Untitled Lists

There are so many tools to help us plan our lives.  I have always been drawn to pencil and paper, drooling over the latest day planner, school calendar, list maker…anything that helps me create order from my chaos. 

But many calendars and planners have been left in the cart because they are too specific.  I love that they have created room for lists! But prescribed lists? Some of those lists I know I’ll just never use.

Take meal planning, or grocery lists, for example.  I have never used my monthly calendar space as a place to make these lists.  It works well for some families, but for me? I have other systems for meals and groceries that work well.

I don’t want to fit myself into a calendar, I want the calendar to fit inside of the life I’m already living.

What lists might you create on your calendar if you had total freedom?  What lists might help you live into your family values? What lists might be helpful to see alongside 13 weeks that might actually help you start making better decisions for the ways you spend your time?

For me, I love to have an ongoing list of friends I hope to connect with in the coming month or two.  I also love a “catch-all” list, a place I can do a brain dump as things come up, and then find a home for them later.  I love a place where I can put future appointments that I can’t see on the calendar quite yet.  Like those dentist appointments 5 months from now? I like being able to access that information at the same time that I’m looking at my current calendar. Maybe it’s summer time and you have a bucket list of activities you hope to incorporate into your summer months.  I like being able to see the list and then look back at a blank month.  It helps me to see how realistic those activities are for my family and if we can fit in all the things while also living our busy every day life.

My hope for every aspect of this calendar is always that it would aid you in living in to your values as an individual and family.  This is a tool I know that is helpful for me, and maybe it will be helpful for you too.