Friday, May 27, 2016

Thomasina's Weekly To-Do Lists and Practical Tips ~ Free Printable


“Each time you set and reach a goal, you'll discover a sense of contentment that breeds a stronger sense of direction and joy.” 

{Welcome to another edition of "Fun Friday" this spring with Beatrix Potter!} I am sure by now that many of you are wondering (with bated breath!), how does Thomasina Tittlemouse get it all done? Her pantry and storerooms are stocked, her house is neat and tidy and she even has time to practice hospitality (excepting those insect guests of course!). "Shuh, shuh!" she would say! "She doesn't get it "all" done!" She realizes that "life" is a work in progress. She simply prioritizes with daily lists.  

"But the untidiness was something dreadful—"Never did I see such a mess—smears of honey; and moss, and thistledown—and marks of big and little dirty feet—all over my nice clean house!..."
Next morning she got up very early and began a spring cleaning which lasted a fortnight. She swept, and scrubbed, and dusted; and she rubbed up the furniture with beeswax, and polished her little tin spoons. When it was all beautifully neat and clean, she gave a party to five other little mice..."
~ Beatrix Potter, The Tale of Mrs. Tittlemouse


One thing that Mrs. Tittlemouse taught me was that when life gets out of hand, don't overwhelm yourself by basking in that "oh, dear!!--it's all spiraled out of control!!!" mode. Be pro-active and begin a to-do list! Break everything that needs to be done down to mini-tasks and get to it when time allows (even 20 minutes dedicated to it a day will help to keep the messes at bay!)!

“When you don’t know what to do next,
just do the thing in front of you.”


Something that really helps to boost the morale is to write down an item that may take days to finish out a few times on your list. For instance, in the heat of summer, it can take me up to three days to mow our huge lawn (if I devote a few hours each afternoon). Knowing this is a big task, I will write down "mow lawn" on my to-do list three times. This way, after I have toiled for the day, I have something to cross off! If I waited for the third day of completion to cross something off the list, it would be quite disheartening. Allow yourself the honest time allotment for the larger tasks and go ahead and write them that many times. Mark "one" off each day you spend time on it. The satisfaction of a crossed-off task is quite sweet and will motivate you further! 


And finally, if you find your list continues to be out of control, consider your schedule as well. As Elisabeth Elliot said, "If we really have too much to do, there are some items on the agenda which God did not put there. Let us submit the list to him and ask him to indicate which items we must delete. There is always time to do the will of God. If we are too busy to do that, we are too busy."


You will find Thomasina's free printable weekly to-do lists HERE (for frugality sake, you can print these out in black and white ink in draft mode). These would go nicely in your home management binder. Or, perhaps you would like to place them in Mrs. Tittlemouse's "Manual of Household Hints and Delights" until you are ready to use them? This is simply a safe place you can store all of her homemaking printables to have them handy. You will find the free download here if you are interested. The cover page is designed to slide into the front of the binder as a title page insert. The tabs are best printed on card stock, affixed with glue to card stock and staggered as you attach them. It is just a bit of extra fun!


We hope you have enjoyed this printable by Mrs. Thomasina Tittlemouse from her "Cottage Rose" Collection. If so, you may also be interested in her matching recipe cardsfree printable pantry labelsDIY bug spray, her "un-paper" towel tutorial and the make-your-own "old fashioned" furniture polish. Happy Friday to you dear friends!

25 comments:

  1. I really love your blog. I haven't had time to visit it much lately, but when I do, it's a delight. I enjoy Beatrix Potter and Elisabeth Elliot has long been one of my mentors. Thank you.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you for taking the time to comment so kindly Kim. I share your same sentiments with Beatrix Potter and Elisabeth Elliot also :) Have a lovely weekend!

      Delete
  2. “When you don’t know what to do next,just do the thing in front of you.”
    ~ Elisabeth Elliot That's a perfect description of life around here, especially this time of year.
    Have a great weekend!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Replies
    1. Thank you for taking the time to visit and comment! :)

      Delete
  4. Oh these are so pretty. I'd love to print some for my Daughter.
    I wanted to thank you for coming over and for the linky party!
    And let you know that I have a new Book Review Blog. If I can get enough followers (150 Whew!) then I can post all my reviews there and free up My Journey Back. Would you come over and visit and follow me over there....http://myreadingjourneys.blogspot.com/.
    Thanks and Have a wonderful weekend. And a Happy Memorial Day!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I enjoyed todays post. Thank you for the free printable. I printed in color but will take it to a printing shop to make copies, much less expensive that way.
      Have a great holiday weekend and be safe.

      Delete
    2. Great idea! You have a wonderful and safe weekend too! :)

      Delete
  5. Thomasina, wonderful Thomasina !!!

    As Elisabeth Elliot said, I have too many things to do for let them stay inside an agenda, so I have sheets everywhere on my desk and I hate disorder, it's like dirt to me !
    Actually I have just downloaded your TO DO LIST for my weeks to come, blessed be, my Dearest Lady !

    Hope you had a lovely week, I'm wishing you all my best for the coming holiday weekend, sending my dearest love and blessings to you

    Dany

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I share your same sentiments on disorder my friend! Enjoy the printable and have a lovely weekend! :)

      Delete
  6. What a wonderful practical post Jes, with the added bonus of your pretty printables. Thankyou! I agree, lists are the key. They're just such a great way to track your progress. I write the tiniest tasks on my list, just for the satisfaction of crossing them off! Mimi xxx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, writing the tiniest thing is necessary also to boost the morale! :)

      Delete
  7. Thanks Jes. So many words of wisdom there to mull over.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you for taking the time to comment! Have a lovely weekend! :)

      Delete
  8. Such a wonderful post, and you have a lovely blog. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Linda for taking the time to comment and share here today :)

      Delete
  9. This is such a great way to stay organized and on task all week long.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you for taking the time to share here! It works in our home! :) Have a lovely week!

      Delete
  10. Can you imagine cleaning your house for a fortnight?! 0.0 That's what jumped out at me. I often feel like I have to get big messes clean up instantly -- which is really impossible to do. It's been a struggle to learn to break tasks down into small pieces. I often have poor health, so breaking them down even smaller for bad stretches is also really helpful. The smaller the pieces of a task, the more likely it is to get done, I find.
    I really like your idea of writing a task down multiple times on your to-do sheet. I've had the same trouble, where a long term task seems to hang out on my to-do list forever. (And many times doesn't get finished all the way, I confess!) I'm going to try writing it down multiple times. It seems like an easy way to estimate the time it takes to do a task, without using all that brain power to divide it into specific parts and assigning it to specific days.

    Thanks for sharing!
    -Christina

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, it does help! After you work on it for the day, you feel a sense of accomplishment which will spur you on the next day!

      Delete
  11. My lists are on spiral topped notebooks. I received a comb binder for Christmas so I may print these out and make a pretty cover and such. Thank you for the idea.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. What a NEAT gift!!! I would go crazy with ideas if I had one of those... :) Thank you for sharing!

      Delete
  12. JES, could you please tell me what Elizabeth Eliot book the quotes in this post are from?

    I'm having fun hopping from post to post today...your blog is so lovely to read on a dull Sunday afternoon while stew is bubbling in the slow cooker and bread is in the oven...

    ReplyDelete