I LOVE to feel organized!!! A simple statement I know but when you are juggling a full-time job, business ownership, family, home, coaching and trying to maintain some semblance of personal time, aka this blog, “organized” can seem like an unattainable status.
I have posted before about my love for to do lists ( you can check that out at Surrendering to the Insanity – A To Do List Confession) and their importance in my life but even my cherished lists can get a bit messy and hard to maintain when I have 3 separate notepads going and one gets stuck in my basketball bag, one gets used for homework at the house and I confuse one with my notepad in Court and lose track of the page the all-important To Do List was located on! I find myself constantly re-copying these lists and spend more time getting organized than actually accomplishing anything on the list!
I may have found a solution though…I hope! While nursery shopping with my sister at Michael’s last weekend I stumbled across a cute little organizer binder with accompanying notebooks! Genius!!
The binder gives me the ability to divide my To Do Lists by category in different notebooks that are kept together, in one place, and virtually impossible for me to misplace!! And, how cute and stylish it this!?! (Also, the floral design helps soothe my desperate need for all things spring, even though its STILL below freezing here!)
I have a notebook for menu planning. The pre-printed pages give me the ability to plan weekly meals and write the groceries needed for each meal on the back. I simply take the book into the grocery store and shop right from the list on my menu!
The second notebook is entitled Thoughts which I use for notes, prayer requests and inspirational thoughts! This is super helpful for all catch-all information that would otherwise be lost in the sea of my purse!
I also included a notebook that doesn’t have holes punched but fits nicely into the binder which I use for blog ideas and “Things I want John to Make for Me.” Yep, I have a Pinterest board with that same title….not sure he is a fan though!
Now, to the real meat of my new organizing friend…the To Do Lists!!
The first is simply entitled To Do, I use this one for all things that need done for our family, house or personal stuff. I include appointments that I need to schedule or housework that is nagging at me. The pages are conveniently labeled with headings to help me direct me where things need to be listed: Errands, Housekeeping, Emails, Phone Calls, To Buy (which I changed to To Do), Appointments & Activities, Business and Misc. Very cool huh! Half the work is already completed for me. It is convenient to carry over tasks from one week to the next without losing track of the list!
The second To Do List notebook is entitled Projects which to me really means WORK! I list all of my weekly work tasks in this notebook, specifically office work and things I need complete other than appointments and court dates. The pages are divided weekly by day with 5 blanks for daily projects or to dos.
Finally, there is a good ol’ fashioned To Do List in the back. I use this one for basketball and urgent matters!
The binder is a bit bulky to carry around, and I am still fine-tuning the process but it would be difficult to misplace and the feeling of having everything I need to do or think about at my finger-tips is amazing!
What types of organizational tools are you using to curb the crazy??
Happy Organizing my friends!
Commence the laundry blitz! Its Friday morning, the kids are FINALLY back in school. Husband has a meeting and is out of the house. He graciously folded a mountain of laundry which now inhabits the dining room table and will surely increase the amount of clothes hidden in our bedrooms that already needs put away! I am so desperate not to have to deal with this mess any longer that I rescheduled an appointment in my office to eek out a precious hour to run around my house like crazy destroying laundry piles in my path! I have exactly one hour…On my mark, get set, GO!
A Backyard Life 