I live by spreadsheets. I love having them. I love going back to see which quilts I quilted in 2007, what thread I used, what batting I used. I even put all my Bath & Body Works stuff on a spreadsheet so I would know if I need any thing when there’s a sale.
A reader commented that once doing RAKs gets to be a way of life, I’ll no longer need a spreadsheet. Keeping a spreadsheet for my RAK isn’t just a reminder . . but if I think of something today that would be better to do around Christmas or Thanksgiving or during the summer instead of during the winter, I can add it to the spreadsheet for the appropriate week and then when that week rolls around, I’ll see it. Otherwise, I might forget and would be tapping on my head saying . . I know there was something I wanted to do during the summer and I cannot remember what it was.
I may even think of an idea that would work better for someone with small children, or an elderly person or a large family vs. a small family. By keeping entries on my spreadsheet .. that helps me to remember the ideas that run through my aging brain!
I don’t want my list to become a list to do in this order because then it wouldn’t be “random” but I want to remember ideas as I think of them so I see a RAK spreadsheet in my future for many years.
Spreadsheets are my friend! 🙂
Kat Scribner says
I forgot what RAK stands for, but it doesn’t matter. I,too, love spreadsheets. I had a bunch of assorted column tablets of spreadsheets, to organize my lists. I also knew how to use the ones in the office programs; Lotus I knew very well, MS I could dabble enough to get by. But now I have different programs on my computer and I can’t find those darn tablets!! I’ve asked DH to keep an eye open for them and they will turn up, after I’ve found another alternate. Course I was a nut for bookkeeping/accounting which makes us kind of OCD anyway.
JudyL says
RAK – Random act of kindness. I use google spreadsheets and I can access them from anywhere or any computer.
Sue H says
I too love spreadsheets. My quilting friends make fun of me. Of course, it could partly be that my UFO list is 3 pages long. LOL
CJ says
Judy, I think you should have been an engineer. 🙂 I HATE spreadsheets. But I do love my lists!
Annette says
I may have been that reader : ) (Hi, Judy!) In a prior post, I opined that keeping lists would take away from craft time. I keep ideas for quilts and knitting in hand-written journals and often page through them, but not with the idea that I must complete the projects. After I retired from a 30-year job which required a mechanism to establish action dates and make follow-ups, I lost the desire to hold myself to a similar routine in my personal life. To each her own!
Sherrill says
I can see just from reading here that there are a TON of people far more organized than I am..I live life just flyin’ by the seat of my pants! LOL Maybe that’s why I don’t get much accomplished!
Donna Williams says
My work for many many years entailed using spreadsheets and I don’t know how I would get along without them. Like you, I think I have one for just about everything. 😀
Marcille says
I love the idea of using spreadsheets to keep organized, however I do not know the first thing about creating one on the computer. If you ever decide to share yours, I would love to see it/them.
I love reading your blog, it feels like I’m listening to a good friend share her thoughts with me.