The System I Use to "Remember" All the Things.

A great piece of advice I got from Laura Davis, who runs The Productivity Academy, is this: Let your calendar bear your mental load rather than your brain.

I've learned that when things get hectic, that's when I need to LEAN INTO good systems...not throw them out the window and just wait for the next week or month to be over so I can "get back to it".

For example, I realized I was holding onto a lot of paper and fliers the kids would bring home from school about various events. Or I'd read about them in an email or newsletter and then not be able to find the info later.

This was making me feel like I was constantly behind the eight ball, trying to (sometimes frantically) trying to locate that date or location or event.

So...I decided whenever I came across an event via email or paper with something that had to be remembered, it immediately went into the calendar. (And then the paper thrown away - paper clutter gets on my nerves also).

My husband and I share a google calendar called "Moler Family" (I know - very original😏). But EVERYTHING goes here that has to do with family schedules. And if it is a work thing that's going to impact our "home" time (i.e. anything before 8:30am or after 4:30pm), it goes there also.

P.S. Yes, my husband enters things also...he got sick of hearing "is that on the shared calendar?" 😜

I put it as a calendar item (usually a "free" appointment with a reminder for the night before at 8pm or the day of).

It makes the calendar look a little bonkers - but it means everything I (or my husband - go TEAM 🙌) have to "remember" is listed on the day it needs to be remembered.

But the magic (in my opinion) comes once a week when I essentially COPY via handwriting this to the fridge weekly calendar. The calendar on the fridge is only 1 WEEK - dry erase.

So sometime during the weekend, I erase last week and write up this week. My husband and I go day by day, just making sure we understand the things upcoming that week as I'm basically transcribing them to the "Fridge Calendar". (Also, the dinners go up there too - that's another system to get those planned and executed but I hear much less of "what's for dinner" these days 😁 )

(Yes, I know this is duplication, but it really helps to just focus on the next WEEK and look at it in detail - THAT is the time to make adjustments if you need to - maybe you decide NOT to go to the Winter Celebration after looking at your entire week, for example.)

TLDR: When your brain starts going haywire with everything you have to "remember"...try creating a SYSTEM you can lean on and practice being disciplined with that system - and remember nobody is perfect - it probably won't be a big deal if something is missed. (Don't also forget to look for things you could perhaps say "no" to in this season of life).