"Murphy was an optimist!"
Annual Planning December 31, 2019 4:00 pm
Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Daily LifeIn scouting, we take a full day to a full weekend to plan the next 15 months. In my personal life, our planning is a bit more ad hoc. Granted, we are usually well booked several weeks in advance. However, my idyllic vision of family life has our family attending weekly family meetings (Sunday post-dinner) to discuss the week and the coming month with a high-level view of the months to follow. The reality is my wife keeps our calendar. We always have the next 4-5 weeks on a dry erase board by the front door. And schedules are coordinated via text messages and shouts as people rush out the door.
On this last day or 2019, I have decided to plan all of 2020. I am setting goals for the year, the months, and the weeks. I am planning meals for every day of the year which should give me the ability to better plan our grocery shopping and couponing. If I can cut out food bill in half of 2019’s then I will be thrilled. I also plan to be serious about growing my own food this year too. I learned much last year and now it is time to put that in practice. At a bare minimum, I don’t want to have to buy another store tomato for the rest of my life. I am listing the Knox County School calendar, specific school calendars, my work calendar, the scout calendars, and the church calendar. I am blocking off time for sharpening the saw for physical, mental, social/emotional, and spiritual development. And I have time set aside for each of the seven roles of mine (husband, father, homeowner, employee, entrepreneur, scoutmaster, volunteer). Next, I will fill in all the dates which I do not control such as school holidays and federal holidays. I will list birth days and anniversaries. Then I will begin filling in extraneous information. Then I will drink scotch and let the whole chaos wash over me as I begin my longing for 2021.
Too much to do December 29, 2019 1:35 pm
Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Daily LifeI find myself decision impaired. Mark the property lines? Finish the shed? Buy food for the year? Recharter the scout troop? Clean house? Repair the drip in the shower? Find the leak in the kitchen? Replace the dishwasher? Repair the car? Rest? Relax? Plot? Plan? Take the dog to the dog park? Land a rover of the moon? Learn Spanish? Automate the house? Decide on meals for 2020? Make a personal mission statement? Work on freelance jobs? Work on my budget?
Crawl under the covers….
add a commentAh, what to do with 2020 December 29, 2019 12:53 pm
Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Daily LifeThe year 2019 concludes. As I look ahead, I see an interesting and busy year ahead. My daughter of 17.5 years will go off to college. I have a mere half a year to complete all the parental dreams I had for her. There will be a ton of work to do in scouting. I want to increase cash flow into the house which could mean a career change or placing more emphasis on my side work of freelancing or my personal websites. I’m toying with taking some classes at the University of Tennesee. And, of course, home improvements. I want all the home projects finished. I also want more family time. More travel.
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