This week, I realized my organizational structure *ahem or lack there of* isn’t working for me. My day-to-day is inconsistent: I set the intentions of spending time with, entertaining, and feeding Cameron, and making sure he’s bathed before he goes to bed, then I work and clean up in between. Most of the work I do happens during nap time. If he’s in a quiet play time kinda mood, GLORY HALLELUJAH! I’m so on it. But that’s no way to live, flying by the seat of our collective pants, and my work load has increased greatly in the last few weeks (holla!). I have too much going on NOT to be on top of it all.
Well, I stumbled onto Project Organize Your Entire Life on Modern Parents, Messy Kids and it’s like tiny angels started singing “DO THIS. PLEASE. FOR THE SAKE OF YOUR SANITY, WHICH IS ALREADY QUESTIONABLE BECAUSE YOU CAN HEAR US.” And I decided that, yes, the strange, tiny angels are right. I’m going crazy and this might just help, starting with organizing my time.
So last week, I was at Michael’s looking for a large calendar type thing, and I found these guys:
11.5″ x 11.5″ magnetic, dry erase tiles. With a monthly calendar tile and a weekly calendar tile. And I looked at them, and I looked at the way they were arranged on the labels, and I thought, I have some extra wall space over my desk. I can totally do that.
So I did. And it looks like this:
You can see a couple half-tiles, which I think are pretty neat because they add a nice little pop of color, AND they are SUPER versatile. No pun intended. Ew.
Anyway, the full sized tiles were $9.99 and the half tiles were $5.99, so this project cost me a total of $51.94 pre-tax and a little elbow grease. Not too shabby. I think I might add a couple spotlights over it, half for effect, half for better visibility when natural lighting doesn’t do it. But that’ll happen later.
What this section accounts for is the general and business type agenda – any events I have coming up, blog posts that need a little extra attention, big work projects, reading club meetings, playdates. I’m going to experiment with a day-to-day schedule this week, though I love MPMK’s idea of establishing a rhythm to the day. Knowing myself, and knowing Cameron, a set-in-stone routine would get knocked on its ass, beaten to a bloody pulp, and possibly curbed (said the pacifist). But rhythm. Rhythm we can do. We’re a musical family. We have rhythm and lots of it. So rhythm it is.
But then there are the day-to-day kind of things, like house work and eating. Oh, eating. So pesky.
I found a couple great printable freebies to help with those:
First, The Project Girl’s Menu Planning Form, which includes a daily Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner slot with a categorized shopping list section below. Brilliant and simple!
The second is Evelyn Kate Designs’ Weekly Cleaning Calendar, which has a list of what should be cleaned when throughout the week, and has extra blank lines for anything specific to your home that you might need to include.
I’ve laminated both of these and stuck them to my fridge, so on Sundays, my organization day, I get to wipe them down and start again.
Finally, I’ve created an excel spreadsheet for the monthly, bi-monthly, semi-annual, and annual chores, like checking vents, flushing the garbage disposal, oil changes, clearing rain gutters, and so on and so forth. I printed out the spreadsheet, laminated it, and stuck it in a binder that I keep in the kitchen, so this way I can check it off and write in the date each task was completed.
I’ll keep you posted on the success of this venture, and on the next steps, but I’d love to know how you stay organized. I know a ton of moms & bloggers who do weekly, monthly, and even 3-month meal planning and it BLOWS my mind every time. HOW DO YOU DO IT?! I’d love to know and can’t wait to hear.
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