[kindacrunchy]

I can not organize my life. I can do the things that have to be done, like get my kid to school, etc. But we seem to shop when we have no food, wash when we have no clothes, i can't seem to give myself the time i need to recharge cause i feel totally lost and disconnected. how do you organize yourself?

 

[fek&fuzz]

I keep a stocked pantry, a list on the fridge for stuff I need, I have my washer in bathroom so I can disrobe and throw all my clothes in there, and towels etc. I have baskets for my clothes in my downstairs so I can get dressed downstairs or up.

During the evenings, I set a timer for 15 minutes. Then for 15 I'll sit and watch a dvd or be on the computer, when the timer goes off I get up, reset it and then clean or putter around the house putting things away starting laundry, changing loads, doing a few dishes, etc.

At the end of the night I don't feel like I've spent much time cleaning but my house is fantastic!

 

[Tangled Hill]

Having a home management binder has helped me with this immensely. Of course it has a daily planner in it, but I can also keep lists of items we need at different stores as we run low on them, track my cleaning progress throughout the day with a homemade checklist, meal plan, stay on top of my budget, keep track of son's learning (we unschool), check things off my "to do" lists, etc.

I was kinda scatterbrained before I made my HMB. I let laundry pile up, leftovers go to waste, etc. Part of it was that I was in a bad place mentally, at the time, but part of it was that I simply had no plan. The HMB is sorta like my extreme day planner.

It keeps me on track.

Of course, I like checking off lists. It gives me some sort of weird thrill. Might not be your thing.

I have a blog post on my HMB. Just click on my blog in the siggy, then on "A Tour of My Home Management Binder" under "Favorite Posts." Lots of pictures, too. After using my HMB for over a year, I'd be soooo lost without it!

 

[kindacrunchy]

i thin my being in a bad place mentally and my feeling lost or scatterbrained go hand in hand

 

[NicaG]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tangled Hill Having a home management binder has helped me with this immensely. Of course it has a daily planner in it, but I can also keep lists of items we need at different stores as we run low on them, track my cleaning progress throughout the day with a homemade checklist, meal plan, stay on top of my budget, keep track of son's learning (we unschool), check things off my "to do" lists, etc. I was kinda scatterbrained before I made my HMB. I let laundry pile up, leftovers go to waste, etc. Part of it was that I was in a bad place mentally, at the time, but part of it was that I simply had no plan. The HMB is sorta like my extreme day planner. It keeps me on track. Of course, I like checking off lists. It gives me some sort of weird thrill. Might not be your thing. I have a blog post on my HMB. Just click on my blog in the siggy, then on "A Tour of My Home Management Binder" under "Favorite Posts." Lots of pictures, too. After using my HMB for over a year, I'd be soooo lost without it!

Oh man, I am totally in awe of your home management binder! I wish you could come over to my house and organize my life!

 

[Hazelnut]

I'm not as organized as the HMB (sounds cool though) but I am in love with my momagenda desktop. I used a filofax literally every day unless camping or traveling from age 17-35. I guess it helped that I didn't take it with me, but the first one lasted 14 years. ha!

Anyway now I have this momagenda thing with the cheesy name, but I jot down anything to remember in it. It has spaces for each kid, for dinner, pages for kids info (school, drs, etc) our info, address, all that. It could be bigger, but it works. I also stock up on small cheap notebooks (hey more enviro friendly than chucking electronic gadgets for calendars) and I am fond of making my daily dippy lists on it so that I don't clutter the beloved momagenda: clean this room today, soak those beans, do this/that,etc. I have my own little desk where I keep it. Oh I also keep a little notebook near the kitchen where I jot down my grocery list as I need items.

I go in cycles and am def. not on top of everything all the time, but I do really try to just keep up with the laundry, daily pick up adn kitchen clean up, and then I do the real cleaning just bit by bit.

I kinda liked flylady too for awhile. I think mentally staying on top of stuff helps (or I'm just partial to lists) and I think forcing myself to take baby step after baby step when behind sloooowly gets me feeling caught up, better, and then the structure feeds itself. I do get behind a lot though.

I was actually just pondering today that running a household is fricking involved, if you ask me. cleaning/laundry/kids activities/bills/budgeting/shopping/organizing it seems simple at times but it really is so much.

 

[Delicateflower]

We have a divided laundry hamper in our bedroom (this sort of thing), and a small one in the children's bathroom. When one section of the hamper is full I'll wash that load. On the weekend I collect all the towels and wash them. I only have two laundry baskets, so once they're full I need to put it away.

I keep a piece of paper on the fridge and when I run out of smething or pen the last container of something I write it on the list (so I'll have one open mayonnaise in the fridge, and one in the pantry). Then when I run out of dairy or vegetables I take the list and buy that stuff too. I also keep a carton of long life milk in the pantry for when we run out of milk.

Embrace only shopping when you run out. Call it frugal and thrifty, that you use all the fresh foods before buying more.

 

[flowmom]

I've struggled a lot with that as well. Most of the tasks that I have to do are actually recurring tasks that are most effectively dealt with by developing habits and stringing them into routines. In my experience, Flylady is the resource that has helped me the most with understanding the importance of routines and how to implement them. Her recommendations have really worked for me in terms of how to make the home management workload manageable. I've got a looooong way to go to whip this household into shape, but when I stick to routines it really helps. The key is developing habits, and there's more to that that checking things off a checklist. I've learned so much listening to the Flylady podcasts. I love listening to them while cleaning/tidying/decluttering - they motivate me and reinforce positive messages. I'm not Christian or American so Flylady is very different from me culturally...but more than any resource I find that she really understands the psychology of people like me who are intelligent and hard-working yet can't seem to figure out how to manage our homes. She gets that I am "side-tracked" and struggle with perfectionism (i.e. wanting to do a huge clean-up of my home but not having the the time). She works with babysteps and the timer to break down the work into manageable chunks. You can find checklists and techniques all over the internet but I believe that Flylady is more than a system. She is basically offering life coaching services. Sorry if I sounds like I'm gushing

. I got her emails for a long time but it never clicked until I listened to her podcasts. I still don't follow her system exactly but I am learning so much and feeling that I can build little habits gradually until things work around here. I also got a lot out of listening to her Sink Reflections audiobook -- it's her system all summarized and laid out in book form.

 

[sunnysandiegan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by kindacrunchy i thin my being in a bad place mentally and my feeling lost or scatterbrained go hand in hand

I bet they do. Fix one and the other will follow.

 

[chanibell]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tangled Hill Having a home management binder has helped me with this immensely. Of course it has a daily planner in it, but I can also keep lists of items we need at different stores as we run low on them, track my cleaning progress throughout the day with a homemade checklist, meal plan, stay on top of my budget, keep track of son's learning (we unschool), check things off my "to do" lists, etc. I was kinda scatterbrained before I made my HMB. I let laundry pile up, leftovers go to waste, etc. Part of it was that I was in a bad place mentally, at the time, but part of it was that I simply had no plan. The HMB is sorta like my extreme day planner. It keeps me on track. Of course, I like checking off lists. It gives me some sort of weird thrill. Might not be your thing. I have a blog post on my HMB. Just click on my blog in the siggy, then on "A Tour of My Home Management Binder" under "Favorite Posts." Lots of pictures, too. After using my HMB for over a year, I'd be soooo lost without it!

I love your blog ( I just put a comment on there about the apron ) Did I see that right you have a line in there about combing your hair? LOL

I love it. I love lists as well. Crossing things off makes me feel as though I accomplished things esp when for a time, I was going through some depression.

But to the OP, its hard. Some people ( I'll put myself in that category) just do things routinely. I think its b/c I basically ran my home as a child and had way more responsibility than most kids did. The only thing I didn't do as a kid was actually write the checks for the bills.So housework and running a house was no biggie. My biggest hurdle was adding a child to it!

I think having a list/binder/daily whatever to get you into a routine is key.

Maybe Mondays you do bathrooms and one or two loads of laundry. Sorry if I haven't read the rest of this thread to see if you hold an outside job,but if that is the case then you really have to get your family on board if they are able to see if someone could take over certain tasks.

B/c I will tell you what,my husband is no help unless I ask him over and over and over and by the time he gets to it,I could have done it.

Good luck and keep us posted on how you've worked things out.

blessings~