Why I Called A Family Meeting!
Me to Sean before church - "Please bring your workbag with you."
Me to Ellie before church - "Please pack your backpack with some activities and barbies"
This was me needing a family meeting and taking charge make it happen!
I felt disconnected from Sean and like we were being reactive rather than proactive.
We left for church with backpacks (and breakfast) in hand and I announced that afterwards we'd head to a local coffee shop where Ellie could play (The Toasty Goat has an amazing play kitchen) and Sean and I could meet.
We left from church with Sean's mom offering to take Ellie for a bit (bless her) and heading to The Grind as The Toasty Goat was closed (see that alignment!)
My agenda (this was step one since we only had a small window of time):
- Sean and I get our calendars in sync
- Spend time remaking our list of wants for the house we're going to build next year
Coffee was ordered. Seats were found. Paper and digital calendars were pulled out and phones were to be used to check dates - not to text/take a call/or scroll
We went week by week from today - end of January. We marked off when we'd be traveling together, when his 1/2 marathon was, when his work meetings/extra traveling will be, when the baby shower was, school days off, and any birthdays/holidays in between.
Looking at the big picture we were also able to determine what we would be saying no to and what would be tentative based on the baby. (yes, you can decline things, it's okay!)
This all made my brain so freaking happy.
We took a quick break (insert phone use and bathroom break here) and then started on the house stuff.
I took his handwritten house ideas and created a crisp new google doc. I listed out all our thoughts on the house as a whole + broken down to each room + added where we'll attach pictures to get them inside our head. This will allow us to send it to the builder and let them start working their magic.
Now, this tends to be where most people stop and go about their day but then the planning kind of dies.
Sean did have to go grab Ellie (fasted 2 hours ever), I'd finished this newsletter and plan for time to actually sit and finish my planning process.
My next steps to pull it all through:
- text Sean the dates we'll be traveling to see if his mom can watch Ellie and/or Nugget and I'll text my dad the other times we'd need him (if available)
- break down the items that have multiple steps (send leadership week gifts is really: a date to start thinking about gifts, get list of names and address from Sean, determine budget, get gifts, write thank you cards, getting shipping materials, ship by certain date). This is where Asana is a blessing for me!
- add all the events I wrote in the monthly version of my planner into the daily version
- add Asana tasks to the daily version of my planner
- feel like a badass that things and dates are where they should be and not like I'm spiraling out of control with it all in my head
For some this feels like a massive undertaking and I could totally see that. Some also may be thinking - why the hell doesn't Sean do some of that?
For me - being organized and disciplined really doesn't come that easy. I think in processes. So this helps me break things down to make my lists/tasks easy to follow and actually complete (on time).
Then I just duplicate it over and over.
It's way easier for me to do it my way and then share with him what needs to be does and when - plus he travels so I handle most of the home stuff.
I wanted to share this because I know I'm not the only one juggling a lot. And while some of the balls can drop - some of them can't. This is also two of the frameworks I help my 1:1 coaching clients, do in VIP days, and teach in master classes.
You can take my process and adjust it to your needs or if you need the help and accountability - let's conquer it together!