My Third Week of Buttoned Up Boot Camp
It’s hard to believe that I have been participating in Buttoned Up Boot Camp for three weeks now. Time just goes by so fast! Week three was really good for me. It covered a lot of things that I needed to work on. Now I must say that I have more to do to get to the point where I feel all the tasks are done (I did the required task, but I feel I have farther to go), but it was a step in the right direction.
How We Got Organized in Boot Camp During Week 3
There were two main focuses during the third week and we started a new focus on the very last day. The first focus was on getting rid of paper clutter. I’m afraid I’m one of those people that err on the side of caution when it comes to keeping paper records. I didn’t even realize how bad I was until the tasks I had in boot camp this week. Do you know that for years I’ve been printing off statements and pay stubs that are always online and always available to me should I need to see them again? Why have I been wasting paper and ink on them for years? Heck, even I can’t answer that one. Well, I’ve started getting rid of all the extra paper and getting what’s left organized. I’ve gotten tired of dealing with my shredder for so much paper, so I just started ripping it up. As you can see Nick has been enjoying this task…
…Dodger even got in on the action too! That cat loves to chew paper.
Plus, see this ugly box on my very messy and ugly looking shelves? Well it’s full of this years paper statements, and it’s going bye-bye. The messy shelves need some work later.
The second focus of the week was on setting up a calendar. I totally admit that I’m not very good at using calendars or planners. I’ve been trying to get better at it this year, but I never seem to be able to stick with it very well. I’m bound and determined to get better though! Now that the blog has grown, and since I’ve add The Blogging Bunch as well, I have a lot of times and dates that I need to keep track of. The last thing I need is to forget to write a post until after it’s due! Since I have two blogs to keep track of on top of my job and everything else I need something that gives me space to write a lot. For now I’m trying to use Google Calendar. We’ll see how I do. Fingers crossed!
At the very end of the week we started focusing on making dinner and grocery shopping easier and more organized. I had really been looking forward to this task because this is another big problem that I have (I think that was the theme of the week). I can cook and bake, but I’m not good with anything complicated. For now I’ve started a Menu for the Month Pinterest board for food that I think would work well for us. Feel free to follow my new board to see what food we’re trying. You may want to follow all of Rock-A-Bye Parents’ Pinterest boards since I post lots of yummy food in different categories as well as lots of other great stuff. I haven’t found enough recipes yet, but I’m still on the look out, so if you have some good ones I’d love to hear them!
My Thoughts On The 3rd Week
I loved this week. It truly helped me focus on trouble spots in my life. All of the tasks are going to require more work from me though. I have all the categories set for my paper filing, but I have a lot of paper to still go through. Most of it still needs to be gotten rid of, but once that’s done I know I’ll be able to keep it in order. Using my calendar is going to take a lot of focus. It’s also going to take a lot of work to make using it second nature. As far as the new food goes I’m very excited! We’ve been a rut when it comes to food and I’m so excited to try something new!
Remember you can still use my code RAP15 to get 15% off of any of the Buttoned Up Boot Camp programs. Plus we’re getting closer and closer to the giveaway!
Disclaimer: I’ve received a version of boot camp to review free of charge. All opinions are my own.
Ooh I’m excited for week 3 {I’m doing the challenge too}- I have WAY too much paper clutter. I’ve gotten better about it over the years but it’s still an issue.
OMG…that “O” word to me is like the “F” word is to some people. I could not be o——-d if my life depended on it. I think I am a border-line hoarder. Some years ago I lost ALL my possessions – everything – and I think it has something to do with that. But I admire people who can o——e their own lives. Whew!
Hehe I know that the “O” word can really be hard for people. It’s one of those things that I always want to do, but it often doesn’t work out as well as I hope. I hope I can keep up what I’ve done, and improve some other areas of my home. We’ll see. 😉
I need to do this. I keep so many statements that I know I don’t need anymore!
My problem exactly! I’m still working on wading through the mess. Hopefully I’ll never have to go through the mess of it again!
This is really neat. Thanx for sharing with us.
What a great idea. I seem to get little twinges to clean up and do little projects, but there are definitely some big ones that need to happen around here.
I have way too much paperwork. We try to scan things in so that we can get rid of the paper – but getting all of the old papers scanned in takes a looooong time. But we do try to work on it bit by bit… we usually have a couple of boxes ready when they have local “shred events” where you can drop off all of your old docs to be shredded. (Trying to shred it all by hand is a nightmare… and we have so much that the shredder gets overheated and cuts of all the time, so we have to wait until it cools down to start again… that’s just annoying. :D)
Congrats on getting organized. It is a big task… one I need to work on, too.
Shredding it all is such a pain! That’s why I gave up and started ripping, but that’s only somewhat better. I’ve never heard of anyone having a big shredding event in our area, but we’re a little town.
I would love to do this. Maybe when school starts…
I think when the kids go back to school is a great time. Some of the projects don’t take long, but some can get time consuming especially when you’ve got kids needing your attention too.
I am totally a paper hound, too! I actually have my planners and appointment books back to 1996. My husband asked me not too long ago why I still had them. I told him, “You never know when a police officer or lawyer is going to ask in perfect Perry Mason form…’Where were you on the night of July19, 1996?’…And I’ll have an answer!” lol Actually, a paper trail has saved me more than a few times, even those planners since I’ve been working on a memoir about life with our special needs teenager. I’m all for clearing out, believe me. But, some of that stuff is just good nostalgic fun. The rest of the stuff you can find elsewhere if you had to — send it packing to the shredder. 🙂 Keep up the good work!
Oh that’s funny Kerith! My grandparents are pack rats. When I graduated high school we made them clean out their barn for my party (we lived next door), and we found tons of stuff. In fact we found the name cards for my grandfather’s graduation announcements! No announcement cards though. LOL I’m glad your planners have helped you with your book. I love to write about things we’ve done and it can get hard after awhile if you don’t have any notes to guide you.