I have been reading the FlyLady emails for a long time now. I keep them coming because you never know when I’ll need the motivation and a good kick in the pants. Two months ago I kicked myself in the pants and bought a  FlyLady calendar from the website. “What do I have to lose?” I thought, “My refills cost almost twice as much as her 17-month calendar!”

Now, this is a HUGE departure for me. For over 15 years (when a wise piano
teacher saw how crazy busy I was and told me to buy a “good” planner — exactly like hers) I have used a very well-known and pricey personal calendar. I was proud of the fact that I used it and spent a pretty penny on “systems” over the years. I have to admit I beat myself up a little bit every time it wasn’t used quite “exactly” right as described in the user manual. Many days (OK, months and for a two years during college) I simply did not have time to make so many lists and it was more stressful knowing I wasn’t doing it “right” than to just not do it at all! I needed Anti-Procrastination days, routines and space to make my schedule “mine”.

So here I am, a mother of two, working part-time outside the home and teaching music students inside the home. Every day has “something” in it. Thanks to this awesome calendar, my whole family knows what is going on. There is enough space to write down 4 schedules, all my students’ lesson times, plus stickers and my dinner plan for the night. Because I have routines morning and night I find I don’t need my “To Do” list on my calendar. This is more my style. It’s not glamorous, but it is WORKING.

One thought I had was, “Oh, it won’t be portable and I won’t be able to bring it
with me to all my meetings.” You know what? I don’t miss dragging my
(expensive) huge planner everywhere I go AT ALL. Two months of having a “HOME BASE” calendar, and my life is an open book to my loved ones and to myself.