Sunday, March 6, 2011

organization is the key to life.....

Okay, I have realized organization is the key, isn't that how the saying goes, organization is the key to life? Well I think it is right , or at least the key to a less stressful life. But here is the kicker it is hard to be organized/ get organized, it is work. But here is my thinking, usually with parenting a little kid the harder thing to do is the better/ easier thing to do in the long run right? I.E - making the child clean up after themselves, when they are little it seems easier to just pick up their jacket and shoes, or the few toys they left on the floor, but then you are teaching them it is okay, so later on down the road you made it harder for your self. Well I think it is the same with being organized in life. It may seem like more work now, or harder to do, but by doing it you can make your life easier and less stressful down the road. So that is what I am working on now. What do you all do to try and stay organized?

3 comments:

  1. I'm am, at heart, an organized person. I frequently, however, choose other things over organization time. So I have decided to tackle one big area every two weeks. I typically do it on a Friday. I work Mon-Thur, have every other weekend off, and then Friday, when I'm frustrated with funky customers or psycho kids, I channel all that energy into cleaning, clearing, dejunking, organizing, and really 'getting it done'! I am by far from perfect at this, but as I sit here today, my kitchen is mostly clean, eating area clean, table clean, dishwasher running, living room clean and main area in the basement clean. As I work this week, I'll slowly work to clean off my sewing area and get everything done that was sorted to its correct area, but not quite put away. It is a step by step process. I have a lot to sort and get rid of, and finally, find a place for what is left.

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  2. I've realized that it's a daily thing. If you let it go for even just a day you get behind, and a few minutes a day is worth it. So I've been trying to make sure that the dishes go straight into the dishwasher, the laundry gets put away after it's dry, the beds get made when we get up, etc.

    A few other tricks that I use: Touch it once. If you go to put it away, take the couple extra seconds to put it all the way away instead of just putting it in the room it goes in. And Do it as soon as you think about it. It only takes a few seconds usually to put something away, so I try to actually do it, instead of just thinking I should do it. And I'm trying to learn to be a putter awayer. Which is hard because It's hard to remember to put stuff away if you can't remember to put stuff away! I have also found that if something (like the kitchen table) is clean to begin with, it's easier to keep it that way, because you can see if there's anything (like a bowl, or cereal box, or the mail) there which doesn't belong. And lastly, I try to look around each time I leave a room to see if there's anything in that room that needs to go to the room I'm heading to. I figure I'm making the trip anyway.

    I've realized that I get so much more done with less effort, and can enjoy the things I now have time for, because I don't have the guilt of thinking I should be cleaning instead of reading/sewing/crafting/visiting, or whatever. SO I don't put things off as much, and enjoy the life beyond cleaning!

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  3. Pretty much what Amy said.

    "Touch it once" is good. My kids are older, that makes things a little easier, but I do this with work, and I've started trying to do it at home. If something will take less than 5 min, I do it then. Right then. When I think about it. If it's something that will take MORE than 5 minutes I put it on a list.

    When I have some time to do...something, I look at the list, and pick out something to do that needs the amount of time/resources I have available.

    Also, every day I sit down and look at the list. I move the time sensitive things onto my calendar, I usually cross off some stuff that I added to the list that SEEMED really important, but I now decide I don't have to worry about.

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