From reading other blogs and talking to other women in similar situations as mine, it seems we have similar problems. How do we balance all the different facets of our lives and feel fulfilled and NOT burned out at the end of the day?

I found myself being so angry at myself while I was working full time because I had all these things I wanted to do, but never enough time to do them. I did, though, have time to watch TV shows at lunch, and spend time on Facebook/Pinterest/etc. I was also having a hard time keeping up with my design clients because I just flat out didn’t want to do ANYTHING when I got home from work at 5, let alone make a good dinner and tackle even the tiniest of projects.

While trying to find a solution to my productivity dilemma, I stumbled upon this piece of advice:

There is a legendary story that in the 1920′s, Charles Schwab (at the time one of the wealthiest individuals in the United States and founder of Bethlehem steel) wanted to get more done each day for himself and his executive staff. He was approached by Ivy Lee, a public relations expert, who told him a “secret” to increase their productivity.

Mr Lee told Mr Schwab to implement this secret methodology and then, after he had seen the results of the method, to come back and pay him what he thought it was worth. Mr. Schwab and his executives tried the idea for a month and received such amazing results that Mr. Schwab wrote a check to Mr. Lee for $25,000, which at that time was a huge sum of money.

Here’s the trick: At the end of each day, write a list of the six most important things to do for the next day and order them from one to six. In the morning start with number one. Keep working on it until completed, then move to number two. Keep working on this one until completed, and then move to the next item on the list. Continue this way until completing all the priority items on the list.

I decided to take this a step further, because I need a little flexibility in my day. I need to be able to choose what to prioritize or what to work on. Enter, the six list:

I printed two to a sheet, cut them in half, and got them bound into a little pad at Office Max. Since I’m not working anymore, that top section has been modified to be “baby” focused. A lot of you might be thinking that 24 things in a day is too many. You’re right. I shoot to get 3-4 done in each section, but by listing out all 6, in case I’m feeling great I don’t just sit around saying “my list is done!” I know the next thing I want to work on immediately. Also, some of my 6 things are very small. I’ve had a hard time remembering to take my prenatal with food, so under baby, the first 4 normally look like this:

1. Good Breakfast
2. Take Prenatal
3. Good Lunch
4. Take Iron

These might not seem like a big deal, but I know myself well enough to list it because it won’t happen otherwise. And when the days all blur together, it’s nice to be able to look and say “yep. I did take my supplements today.”

Also, when I’m filling out what I want to get done the following day, I already have 2-3 things in each section (because they weren’t crossed off) so making the list each night only takes a minute or two. And because it’s in a notepad, while I’m working on the list, if I notice something that needs to get done the following day, I can just write it in, instead of hoping I remember that night.

Other things that make the lists are: “plan FHE, shower & ready, catch up finances, pay bills, pack Cam’s lunch, read hypnobirthing, take a nap, dishes, sew 1 diaper, deposit cash, grocery shopping, wipe down bathroom, make bed, make dinner, Julie’s insert designs, fold laundry, make freezer breakfasts,” etc. Some are bigger than others. Some take more time than others, but being reminded of the little things that need to be done is often just as important as making sure the big things get done. Before bed each night, I ask Cam if he has any requests. This makes sure that he doesn’t come home from work and ask if something got done that we haven’t clearly discussed earlier. He knows there’s a time at the end of the day where he can put something on my list.

Clearly, all 4 categories probably won’t fit with everyone’s situation. I made a six list for my sister Lindsay at her request. She has said that it has helped her get so much done during the day. Which is when I figured I should probably share with the world, because if something works this great for two people as different as me and her, it will probably work great for a lot of you too! Hers looks a bit like this:

The bottom can be used for phone numbers, reminders, dinner ideas, etc.

This design is copyrighted, but I’m happy to make a custom, print-ready file for anyone who wants it. I was thinking $5 for the time it takes to modify would be fair.

Thoughts?

How far along? 28 Weeks 1 Day
Maternity clothes? Yes. Although the black shirt in the picture isn’t a maternity shirt. In fact, it’s my “I don’t want to feel huge today” shirt. Also known as the “magic black shirt.” It makes me look smaller than I really am from the front. From the side, it’s really impossible to look smaller, but that’s ok! I like that we have big boys.
Best moment this week: Lotion rubs before bed. Cam rubs lotion on my belly before we go to sleep and the boys just kick and kick. I like it when all four of us are connected that way.
Movement: All the time. It’s wonderful. Poor Gray is running out of room. He is up on my ribs and if I cough, his head gets smashed against my ribs. If I sneeze, same story. Baths and Ice Packs are helping the soreness at this point.
Food cravings: Just food. And I can’t get enough water. Still no chocolate really. I want fruits and veggies all the time. And I love spicy things. Yum. :)
Labor Signs: None really. Practice “surges” (I’m reading hypnobirthing…) come and go pretty often, but everything stops if I lay down and keep drinking water.
Belly Button in or out? Pretty sure the end is near. Still in though. :)
What I miss: Nothing really right now. I have good time with my husband. The boys are healthy and growing well. We have a beautiful home and I am blessed enough to be able to be at home right now working on my homemaking skills. This is something I’ve dreamed of since I was a little girl. It is already better than I imagined it would be.
What I am looking forward to: Actually getting the guts up to sew the first cloth diaper. Yesterday I sat and stared at it for about an hour. It’s just intimidating to me! Also, plans are moving forward for a baby shower here in Utah! I keep getting e-mails from the girls putting it on and I am getting SO excited! (If you want an invite, e-mail or comment with your address). :)
Milestones: We are officially in the 3rd trimester! This also means that the boys can come any time from here on out and they will be fine. (Granted, it would take a lot of modern technology to keep them healthy), but we’re just cutting down NICU time from now on. These boys are ACTUALLY coming to our family. We will get to meet them. I just can’t wait.
Realization of the week: I am looking forward to the little things the most, I think. I keep dreaming about their features. Their hair, eyes, nose, toes, little beany bodies, everything. And I can’t wait for that new baby smell to come to our house.

One of our family new year’s resolutions is to hold family home evening every single week. It’s an opportunity to spend time together as a family and learn about church-related subjects in the home. We tried having family home evening when we first got married but it was so…awkward. Without children or siblings, we’d just end up watching a movie or having a normal night. When there’s just 2 of you at home, it’s really hard to distinguish just what makes a night “family night”.

I set out to tackle this problem, because I really believe in the importance of establishing the habit of family night.

This is what I came up with:

Now our family home evenings go about like this:

• Sing a hymn that goes along with the lesson. Cam plays the piano, we both sing.
• We switch off who says the opening prayer.
• We go over finances. I have a little printout in my wallet that has our budget outline in it. Every time I pay a bill or make a purchase, I record the amount in the budget. That way, every Monday it takes me about 5 minutes to calculate how much we have left in each budget. We talk about upcoming expenses, things we’d like to use the miscellaneous budget for, and potential date ideas.
• We check in with each other on how we’re doing spiritually. How are our family prayers? Personal prayers? What are we studying in the scriptures personally? As a family? Are we happy with how family scripture study is going? etc. We also set a goal together that we want to work on the next week.
• We talk about our relationship. We start off with 3 compliments and an itch. The nice thing is that after you’ve given 3 sincere compliments to the other person, it’s pretty hard to come up with an “itch”. BUT, if there is ever something we really need to talk about, this is an easy way to get it out in the open. And then we do 3-minute massages. (Honestly, these normally wait until right before bedtime, but sometimes we sit on opposite ends of the couch and do foot rubs.) I strongly believe that physical touch is an essential part of feeling like you’re “on the same page.” It’s really hard to be annoyed with each other if you’re touching, and good feelings between spouses invites the spirit into our home. We also go over current stressors. If I don’t know what is stressing Cam out, I can’t help relieve that stress and vice versa. Also, a sure-fire way to increase the love you feel for your spouse or your spouse feels for you is to get rid of whatever it is that is setting off red flags in his or her mind.
• The last part of the paper is a week-at-a-glance calendar. There’s VERY little space here, for a reason. This is where we make sure we’re both planning on the same things for the upcoming week. It has virtually eliminated any freak outs caused by “You didn’t TELL me you were working overtime tonight.” And, “No. My work party is tonight. We have to be there at 6. You’ll have to cancel with so-and-so.” We outline major events in the upcoming week.
• We have a lesson. (Cam and I switch off who gives it).
• We have an activity. (This is anything from organizing the nursery to going on a walk to going to concert to playing a card game etc.)
• We have a treat. (And a closing prayer)

For a while this paper was posted on our fridge for the week, but since we’ve tried it for almost 2 months now, we’ve decided to save some paper because it has worked beautifully. I plopped mine in a frame and we use a dry-erase marker to fill it out every week. It sits on our end table next to the couch where we will see it all the time. Here’s what it looks like all filled out: (This was last week’s)

Every time someone has asked about it, they inevitably ask how long it takes to get through. 15 minutes tops. 10 minute lesson, and then a treat means family night is still about a half hour long, but we are so on the same page and prepared for the week, the difference is incredible.

And we feel like we’re on the same team.

I think that’s worth every second.

How far along? 26 Weeks 1 Day
Maternity clothes? Can you say maternity skinny jeans, in LONG sizes for $17 bucks?? wahoo! I feel like a whole new person! I have been feeling SO frumpy lately and the jeans, oh the magical jeans, have really turned that around. It also might be the incredible face wash system I got for Christmas from my mama, and the new eye-liner and mascara too.
Best moment this week: Besides buying the jeans? LOTS of things. My family getting to feel the boys kick for the first time, seeing our boys on the ultrasound yesterday, sleeping in our own bed after 10 days on vacation (rough life, I know). Meeting up with Julie (AMAZING friend and certified doula) to talk natural childbirth…which was always the plan until I got a phone call from the doctor about 10 minutes ago. After our ultrasound yesterday, we learned that Nash (Baby A) is a full half pound smaller than his brother. I have an appointment on Tuesday with a specialist to hopefully find out what’s going on and what we can do about it. Until then, prayers would be very much appreciated.
Movement: All the time! I am really enjoying it, honestly. Although Gray often gets all up in my ribs. I think he’s bruised something in there. One tiny little kick can make me tear up.
Food cravings: Anything healthy. Fruit, nuts, bagels with cream cheese. (Healthy is a relative term here). I’m still digging on vinegar. Veggie subs from Subway hit the spot every. single. time.
Labor Signs: Oh the contractions. Apparently elevation change can cause contractions. These are fake-os though. They don’t hurt, they’re just uncomfortable and the boys always kick like crazy afterward. I’m sure I would too if all the walls of my house all of a sudden decided to cave in and squish me up for a minute at a time.
Belly Button in or out? Pretty sure the end is near. The top half is looking mighty strange.
What I miss: Nothing really. Maybe the luxury of having a non-high-risk pregnancy. I have been really enjoying not worrying too much about the boys until today. Hopefully I get to regain that peace of mind after the appointment on Tuesday.
What I am looking forward to: Christmas morning with our boys next year. Also, seeing their little bodies in the clothes and blankets we got over the break! I’m also looking forward to my snaps coming in so I can sew up these cloth diapers, pronto.
Milestones: Got all the cloth diapers cut out. Baby B is 2 lbs 6 oz. Baby A is 1 lb. 14 oz. I am carrying over 4 lbs of baby already! Grow boys, grow! We also celebrated our last anniversary as just the two of us. Cam out did himself again. (See the Christmas post) and bought me the book “How do you tuck in a superhero.” It’s really a celebration of mothering boys. I think a hot bubble bath and a long read of that will make me feel better about everything today.
Realization of the week: I need naps. I will probably need a nap every single day until these boys arrive. And that is okay. I refuse to believe anything is wrong with the boys until someone really tells me whats up. It would sure help, though, if the doctor wouldn’t be so vague. 6 days seems an eternity away.

How far along? 21 Weeks 1 Day
Total weight gain/loss: +27 <– It made me feel better that BOTH of our boys are bigger than average. They’re already tall for their age.
Maternity clothes? We hit the black friday sales at Kohl’s and nabbed 3 maternity tops. It is so nice to have stuff that actually fits!
Best moment this week: My chiropractic appointment. Oh my word YES. I would pay big money to be able to sleep on my stomach on that drop table.
Movement: Yes. :) Cam finally felt Baby A, who oddly enough is the runt of the two. He has been kicking a lot lately. I think he’s happy to be noticed.
Waist Diameter:  38″ However, I have a couple shirts that hide it really well. I wore a black shirt the other day and if you saw me from the front, I look very much un-pregnant. A side-view is a very different story.
Food cravings: So, I mostly like hot food. I’ve been pounding chester’s flamin’ hot fries like they’re going out of style and hurt my throat. Apparently flamin’ hot snacks + pepper jack cheese isn’t good in large quantities. Who knew? (It seriously felt like I had a draft in my throat, like there was a window open back there…weirdy)
Labor Signs: Mr. Braxton Hicks has made his debut. I know it’s REALLY time to sit down and put my feet up when my whole belly gets hard. Makes things tricky when you’re grocery shopping.
Belly Button in or out? In.
What I miss: Moving. ha. No, but really. Getting out of bed, getting out of the car, picking something up, bending…these will all quickly becomes things I did “way back when.”
What I am looking forward to: Making stockings for our family of 4. I bought all the stuff. I just need to psyche up and cut them out. I can’t wait to see them all in a row up our stairs.
Milestones: Stretch marks on my boobs. TMI?
Realization of the week: I can’t do as much as I used to. Normally, when I’m in a rut, I make a master list of everything I want to get done, prioritize it, and get crankin’. This week, I tried that. And by 11 am I had hit a wall. I forced myself to get dinner in the crock pot and then watched The Biggest Loser until I fell asleep. I realized that nap and relaxation is just as productive as doing the dishes, cleaning, etc. It’s taking care of my boys. And they need it.