the adult chore chart.

You remember these. We all had one, at least in the classrooms of our youth, if not on our own fridges at home. They were intended to motivate. Chore charts are the next step up in visual encouragement after getting the dog-pitched "Yaaaaaaaaaaaygoodgirl!" and clapping whenever we do something good. When Mom realizes we're too old to do what it takes for an overzealous clap, suddenly it's discovered that stickers do the trick.

Despite the fact that these colorful, gold star-coated grids are assumed to only belong to children, that doesn't mean they stop working. I suppose at some point all kids find their own way of organizing and setting reminders. They think they grow out of these charts, but they really just become less animated. Newsflash: a planner is a grown-up chore chart. There are just different lines on the pages, different colors, less stickers - unless you're my mom - and different blocks of time.

Keeping the above in mind, what if we went back and realized there are actually some valuable advantages to the ol' block-y grid? The main point of it was to list not the things that you need to get done once, but the things that need to become habit. Clean my room, clean the litter box, don't pick on my sister, take my Ritalin.. Well Steph and I are working on forming new habits (and still trying to nail that last one down, to be honest). We thought we'd start the simplest way we know how.

We made jokes about the chore chart, but I have to admit there is certainly something really motivating about it. I mean, it's very plain and simple; a black and white Excel grid with two weeks worth of days lining the top and the things we'd like to do more often down the left side. (After making that icon, however, I'm considering at least writing "I CAN DO IT!" across the top just for good measure.) However, when I really don't feel like doing something, it makes it seem so much less overwhelming when I just see a little box I could check off next to it. It's so simple. The goal is to mark as many things as I can, and in 10/20/30 min, it's one more. I tend to also start thinking, "If half an hour goes by and I didn't do this one thing, I'm going to feel like I wasted time. If I just do it - even if I'm not in the mood - there's no way I can't feel positive about it 30 minutes from now when it's over with." I'm starting to get good at pushing myself into things. That muscle needs a lot of strengthening before school starts.

Make fun, but if you're having trouble getting in a new habit or routine, I'm actually finding this to be a pretty helpful tool. It only takes a minute to draw up a few boxes. Give it a shot.

The best part is, no, these charts didn't work as well for me when I was actually a child.