Latest / The Christian Homemaking Podcast: Simply Convivial with Mystie Winckler / [Part 2] The Analog Productivity Method That Changed How I Manage My Home

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[Part 2] The Analog Productivity Method That Changed How I Manage My Home · The Christian Homemaking Podcast: Simply Convivial with Mystie Winckler

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  Speaker: Now, I love productivity tools, systems, methods as much as
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  the next girl, but the productivity method that changed how I actually keep
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  track of everything and really make progress in my life is not an app, not a
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  spreadsheet, not a color-coded planner.
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  It's analog, it's simple, and almost embarrassingly small
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  It is a single index card.
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  Maybe it's even just a Post-it note when I really need to hone in on my humility
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  hi, I'm Misty Winkler, and you've found the Christian homemaking
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  podcast, Simply Convivial.
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  Convivial means doing life together with joy, enjoying life together,
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  and that's , what we want to have happening in our homes.
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  It's the kind of hospitable atmosphere that we're trying to create as homemakers
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  So I want to help you increase your capacity, increase your
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  joy in building a godly home
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  And it takes work.
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  That means that there are things that we have to do, tasks that have
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  to be accomplished, projects that need to be tracked, all in the midst
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  of many interruptions from needy people, especially our children.
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  But productivity is still possible.
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  It just doesn't look like most of the productivity gurus out
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  there tell you that it looks like.
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  It's different for moms, but it's still a thing that we can improve in.
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  And today, I want to tell you how just one little index card or maybe even a
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  Post-it could be all it takes for you
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  So grab a basket of laundry to fold and let's dig in
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  So first, let's talk about going analog with actual, tangible, touchable,
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  holdable, real items as our productivity tools instead of digital apps.
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  I have tried many apps out there, apps for habits, apps for tasks.
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  I do keep a running list using the Reminders app, but it just doesn't work
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  in real life to really work from that.
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  It's more of a storage space.
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  I can set things aside there and go look for them if I'm in a planning mode.
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  But in day-to-day work mode, paper is where it's at.
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  Daily action needs to be visible in front of our faces, and we don't want
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  our phones always in front of our faces
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  Our days as moms are full of interruptions.
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  Our time is not our own.
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  So we need a way to stay on track, remember our priorities, do the next
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  thing, and keep the next thing visible.
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  'Cause we all know that feeling of opening our phone just to check our
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  calendar or check our list or check whatever it is that we think we're
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  gonna check, and suddenly we are lost on whatever app was easiest to pull up.
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  It got us sucked in, and now we are zoned out of our life.
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  That's not productivity at all.
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  So we need an analog system to track what matters most and what's next.
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  The problem with digital productivity options isn't that they can't work.
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  It's just that your attention is at risk when you use them, and that is the most
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  valuable resource that we have as moms.
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  Our children, our husband, our homes need our attention.
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  So we have to keep the attention vacuums, the attention- destroyers
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  out of reach without keeping our list for the day out of reach.
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  So in comes the index card
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  So there is a lot more friction in using pen and paper to write things down.
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  Writing things down takes longer.
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  If you want to repeat a task, you have to write it down repeatedly instead
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  of just having it automatically repeat like apps can do for us.
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  Writing things down by hand can be painful sometimes.
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  It can take longer and feel like we're wasting time.
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  But that act of pausing in order to write something down gives us a couple
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  seconds to think and to connect with what it is that we're writing down
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  And that makes whatever it is we're writing down stick better in our minds.
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  The friction, the time, the effort is good for us.
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  It makes us ask, "Does this really matter?
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  What's, what of these things is going to make the biggest difference?
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  What am I realistically able to do?
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  Can this wait?"
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  It gives us a little time for those questions to pop up.
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  A handwritten card also forces a decision in more than just the
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  time it takes to write things down.
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  When we choose a planner that is not a full sheet of paper, when
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  our plan for the day has to fit in something small, that reminds us
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  that our days are limited containers.
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  We can't do everything that we could possibly think to do in a day.
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  We have to fit what needs to be done on a small format card To stay realistic.
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  To remember that we need to really understand what matters most.
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  Now, the thing that I love about a daily card, whether it's on an
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  index card or a Post-it Note, is that it turns home management into
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  a daily reps kind of activity.
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  So it's not about getting the format of a weekly spread just right
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  to hold everything in our week.
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  It's about narrowing it down to what matters today, and then doing that again
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  the next day, and then again the next day.
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  We're not trying to create a perfect plan or a whole spread for the week.
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  We are noticing, choosing, following through, and getting
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  a fresh start every single day.
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  When you write a daily card every day, you're practicing paying attention to what
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  your family and your home needs today.
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  Not making a plan for the ideal day, or when you get your act together, this
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  is what should be on my weekly spread.
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  You're paying attention to just right now, just today.
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  That helps you be more realistic.
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  It helps force you to choose your priorities, to notice what your priorities
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  really are, and follow through on those.
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  A daily card also is an excellent recovery method when the day goes sideways.
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  It's just an index card, or it's just a Post-it Note.
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  If the day goes … If halfway through the day the kids start vomiting, and
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  now your plans have to totally change, hey, throw it away and make a new one.
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  It's low risk, low stakes, and you can start fresh and keep
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  iterating at a moment's notice.
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  The daily card isn't magic.
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  It is important repetition.
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  Putting in those reps of choosing what needs to be done, and then following
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  through on those choices is how you become a capable, cheerful homemaker.
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  So let me walk you through how I make up a daily card with my three by three daily
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  card method in part three of this series.
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  You don't wanna miss it.
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  So go along to the next episode and I will show you my real daily card.