lists and honey glazed salmon

Things have been more than a little hectic in these parts lately.  The semester is finishing up in the next few weeks which mean finals are approaching.  #yikesbikes  Also, if you haven't noticed, I'm planning a wedding.  A wedding that is taking place in a month!  OHMYGOSH!  I am loving all of these last minute little details.  I think it's the little things that make your big day special and memorable.
With the forever growing list of things to do, I've started organizing my lists a little differently.  I learned this technique a few years ago and it really is a great way to go from a super long daunting list to something mor manageable.  Lists can be scary, and sometimes it's hard to even know where to start.  This type of list takes a little more time to write up front, but saves lots of time and headaches in the end. 

First, make your big long scary list of things to do.

Next, go through each item and assign it to one of the following categories:

-Urgent, important: These are things that need to get done as soon as possible, and that are very important to complete.  e.g. Finish my final paper that is due tomorrow for my class
-Urgent, not important: These are things that you need to get done right away, but are not as critically important.  This category is a little hairy, but use your best judgement. e.g. Take a shower, this is something that should probably be done sooner rather than later, but I'm not going to die if I don't do it.  Nothing a little dry shampoo and lotion can't fix. (kidding, kind of)
-Not urgent, important: These are things that don't need to happen immediately, but it is important that they get done at some point.  e.g. find songs to play during dinner at the wedding, we have some time on this one, but it needs to get done eventually
-Not urgent, not important: These are things that you do not need to do right away, and that you really don't need to do.  Think of this as more of the "want" category, or "it would be nice if..."  e.g find a new travel coffee mug, the one I have now is fine, it just doesn't keep my coffee hot for very long...

Now that you've separated everything into categories you have a better organized list of things to do.  Start with urgent, important items and work your way down to the not urgent, not important things.  The whole process forces you to stop and think about each "to do" a little bit and decide how essential it is to get it done. 

Another tip, if you have small "urgent, importants" I like to do those before the larger things.  It feels good to get things crossed off the list and makes me feel like I'm getting things accomplished.

Enough boring talk... time for a recipe. I made this salmon Sunday night for dinner and it was killer.  I followed Jessica's recipe exactly and served it aside some whole wheat cous cous and steamed broccoli and zucchini to round out the meal.  Head on over to How Sweet Eats to get the recipe!

Question of the day -

What's your best tip for staying organized?