching them out REALLY GOOD tonight with some yoga and extra stretches at home, and trying another 2 easy miles tomorrow morning bright and early.  Wish me luck!

Are you a list maker?  How do you stay organized?