{phfr} - Desk Edition with Bonus Planner Talk

My desk.  Sigh.  There is really not much prettiness going on here.  It's all just very real at this point in our lives.  We actually have big plans for this area of our house, but none of it will be realized for quite sometime.  We have to get through the whole husband gone for long periods of time first.  I present this to you in all humility.  This is the least organized area of my home.

So here's my desk in all it's reality:

The desk itself is actually pretty cute.  It was made by someone and we purchased it off craigslist years ago.  The shelves above the desk are functional for now.  My husband built our computer a few years ago after our old one crashed.  The printer was another craigslist find, and it works for now but I dream of the day it dies and we can get a different one (perhaps wireless!  Imagine!).  It's just a little...wonky. But it does have a scanner and copier which is a must for our homeschool.  Next to the printer are our disc folders.  They are mostly picture backups with the hope that someday I'll get them printed and organized.

This shelf is the computer...what's it called, and all the wires, wires, wires.  A little container of holy water, just because that's where it landed the last time I went through the house with it.  Discs for our homeschool that we routinely use and a container of change from our last yard sale also bless the shelf.  Note to self: put things away!  I do have two cross stitches that Ladybug completed, as well as the first cross stitch I completed soon after I was married to make it a little pretty up here.  A holy card of Sts. Joachim and Anne along with a Blessed Mother card finish the randomness here.

To the left of my keyboard is usually action items.  A few weeks ago I had a nice little basket here to organize this stuff and it really worked.  But then I moved the basket to another place that had need of it, and so this stuff all just sits here until I get to it.  Broken toys, random books, a rice pad...oy!  My pens are housed in my Class of 2000 beer stein.  Because I don't drink beer and have no other use for this particular thing.  :)

To the right of the keyboard is my basket of bills that need addressed.  Although currently there are also books that just came in from being ordered that need put away, some homeschool planning things, and other randomness.  This basket is gone through every week (usually Wednesday is my desk day, although I didn't get to it yesterday which is why it's so cluttered today).  More about how I tackle the job of bills and planning in a minute...

The top three drawers of my desk are the only ones I really use.  The others house random computer goodies and cords, ect.  I don't ever open them. 

The top right drawer are receipts and paid bills for the past few months.  Once a bill is paid, the rest of the bill gets put here.  Every few months I go through it and file what needs filed and throw away what needs thrown away.  If I have a dispute with a company, I know where to look for that piece of paper.  It's not pretty, but it works for us. 

The top left drawer is my mail drawer.  Stamps, address labels, and my address book go here.  And tape.  Lots and lots of tape.

The middle drawer is office supplies and stickers to reward kids with.  Both Fritter and Ladybug have homemade sticker books for when they do something worthy of a sticker in school.  Anytime I see fun little sticker pads at the store for a decent price, I usually pick them up.  I also have a set of colorful gel pens for planners and other writing.  A pretty pen helps motivate to get the job done!

So on to how I plan and do the bill paying.  This calendar is just one that we get in the mail every year.  Nothing special.  Every six months, usually December and June, I write out our bills for the next six months on the dates they are due.  If it's something that needs mailed, I write it a week before it's due.  I also write in each payday.  On my desk day, I sit down and first tackle this.  Anything that needs paid in the next week gets taken care of.  Then I move on to the basket and then the random action items on my desk.  Everything at least gets touched, if not completely dealt with.  I've managed this side of our lives this way for years now, and while it may not be the most efficient method, it works for us.

This is my planner (along with some baby nail clippers.  I cleaned nothing for this post.  It's all reality here, folks!).  I use the Catholic Daily Planner from Michele Quigley, and I have for years.  I order the one that starts in August, since around here life revolves around the school year.  I like it, because it has a month at a glance, and then each week is spread out over two pages with plenty of space to write.  I has the Church calendar on each day, along with that days Mass readings.  My liturgical year things (books I want to read aloud or have read, activities, ect.) are written in the blank space beside the day.  The to-do list is of course written in along with any reason we have a need to leave the house (appointments, ect.).  I used to be in a good habit of listing three things I was grateful for each morning, but haven't done that in a while.  Hmmm...maybe it's time to get back in that habit....

Most of my planning happens here on the couch, not at my desk.  This spot has all of my prayer books as well as all the other books I'm flipping through at the moment.  I really need a basket to put all this stuff in...maybe an updated post would be good once I get things in order...someday.

One of the things I've started doing in the last few months is keeping a commonplace.  I just use a composition book, and jot down any quote that sticks out to me from my reading material.  I love this habit!  Plus, pretty pens and writing is so soothing.

 A look at the most recent page...quotes from St. Josemarie Escriva, St. Francis de Sales, and Fr. Jacques Philippe. (I cannot recommend his book enough!)

There  you go!  Anyone who entertained thoughts of me being nice and organized can now rest assured that I am not, and really the randomness around here is out of control!

Go visit Like Mother, Like Daughter for more contentment!