Now, whatever you thought when you read that, my motives are pure. I want to know how you remind yourself of upcoming events for which you need to prepare and plan. For instance: church socials, youth events, children’s choir performances, pack and den meetings, holidays -both fixed and flexing (whoops, I’ll try not to go off on a tangent there), family events and so on. Tell me how you keep your finger on the pulse of your life.

In the past, I have used card files, and that worked pretty well for me. You may remember that I use a version of the hipster even now to help keep myself on track. Well, I mean I have a stack of 3x5s though I usually don’t carry it with me. The problem with the little file box is that it occasionally meets a sudden and brutal organizational demise at the hands of the current toddler.

I have also used huge calendars, and by huge I mean month and week at a glance and page per day. These things functioned like an external hard drive for my brain. If I could think of it, there was a place to write it down, BUT–they were pretty cumbersome and got left at home a lot, which led to a million slips of paper with jotted notes that had to go in the calendar once I got back home.

In the end, I think I am going to end up with a combination of cards and calendar, and make a date with myself on a regular basis to set up todo lists. Heh. Ya’ll I used to have it all together, really I did. Life was was smooth. I aim to attain that level of performance again, and I aim to do it p.d.q., because that’s where I am comfortable. My current method of “what’s hot today” is more and more unsatisfactory. I’ve added so much to my plate that I can no longer tolerate having to serve the tyranny of the urgent. There is not a single thing I am doing that I want to give up, and so therefore I must find a way to make it all fit.

So! Tell me how you keep it all together, how far in advance you plan, and when you move an event from slow simmer to fast boil.