JACKIE BISHOP, LECTURER
479 Tuscany Drive
Portage, MI 49024
Tel: 269-365-0401
Cell: 518-222-6622
jacqueline_bishop@hotmail.com
MARCH/APRIL 2019 GRANGE NEWS
Happy Spring!
Since there are several March and April special days, I decided to wish you well on all of them.
Happy Ash Wednesday (March 6); Happy beginning of Daylight Saving Time Day (March 10); Happy St. Patrick’s Day (March 17); Happy Purim (beginning at sundown, March 20); Happy April Fool’s Day (April 1); Happy Passover (beginning sundown April 19); Happy Easter (April 21); Happy Administrative Professionals Day (April 24)
April is Grange month! Although not mentioned below, this is a great time to recognize people in your community with the Community Citizen and Public Service Award. Plan now for your event(s).
Grange: A fraternity training heroes for our hometowns since 1867 In 2019, it’s time to celebrate our everyday heroism as Grangers! This year, our Grange Month theme – that we encourage you to keep going all year long – allows our members to tell the story of our organization one good work at a time. It’s “The Grange Way” – in 2019 we recognize the magnitude of impact the sometimes seemingly small acts can have. From free or low-cost meals helping to meet the needs of our neighbors struggling with food security to providing dictionaries to third-graders, which helps to bridge the gap for those without internet or connected devices at home, Grangers are often the uncelebrated heroes that help our hometowns be places to live, love and learn. Take part in the celebration this year with an open house, by sending a
letter to your local newspaper editor and by telling our story in a way that connects with a new generation. (from National Grange website)
letter to your local newspaper editor and by telling our story in a way that connects with a new generation. (from National Grange website)
There are several announcements that I wanted to highlight from the National Grange Lecturer, Chris Hamp.
2019 Quilt Block Contest. This is an easy one this year (Pride of Quillisacut), based on the Split Nine Patch. It is likely that you have some fabric scraps to make this block. I will send the rules and directions in the next Lecturer’s Bulletin, but feel free to contact me if you want them sooner than that. You can opt to have your block judged or not. Blocks are made into finished quilts sold later to raise Grange Foundation (National) funds. All blocks will go to the National Grange. There is a Junior group for judging, as well as Subordinate.
Veterans will once again be recognized at the National Grange session November 6 to be held in Minnesota this year by receiving “Quilts of Valor”. The National Lecturer is looking for Granges in the Midwest Region to provide these. There are specific rules that must be followed – patriotic in nature, machine quilted, size, etc. Burr Oak Grange already has one of these ready to go! All the information regarding how to make a Quilt of Valor is on the website at https://www.qovf.org.
The Grange is in partnership with the NOAA National Weather Service. Grangers can become Citizen Scientists! Here are several possibilities: 1) Become a Storm Spotter under the NWS SKYWARN Program, 2) Become an NWS Cooperative Observer, 3) Use mPING to Report Precipitation. Contact me for more information or see http://www.nws.noaa.gov.
JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2019 GRANGE NEWS
GETTING STARTED WITH TIME MANAGEMENT
GETTING STARTED WITH TIME MANAGEMENT
I Don’t Have Time!
Happy New Year! Many of you have or are considering making New Year’s resolutions – things you would really like to do in the upcoming year. Historically, by the end of January, many people’s resolutions have been set aside, and what seemed a great idea at the beginning of January has gotten “lost in the shuffle”. Often, the reason people say that they sidelined their resolution(s) was that the resolution(s) would take too much time to accomplish.
Happy New Year! Many of you have or are considering making New Year’s resolutions – things you would really like to do in the upcoming year. Historically, by the end of January, many people’s resolutions have been set aside, and what seemed a great idea at the beginning of January has gotten “lost in the shuffle”. Often, the reason people say that they sidelined their resolution(s) was that the resolution(s) would take too much time to accomplish.
One of the classes I taught in my training career was Time Management. A key takeaway from that class is that we all have choices as to how we spend our time, and when we “don’t have time”, we have made the choice to do something different than we originally set out in our resolutions that takes away the time we need to undertake the resolution.
Although I do not always abide by the entire model set out in that class, there are several basics that we need to consider if we want to get more done. Good time management takes planning.
Step 1: Make a list or diagram of your current commitments – work, family, Grange, etc. Then, for each major category of commitments, consider a new goal pertaining to that commitment for the upcoming year. For instance, a goal might relate to a vacation that you would like to take, or a goal might be to learn to play the guitar. These should be written down or placed on your commitment diagram or list. This activity usually would take no more than an hour of time.
Step 2: List the tasks associated with each commitment (how you meet the commitments). Also, determine the first couple of steps to reach your goals. Tasks and steps could be something that could be completed in a few minutes or might take many hours.
Step 3: For each task or step, determine when each must be completed and note this down for each task. Some might be daily, weekly, monthly, and others might have specific dates. Once you have completed this step, consider how you spend your time right now – are you doing some things that don’t relate to your commitments or goals? Consider taking steps to diminish time spent in this way.
Step 4: Lay out a full year calendar, allocating tasks and steps to each month, keeping in mind the “due dates” from the previous activity. This planning the full year would usually be done the last week of December just before the next year. This will not be in great detail, i.e., you might group together several tasks.
Step 5: During the last week of each month during the year, create a monthly calendar for the next month. Additional detail will likely be added in this step and in the next step.
Step 6: At the end of each week, create a weekly calendar for the next week. Lastly, At the end of each day, make a list of “to dos” for the next day. For most people, each day would have three “must dos”, and maybe a few more options. Some people like to make lists, so another option instead of the monthly and weekly calendar is to make a monthly “to do” list and a weekly “to do” list. For each day, you would spend no more than 15 minutes to make the next day’s list, and that same amount on Friday to make next week’s list.
The biggest challenge with this process is allowing it to be flexible. When new things come up, you need to consider if the new thing helps you meet a commitment or helps you reach a goal, and if it is more urgent than what you already have in your plan. As a result of new situations, your New Year’s resolution(s) may become not important at some point in the year. So, perhaps a new goal is set – but now, you don’t feel like you have failed, because you are using your time to best suit your needs!
We can not get more than 24 hours in a day, but we can make choices to use our time to best meet our goals and needs. Following even part of this process can help you drop out tasks that waste time, giving you the time to do what you really want and need to do. I would enjoy hearing about how this process worked for you.
