Planning for the Future

A little future planning here and there can make your brain rest a little easier. Here are a few random plans I'm working on in my free time now to avoid panic later.

• Next year's Christmas list. I'd really like to give more handmade gifts this year as opposed to store bought. Not only are they more personal, but hopefully they'll save a lot of money. But to do that, I need to plan way ahead, to make sure I budget enough time to finish them all and so I can bargain-hunt my supplies effectively. Preplanning today involved making new notes in my new favorite productivity tool Evernote, with different homemade gift ideas that fit with my skills and photo reminders from the Net. 
• This year's decluttering and decorating goals. I know, everyone wants to get "organized" right after New Year. But it's never going to happen if you don't plan it out. Each year, I like to take a few minutes to break down the projects I want to do over the course of 12 months, rather than just saying I'm going to "declutter my house" and be overwhelmed and discouraged before February. This month, I'm working on my living room/dining area. February will be my office. 
• A meal plan. I'm not good at following a set meal schedule of Monday = chicken and Tuesday = beef. However, I am pretty good at looking at a list of meals and choosing 4-5 to make this week, based on what we have in the pantry and what's on sale at the grocery. So I'm making notes now of all my family's favorite meals, so each week I can take 5 minutes to choose a few. Saves time and $$ too.  
• Some travel reminders. I'm going on a girls' retreat in March with some of my BFFs. We're already talking about it all the time, so I want to make sure I don't forget anything (like the craft supplies for a project or a book I promised someone). I've got a list started so I can jot down anything I need to remember to take that's out of the norm of my usual travel packing list. 

Got anything you want to download from your brain? No time like the present to start plotting!