Working with your Personal Style - Part 2

I've been thinking about this topic a lot and I've come up with some additional ideas.

One of the things I struggle with the most is consistency. There is just something in my personal style that rebels against doing anything the same way every time. I never get up at the same time, eat at the same time, I don't do things in the same order, I basically never do the same thing any two days in a row or do anything the same way as anyone else. On the one hand, this gives me a sense of individuality and personal freedom, but on the other hand, it really interfers with my productivity.

Sometimes I really envy people who can do this. Women who always serve chicken on Mondays, spaghetti on Tuesdays, etc. People who can remember to water plants twice a week, people who can schedule their lives with complete regularity and know they'll be able to stick to the same routine week after week. My in-laws were like that and it really fascinated me that they could remember to rotate tires, change furnace filters, and set the coffee maker every single night before bed. I envy people like that, but on the other hand, I also have a mild contempt for them. Routine seems appealing to me, but on the other hand, it seems very boring and predictable and robotic to me and I think that's why I reject it so completely.

Which leaves me stuck with a problem. There are just certain things that need to be done on a schedule and housework is definitely best when done in some kind of a routine manner So, how to integrate my personal style into this process?

As you can see, I'm a computer gal. I spend large chunks of my time on the computer, both at work and at home. I probably have a computer screen in my face for 12 to 15 hours a day, every day. And computers are fabulous at routines. Sounds like a win-win to me!

So what I've started to do is to use my E-mail and my calendar to help me along. I already have a lot of reminders set up for my work. It helps me to know when to run reports, when to turn in timesheets, and all that kind of stuff. So now, I've set up all kinds of reminders for my personal life as well. And the nice thing is that I can include my family in this too. I've gone through and set appointments with reminders for myself to tidy the kitchen every night, fold laundry, and a bunch of other things. But I've also set all the kid's chores up as appointments as well. There are weekly appointments to take out the trash, mop the floors, and cook dinner one night a week. There is even a monthly reminder to my older son and husband to check the fluids in the cars.

The reminders pop up in their E-mail boxes and for my son, as a text on his cell phone. I even have penalties written right into them. When the task is sent out, it says, this task must be done by bedtime, or you will need to do this and this tomorrow. I think this qualifies as a brilliant idea and I think it will go a long ways towards keeping me on track with my life.

PS: I have another idea, but I need to scoot off to work. I'll post that one another time.