Daily Planning

I'm convinced the key to staying sane (whether you have kids or not) is to have a plan for each day. Now does this mean that I actually do that in my own life? Hmmm...maybe I shouldn't answer that and just make all of you guess. What I will say is that the days where I have put together a tentative plan for me and the kids then our day goes by oh so much smoother. The reason I used the word "tentative" is because, as you all know, plans sometimes have to change due to unforeseen circumstances....one of the kids get sick and you make an unscheduled trip to the doctor, your child holds one of those mini hand-held fans too close to her hair and you spend 30 minutes trying to get it out, or a friend stops by and you visit way longer than you planned (although I think that can be a good thing).

I highly recommend you sit down before going to bed and make a schedule for the following day. It doesn't have to list exact times, or even be in any particular order. It just needs to be what you need/want to get done...and it needs to be realistic. I'm thinking that if you put "30 minutes of alone time with no interruptions" then you're going to be a little disappointed when it doesn't happen. And for those of you that are OCD (like me), then go ahead and try listing them in order and/or schedule them by time. Just keep in mind that it probably won't go exactly as planned and you'll need to be ok with that (a hard lesson I've had to learn).

Here are some templates that I found online that will be very helpful.

~ http://www.docstoc.com/docs/1605252/Blank-Daily-Schedule (use the little printer icon at the top right in order for it to print correctly)
~ http://www.vertex42.com/ExcelTemplates/schedules.html (this page is loaded with so many different great planner pages...you'll need to download them when you're ready to print)
~ http://www.lisawhelchel.com/charts/Daily%20Schedule%20Blank.pdf (I love this one because it has four separate sections, so each of my kids and I can have our own separate schedules on one sheet of paper...my kids are still young enough that alot of our activities are all together, but for the times when one child is supposed to be in her room reading, another is doing her chores, I'm making phone calls, and my youngest is playing Barbie then I can see that all on one piece of paper! Who knew scheduling could be so exciting?!?).

If you have a certain way you plan your days, please feel free to share in the comments section. We're all going to have different ways of doing things, but alot of times just hearing other people's ideas gives us the motivation we need to get started.

Be sure and take a look at the section on the left that says "Quote/Verse of the Day". I hope they will be as encouraging, and sometimes convicting, as they are to me. I challenge you to commit some of them to memory...you'll be glad you did. If we don't equip ourselves for the battles we face daily before they actually hit, then it's much harder to win the war.

Hope you all had a great Monday!