simplify my life

are back in their cases.

Orphaned cases are in the trash.

CDs I will never listen to are in a box ready to donate to Goodwill.

I really need to purge a bit more, and get these down to one drawer.

I just unsubscribed from about a dozen emails, newsletters and such that I never read. Why spend time deleting them?

It’s become my habit to take bottled water to work. I take it with me to class, drink it my office, and so on.

I have been reading lately how plastic bottles are hard for Mother Earth to digest. So for Earth Day, I bought an aluminum water bottle. The idea is that I bring it home and wash it every night, fill it every morning, and stick it in the freezer for an hour or two before taking it in to work. Every time I use it, that’s a buck not spent on water and a bottle not dumped in a landfill or sent to a recycling plant. The bottle was ten bucks at Barnes and Noble, so I will recoup my monetary invenstment easily. And the water I fill it in is filtered through my refrigerator, so it should be good water.

I hired a new lawn guy who will do all, yes allllll the lawn stuff for a monthly fee. Spraying, trimming bushes, mowing, edging, you name it.

I used to have one person to spray, one to mow and edge, one to trim bushes . . . now, just one person to talk to, and he’s on autopilot: I don’t have to call him, he just comes out and does it.

He is nice and seems to be very conscientious. He cut the bushes way back yesterday, which we had agreed on, and then called last night at 9:15 because his wife was afraid I’d be upset when I saw how far they’d been cut.

Gotta love that he goes home and talks about his work and that he and his wife worry about how his clients will react.

So. Lawn in good hands? Check. Life simplified? Check.

I am putting this under “Simplify My Life” because that’s what it feel like to me.

For some years, I have been buying major appliances from the same place. It’s a small store called Builder Sales and Service near where I live. They usually have just a few models in stock. Hubby and I checked their prices out a few years ago and found them to be competitive, so now, I don’t even compare. I just buy.

Today, I went in to buy a washer, since my old washer is on the fritz for the second time in a year. I was the only customer there, and two salesmen came out to wait on me. They had four models. I quickly ruled out two, and decided on a nice large-capacity Whirlpool. They will deliver tomorrow, install, and take away the old one. No extra charge for those things.

There was a time in my life when I would have had to see every model and compare prices at every store, but that time is long gone. I bought that washer in five minutes, and I have no doubt I’ll get many years of good service from it.

Yay for simple and easy.

about how I need to simplify the processes of my life.

Two days ago, I went to Kohl’s with a $10 coupon and the intention of buying athletic shoes. The shoe department contained a stupefying array of choices. I was in a hurry, so I said to myself, “Okay, Nikes usually fit me; I’ll try those.” I picked up four pairs of shoes and sat down to try them on. From the perspective of looks, I’d have taken any of the four—naturally, or I would not have picked them off the shelf. The first pair I tried was too large in the toe box. The second was not as soft on the inside as I would have liked. The third pair was very comfy and fit perfectly. I did not even try on the fourth pair.

I am as happy with my purchase as I would have been if I had spent hours going to different stores to try them on—even happier, because I saved time and money. In other words, my process was efficient and simple.

Why can’t I do that in other aspects of my life?

I have always had the luxury of time in which to do things. Now that I no longer have that luxury, I will have to think about ways to simplify my processes without sacrificing the desired result.

How can I apply the same principles to my work, to grocery shopping, to paying bills and generally getting things done? I am sure I can devise some simplified systems if I think about it.

but somehow, half the stuff I took out ended up on the desk. Meh.

and put in four labeled boxes: Paid Bills, Bank Statements, Medical/Insurance, and Tax Stuff.

This ia an easy-sort method. Right now, I have to look through a big random pile to find anything. With this method, I can throw some things in unopened, like bank statements (I keep track online) and insurance statements, and find them easily when I need them.

I also have a little basket that I put on the credenza by the back door to put important mail in as I come in. The rest (catalogs and such) I can glance through and discard.

The problem is, my hubby used to take care of organizing the paperwork. He is a filer; I am a piler. So, time to make way for my methods. ;)

I am sitting here overwhelmed by all I have to do.

Just a random list . . .

Taxes . . . what a mess—need to do 1099s and have never done them, have some money to pay for other people’s taxes and don’t know where to send it, had a good tax preparer but she left town with her hubby, so am going to try to figure it out on my own.This is the moment’s hugest hurdle.

Hubby’s disability/retirement stuff . . . his insurance company needs a doc’s statement, I have a 40 page form to fill out to apply for his retirement and several doctor/hospital statements to get for that.

Work. . . just got through making a big portfolio for post tenure review, now have to fill out a self evaluation for this year, figure out how to use some new software for the classroom (sympodium . . . it’s wonderful!), probably chair a search committee . . . and I have an overdue outside employment form.

Writing . . . working on 4th edition of two textbooks.

How am I going to fit all this in? As it is, I get home from work, make dinner, get hubby into bed, pass out on the sofa for a nap, then get up, tend to hubby and watch tv with him for a bit and go to bed.

I know I am not an organized or efficient person, but I have never had to be and dang if I know how.

Sigh. I guess I will find out.

in a pinball machine, being flipped around all over the place in a crazy and random way and always in danger of falling into a yawning void.

I realize that part of that is because I am trying to do by myself all the jobs and chores that my hubby and I used to share, plus taking care of him in his illness.

Enough! There are ways I can simplify and take charge of my life.

1. I already have switched to online billing for mortgage and power—yay.

2. I just signed up for an online payroll service to do payroll for Nick’s caregiver. I have done it by myself since last March, and it is a pain in the watusi. The $240 a year I spend for this service will be well worth it, considering the time and hassle it will save me.

3. I can automate the delivery of some of the medical/home care supplies I regularly order. It’s on my list.

I’ll think of more as time goes on.