I was awoken in the early hours of Friday morning by a lot of things all clamouring for my attention. They ran around in circles inside my head until in the end I sat up and started a tick list on my phone. Because I had some phone calls to make, one of the items was to start a day book. Rather than jotting stuff down on bits of paper here and there, then hunting for them, I thought it better to have everything in one place.
The first things I ticked off my list were sending some emails over breakfast. When I landed at my desk, I went through a pile of post that’s come in recently and split it into:
- in the bin
- file
- action
I stapled relevant papers together and once they were in a neat pile, and the bin was overflowing with torn up papers, I found and started the day book. I transferred the to-do list to the one in the book, dated the double-page spread, and ticked off the jobs I’d done already. Then I started to work my way down the list, doing the quick and easy things first. I filed as I went along, which will save time and effort in the future.
I also jotted down phone numbers, the names of the people I spoke to, and the outcomes. This is why I wanted the day book – so my future self can see what happened if I ever have to come back to something I thought was resolved.
One of the jobs on my list was to arrange one of my pension payments, which is due to start next month, (Early, naturally.) I made that phone call and await the formal application form I need to sign and return, along with a copy of the poet’s birth certificate. I contacted another pension company and sent them the up to date information they require. That one isn’t due for another 5 years, but still good to get it out of the way.
I tried to set up telephone banking with the building society we went to visit the other week, but the user name they’d sent me had already expired. This letter arrived on Wednesday but had been sent 11 days earlier, and we apparently had only 10 days before the user name expired. So I had to call them and arrange for another to be sent, and this time they’ll include a form I can complete in case the post is held up again.
I went through the poet’s pensions to ensure they all had the correct address, etc, and I noted down what those are currently worth. Then I worked out what all of mine are currently worth too. We both have 4 private pensions each. Two of mine mature next month. All of the poet’s mature in 2 years. Two years later, he’ll get the state pension as well, and I worked out that too. And then I worked out my state pension.
By the time they’ve all matured, we’ll both be getting pretty much the same as each other, and those added together are pretty much what we already earn between us now. It might even be more by then. Clearly we both received excellent pensions advice back in the day when we were young and retirement wasn’t even on the horizon.
We started the ball rolling on these a few weeks ago. I have another telephone appointment on Tuesday to sort out 2 of mine, but then that’s it until the poet’s ready to start drawing his private pensions in 2 years. It’s a bit of a faff at the moment, but it helps me sleep better at night.
Finally, I called my other bank, the one I spoke to just over 2 weeks ago with a query on the interest I’m getting. The chap I spoke to then promised to call me back but, so far, never did. I spoke to a lady this time, who turned out to be far more knowledgeable than either of the 4 people I spoke to before. She answered my query straight away. Job done. Query resolved.
The nasty edit client confirmed that I won’t have to look at that project ever again. (Yay!) I think she’s sick to the back teeth of it too now and just wants it off her desk as much as I wanted it off mine. This big fat pile of nastiness was ceremoniously taken to the recycle bin. I couldn’t even be bothered to shred it.
So the next job I did was print off the next job for her, which is proofreading an edit I did before Christmas. This one was a nice job, so I don’t expect it to take anywhere near as long. Plus, it’s due out in May this year. I already have the author’s corrections and the proofreader’s corrections to consolidate with mine. So we’re only waiting for me on this one.
I checked that I could see my Plottr files on my mobile device, which I could. And that was it for the day.
We didn’t have anything planned for the weekend, but it is the poet’s birthday today, so we probably went for a meal yesterday as he’s working in the midlands today. Find out tomorrow what we got up to.
Sounds efficient, productive, and pleasant, all the way around. Phew!
Well done!
Phew! indeed!