52 Weekends to Get Things Done

[EllieQ]

I’m starting this thread to encourage me to get various ‘things’ done that I keep putting off or forgetting about. Over the past few years, I’ve been struggling to do more than the basics of work, childcare, and day to day housework, and it’s getting me down.

The TL;DR summary: The main issues are available time (work & childcare takes up most of it), and my energy levels due to a chronic disease. DH and I share the day to day things equally, but he also struggles with longer term ‘stuff’. I really want this to improve in 2023.

I’m not asking for advice on being more organised/ efficient (I already do most of the usual suggestions), but I’m planning to post tasks for each month and update here when I’ve done them. Anyone else is welcome to join in!

The details: There are a few reasons why I struggle:

Time: I work part-time (30 hours) over five days, so I don’t have a day at home to get on top of things. Weekends are usually my only time to Get Things Done beyond the basics.

Energy: I have a chronic disease (arthritis), which also effects my energy levels. This has got worse in the past five years. I need frequent breaks/ rests, and need to pace myself if I’m doing anything physical, like cleaning. I also have less energy in the evenings than I used to.

No family nearby - my parents are both dead, and PIL are 200 miles away and both have health issues. We use childcare and both have flexible jobs with short commutes and some WFH, but don’t have anyone nearby to help out with ad hoc childcare. For example, doing school pickup if I have a late meeting.

No family nearby also means that any visits will take up a weekend, putting us behind on the usual stuff. There was an AIBU thread a few months ago (about people who were too busy to make plans at short notice), and it struck me that some posters didn’t seem to grasp that seeing family/ friends could take up a whole day or weekend due to distance.

One DD, who is 7. Obviously having a child takes up time, but I feel she needs more input from us (playing games etc) due to being an only child. She also seems less independent than I would expect (eg: One of us has to be in the room when she’s getting dressed otherwise she gets distracted or just stops). Not sure if this is us babying her, immaturity due to the effects of lockdown, or normal for a 7 year old. I have some concerns about possible neuro-diversity (ASD) but nothing is confirmed yet.

A very small house (two-up, two-down terrace) meaning less storage space and less space to do ‘stuff’ without being in someone else’s way.

I also struggle with hoarding and am posting on the long-running decluttering threads as well.

I spend too much time on my phone (as you may guess by the length of this post!).

I’m going to write the things I want to get done in January in my next post, and plan to update monthly at least! Will my good intentions last all year?

To do in January:

• Update 2023 wall calendar (birthdays, term dates etc) and hang up
• Transfer money inherited from my mum to an ISA (ISA is set up and it will only be a few minutes, but I’ve been putting it off)
• Set up online banking for our joint account (DH has this set up, but I don’t)
• Print 2 copies of DD’s school photo - frame our copy, put last years away, and send the other copy to PIL
• Reorganise living room cupboard to make more space for DD’s toys and games.
• Research frames for a wall hanging that belonged to my grandmother - it’s like those 1970s flying ducks. I knocked it off the wall over a year ago and damaged it, so want to put it in one of those box/ protective frames
• Research life insurance for DH and I. We had it set up when we bought the house, then cancelled it a few years ago when money was tight, and never got round to re-doing it.

Some easy things, some that will take more time - let’s see how it goes!

Ooh I like this, I have a year plan in my life planner I use, it's mainly big things I want to achieve over the year like tidying out the garage but I like the idea of having a monthly plan and including smaller things that in reality shouldn't take long but I never get round to them!

Good luck Ellie!

I like the idea of this but won’t start yet as I’m due to start a new job in Feb that will be shifts and have no idea what my timetable will be like. Hoping to get my long term put off jobs done in jan before I start 🤞

ellieq I want to join and wave Pom poms. Go Ellie!

Those are such lovely ‘to dos’. I have said on the decluttering thread that many of us spend too long making our house ‘less bad’ rather than nicer and I love that your list includes dds photo and your grandmas wall hanging. I am going to see if I can come up with 3 or 4 positive things to do in January that aren’t decluttering.

I have some:

• to get new curtains for Ds room. Was redecorated in the summer still need some new curtains.
• to get new blinds for all 3 velux windows. Fed up of rooms being darker than they need to be.
• Get some of the the photo/scrap book done. Promise myself each school holiday will get it done and never do. If it was done then would free up more storage spaces

Yes I need to do this.

Currently on holiday so can't start until next week but setting up my online banking for joint account also on the list as is distribution of last years school photos

Lovely to see other people joining!

Yhats a good point Stealth

Pressed send too soon! Meant to say to Stealth that I agree with your comment about doing things to improve the house vs general decluttering.

So far I have done the 2023 wall calendar, and my next task is transferring the money I inherited from my mum to an ISA. It was not a huge amount, as she had been in a care home for several years before she died, so her house had been sold to pay the fees. A lot of sad memories there, which has been putting me off. There’s also a few parts to this task:

• Check the amount (as it was paid into my normal savings account) - Done
• Check the account number for the ISA (it’s at a different bank)
• Set up a new payment on the banking app
• Make the transfer.

Small things, but they can seem almost too much at times!

Omg I have lots, I could despair

-move DC1 into bigger bedroom and cleAr out her old bedroom
-paint small bedroom, clear it and move DC2 in (still sleeps in our bedroom)
-make photo albums and collages for wall
-hang up framed photos of Dc2
-apply for EU passports for kids (tons of paperwork)
-sort out my pension
-get car tyres changed
-reorganise and clean kitchen cupboards
-upload small kids clothes on vinted

Similar situation here- busy jobs, kids and arthritis. Plus a dose of executive function issues thanks to adhd. I've been doing "just one thing" as my New Years resolution. The idea is to do one thing each day to make things better- for the house, my finances or my health. Some days it might literally be putting some washing in a drawer if that's all I can manage, but it's doing something that I would ordinarily have left. Means theres more time/headspace to do stuff at the weekend.

I need this to get myself organised! Had a burst of organisation this morning and booked dentist check ups for all of us and my smear test. Still to do:

Large jobs

• Book in to speak to mortgage advisor about what to do when our fixed rate ends in July.
• Look at either buying our leased car or getting a new one when that ends in March.
• Carpet for the living room. Been putting off the expense but it desperately needs doing.

Small jobs

• frames for school pictures
• pay for DS after school football club
• collect prescription from pharmacy

Feeling slightly frustrated as I tried to transfer the money to my ISA this afternoon, but it wouldn’t go through 🙄 I’d got the account details, went through the process to set up a new payee on internet banking, put in the correct amount, re-entered my security code, then was told the receiving bank wouldn’t accept the payment and I would need to contact them.

It’s possible that the ISA account is no longer active as I haven’t used it for a few years, or it could be that the amount that I was trying to transfer (around £5k) triggered a security issue. Either way, the thought of having to contact the bank (spend ages on the phone/ go into a branch next weekend) feels really demoralising.

There are rules, maximum amount for ISA per year ,check £5k doesn't go over it? The bank can restart a dormant account, don't lose heart just factor in the time for the phone call

I have resolved the ISA issue and made the transfer! After Snowflake mentioned that some ISAs had limits on payments in, I did a test transfer of £5 and that wasn’t accepted either. I had set up online banking for the ISA account, so was able to log in and found the ISA had been deactivated as it hadn’t been used for a few years.

I was able to reactivate it online and to the transfer, all without having to phone the bank 🙂I do feel better knowing that the money from my mum is in its own separate account, to be kept for something special.

A quick update to say that one more task has been mostly done - DD’s school photo was ordered, delivered, and has been framed and put on display. Last year’s photo has been put in the box of photos. The only thing left is to send the second copy to PIL.

I also made a start on organising the living room cupboard at the weekend, but didn’t get very far. I can see that it’s going to take a while! It’s a tall built-in cupboard in an alcove, and DD has the bottom two shelves for toys while we have the remaining four for various things (glasses and drinks, my knitting supplies, and two shelves of ‘stuff’.

I need to condense our stuff into three shelves to give DD another shelf, as her toys were already overflowing even before Xmas! I’m also hoping that sorting through her toys as we reorganise them might find some she doesn’t want to keep 🤞

Well done @EllieQ
I find writing these sorts of tasks in my work diary really helps. I bookend the working day with small jobs & almost pretend they are part of work & it helps me do them. Sometimes I allocate a half day & write down all the things to do. That makes them achievable too. I realised recently that I probably spend more time thinking about the actual task & in that time, I could have done the dreaded task! Getting on and doing stuff often has a snowball effect too.
Good luck.

Three things -

Painting
Need to set up a routine that works better for us
Desperately need some new underwear and winter clothes ( I am seem to hover at the bottom of the list) I am sick of seeing myself in the same old stuff!

Funnily enough I often feel more organised on workdays @Whatliesbeneath707 especially if I’m in the office instead of working at the dining room table, surrounded by stuff that needs to be done (like laundry). That’s a good idea about adding tasks to my work to-do list.

I’ve done another one of the tasks on my list - set up online banking for our joint account and downloaded the app and set that up as well. Again, it was much easier/ quicker to do than I’d expected.

I’m pleased to report that I have done almost all of the things on my January list 😊

Done

• 2023 calendar (& new diary as well)
• Money transferred to ISA
• Online banking set up for joint account
• School photo printed & framed, and copy sent to PIL

Part-Done

• Living room cupboard reorganised and some space cleared, but still need to move things into the cleared space

Not Done

• Wall hanging frame research
• Life insurance research

Extras

• Reorganised bottom of wardrobe
• Applied for fixed-rate mortgage after ours finished a few months ago.

I’m pleased with what I’ve done so far, and will write an new list for February tomorrow.

Love this thread, making me feel motivated!

Thanks @Pineappleapple !

This is my list for February:

• Research frame for wall hangings
• Research life insurance for me/ DH
• Move games/ lego from overcrowded shelves to recently-cleared shelf
• Spring clean second bookcase in dining room (take all the books off & wash down each shelf). I did the first bookcase a couple of month ago.
• Set up a Spotify account (or something similar). I have no idea how to listen to music online, but everyone else seems to have one!
• Complete remortgage forms when they come through (we’ve just applied to go back to a fixed-rate deal).
• Block a shawl that I knitted last year. I’ve been putting this off as it’s hard to find the space to lay it flat.

The first two are carried over from Jan and the rest are new.

I have often thought that a really useful charity would be one that helps people get stuff done, even if its just a monthly phone call for inspiration. I think it would help a lot with peoples MH as living with lists of jobs hanging over you can be very depressing/anxiety generating. I always find I get more done just after chatting with someone about it all. Thanks for this thread EllieQ and I love the positive nature of it.

My Feb list

Get prepped for trip to UK to see my family (well in advance so I am not rushing)
Update electronic photo frame with new photos of dcs
Print new photos and switch around the frames in the other rooms
Help DD pick some new bedding for her room
Get dc books organized so that the series are together and they can read the whole series more easily

You did very well in Jan Ellie, hopefully it will carry on into Feb.

I have just set up Spotify after faffing about it for ages, was remarkably easy and have a family account so the DC are happy too as they can use it. I prefer the old style of actually having the music on my phone but I’m trying to move with the times!

my Feb goal is to start my ambulance training, and stick with it.
I have a week left to do any household type jobs then I’m going to go easy on myself until the training is over.

Well done @EllieQ
Sounds like January was a very productive month.

I’ve found it harder to be motivated in February so far, but can report that I’ve moved the games to the recently cleared shelf in the cupboard, and have completed and sent off the remortgaging forms. So that’s two things off the list!