Like many stay at home moms, I used to work outside my home. At the beginning of every year, the company that I worked for encouraged each employee to evaluate their prior year’s performance, set goals for the coming year and develop strategies for achieving those goals. The people that completed these exercises each year would almost always meet their goals and were inevitably the most successful employees in the company.

After I became a stay at home mom, I started to struggle a little with managing my home. Without a plan or strategy, I found myself aimlessly chasing one thing after another, never really accomplishing what was most important to me and my family. I finally realized that setting goals, planning a strategy and evaluating my performance each year was just as critical to my success at home as it had been when I worked outside my home. Had I found the secret to successfully managing my home?

As the manager of our home we are responsible for watching over the affairs of our households (Proverbs 31:27). This is a fulltime profession that requires just as much, if not more, attention to goal setting and planning as any job preformed outside the home. After all, isn’t your household the most important organization in the world?

If you are convinced, as am I, that making goals and creating a plan to achieve them is critical to your success in managing of your home, here are a few suggestions on how to get started.

1. Evaluate

“The plans of the diligent lead to profit as surely as haste leads to poverty.” Proverbs 21: 5 (NIV)

Take an honest look at how you did last year. By evaluating your performance, you will be able to determine your weaknesses as well as your strengths. Then you will have an accurate starting point from which you can build your plan for the coming year.

Here are some questions you can ask yourself:

• What were my best accomplishments last year?
• In what areas did I fall short?
• Did I accomplish what was most important to me and my family? If not, why not?
• Did I meet the goals I set last year? If yes, which ones? If not, why not?
• What things am I doing that I should eliminate?
• What things am I not doing that I should add?

2. Get Input

“Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisers they succeed.” Proverbs 15:22 (NIV)

Set goals as a family. Ask your husband and children what they would like to see happen. Talk with them about what is working and not working. Brainstorm some ways you can work together to change things for the better. When your family is involved, your plans are sure to bear good fruit.

3. Commit Your Plans to the Lord

“Commit to the LORD whatever you do, and your plans will succeed.” Proverbs 16:3 (NIV)

As you set your goals, spend some time praying over them and committing them to the Lord. It is His stamp of approval that counts the most. Lay out all that you plan to do in the coming year and ask Him if He will bless your efforts as you work on completing each goal.

By setting goals and creating strategies that will propel you toward their completion, you will be on track for the most successful year you have ever had.

And now you know the “secret” to your success.

What does S.M.A.R.T mean? S.M.A.R.T is an acronym for:

• Specific
• Measurable
• Attainable
• Relevant
• Time-bound

Each word in the acronym has a special meaning. They are:

Specific – Specific goals are detailed and carefully thought out. You are much more likely to accomplish a specific goal rather than a general goal. Use action verbs when writing your goal statement.

EXAMPLE: A general goal would be, “Lose weight. But a specific goal would be “Lose 25 pounds so that I can fit back into my size 6 jeans”.

Measurable – Establish concrete criteria for measuring progress toward the attainment of each goal you set. When you measure your progress, you stay on track, reach your targets, and experience the joy of achievement that motivates you to continue the effort required to reach your final goal. Use quantifiable milestones and dates to measure your progress.

Attainable – Attainable goals are reasonably within your reach. Your goals should be a stretch, but also ones that you truly believe are possible to achieve. When you believe a goal is achievable, you are more likely to put the energy and effort into achieving that goal.

Relevant - A goal is relevant when it is tied to a strong, underlying purpose. One way to make sure your goal is relevant is to look at it in light of your core values. If it supports or promotes one of your core values, it has relevance to your life and you will be motivated to attain it.

Time-bound – A goal should be grounded within a timeframe. Without a timeframe tied to it, there’s no sense of urgency. If you want to lose 10 lbs, when do you want to lose it by? “Someday” won’t work. But if you anchor it within a timeframe, “by May 1st”, then you’ve set your unconscious mind into motion to begin working on the goal

Note: This is for a 5-quart crock-pot, which is larger than the usual. Cut down the proportions if you have a smaller crock pot.

The crispy, home-made tortilla strip topping makes this soup extra-special.

• 1 cup chopped green onions or
• 2 white or yellow onions, thinly sliced
• 2 t. ground cumin
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 4 cans (14-1/2 oz. each) fat-free chicken broth or 8 cups homemade chicken broth
• 2 cans (14-1/2 oz. each) Mexican-style stewed tomatoes
• 2 cans black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 cup frozen corn
• 6 T. fresh cilantro, minced or 2 t. dried cilantro (if you don’t like the taste of cilantro, substitute parsley)
• 3 c. leftover chicken or turkey, chopped

Put all ingredients except the chicken into the crock-pot. Stir. Cook on low for about 8 hours. About one hour before serving, add the chopped chicken or turkey. When ready, ladle into bowls and sprinkle with Crispy Tortilla Strips (see below).

Crispy Tortilla Strips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Use a pastry brush to lightly coat the top sides of four large flour tortillas with olive or canola oil. Sprinkle sparingly with salt and ground pepper. Cut each tortilla into 1/2-inch wide strips, and then cut the strips into pieces that are about 1 inch long. Place the strips in a single layer on a cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes, or until crisp and lightly browned.

Alternative: Cut corn tortillas in strips and deep fry until crisp.

Anyone who carries a purse will tell you that keeping it organized and free of clutter is a challenge. In addition, it can be a big pain in your neck, shoulder or back when it gets too heavy to carry.

If you’re tired of the hassle of rummaging through your purse to find things, try these six simple steps for achieving an organized, clutter free purse.

1. Clean It

Remove all the contents from your purse. Remove any crumbs and garbage. Next, vacuum out your purse using your vacuum’s crevice attachment. If the suction from your vacuum is too strong, try using a hand-held vacuum.

If your purse is leather, give it a shine with leather cleaner.

2. Identify It

Identify the essential items that you use on a daily basis. An easy way to do this is to put a large zip-top plastic bag into your purse. When you are done using an item from your purse, instead of putting it back into your purse, put it into the plastic bag. Do this for two weeks. At the end of the two week period, you will have identified exactly what you use on a regular basis. These are the items to keep in your purse.

Here is my top ten list of essential purse items:

• wallet (ID, cash, credit cards, library card, pictures, etc.)
• keys
• sun glasses
• cell phone or PDA
• comb or brush
• hand cream
• hand sanitizer
• band-aid
• feminine products
• small pack of tissues

If you need to touch up your appearance on the go, add a compact mirror, lipstick, powder, mascara, blush, travel-size hairspray, comb/small brush and an emery board.

3. Purge It

Once you have identified your essentials, everything else should be removed. If you still think you will need something from the items you just purged, put them into the plastic bag and place them back in your purse. If you use anything from the plastic bag, put it back into your purse when you are done with it. At the end of one week, remove the items left in the bag.

4. Organize It

Organizing the inside of your purse can be difficult. Unless you have built-in compartments, everything ends up in a big heap at the bottom of your purse. Try finding your ringing cell phone in that mess! You dig and dig, trying to find it. Then when you finally do find it, it stops ringing. Frustrating!

Here is my answer to this annoying problem. Consider purchasing a purse organizer like the ones made by Pursket. You can put everything you need into the convenient compartments in the organizer. All your things, including your ringing cell phone are easy to find because there is a place for each item. And the best part is that when you want to change purses you just take out your organizer and pop it into whatever purse you want to use. Nothing is forgotten.

5. Tote It

There will be times when you need to take along items that you don’t use on a regular basis. Things such as books and videos to be returned, shopping lists, dry cleaning tickets, coupons, lists of clothing sizes for your family, reading material or paperwork, and toys and snacks to keep your children occupied during appointments. These supplementary items can go into a tote that you use for errands. Keep your tote in the hall closet for easy access or next to your purse so that you don’t forget to take it with you when you need it.

If you are tempted to put something in your purse that you don’t use on a regular basis, stop and think if it would be better to keep it in your tote.

6. Maintain It

To maintain your newly organized purse, clean it out once a month. That way you’ll keep on top of any clutter that accumulates. You can use the plastic bag method again if you are uncertain about what to keep in your purse.

If you do this every month, you’ll lighten your load, have less stress when you need to find something and you’ll be able to find your ringing cell phone.

© 2002 – 2009 Blair Massey

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Christmas lights can be a challenge to organize. Here is an inexpensive system that will have your lights organized in minutes.  Best of all you can reuse this system every year to quickly pack away your lights.

Supplies

• 8 inch by 11 inch piece of cardboard for each strand of lights
• Box Cutter
• Masking Tape

Instructions

1. For each strand of Christmas lights you will need to cut a piece of cardboard into a rectangle that is 8 inches by 11 inches.
2. Next, cut a 1/2 inch silt in one of the short ends of the cardboard. Starting with the plug end of the strand, slide the cord through the slit and then wrap the strand several times around the cardboard until you get to the end of the strand.
3. Secure the end by tucking it back through the wrapped strands, securing it with a piece of masking tape. You can store these in a plastic bin.

Viola! Problem solved.

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