I need help. As you know, I am not an organized person. At the moment, I have several things on my mind. LOTS of things. Hosting Thanksgiving, Caleb's birthday party, Christmas presents, possible move and new home decorating, birthdays, photography, designing stuff for church.....
So, how does one keep it all organized? Let's go ahead and note that I cannot keep it straight in my head, so I need another solution. How do you organized people do it??
11 years ago
a note pad and pen.
ReplyDeleteMy iCal calendar... I put to-do lists on there, events, work, and I use the "notes" section on the events to fill in details I don't want to forget.
ReplyDeleteLOTS of sticky notes... I even use the "virtual" ones on my dashboard.
@Karen: It's the notes part of things that I'm having trouble with. I have ideas flitting through my head about all the different things going on, and it's hard for me to 1) capture them, and 2) keep them from distracting me from what I'm doing at the moment. I think I need a notebook with a page dedicated to each thing.
ReplyDeleteI think a notebook with a page for each topic is a great idea, Lydia! If you're doing a lot of online searches you can also save the links of things you like (new furntiure, toys for caleb, etc.) in an email addressed to yourself. I do that a lot so that I don't have to wonder months later..."now what website did I see that on?" I'm sure there is another better way to do that, but it works for me so I thought I would share. Making lists is the best way to go because then you can write things down when you think of them and hopefully you can move on to the task at hand instead of dwelling on all of the things you've got on your mind! Good luck! It sounds like you guys have a lot going on! Can't wait to hear more about the possible move!
ReplyDeleteI am not one of those super-organized types but I find that when my head is spinning with tons of thoughts, plans, ideas, things to do and research, blah blah...it helps me to find a 10 or 20 minutes and just do a "brain dump".
ReplyDeleteThe goal is to get every thought from "buy toothpaste" to "research organic gardening" or "repaint armoire for nursery" OUT of my head and onto the paper. The key is to allow (nay, force) myself not to organize it in any way, just get it all written down.
It is a HUGE relief to do that. Then I can pick a system to organize my plans from there. (Now sticking with my "system" is a whole 'nother issue.)
I think it was this blog that inspired my first brain dump: http://simplemom.net/empty-your-brain-the-key-to-productivity/
Oh, and I love, love, LOVE delicious.com for tagging and saving online information, inspiration, recipes, gift or project ideas in an easily accessable way.
(Sorry for the ridiculously long comment!)
It has been said that an idea doesn't really exist until it is written down. So, I think you're on the right track...write it all down and work from there.
ReplyDeleteYeppers, as journalists/writers we're always told to keep a notebook handy. It's a way to keep the ideas together.
ReplyDeleteNOW -- you then have to remember were you put said notebook! Ha!
Another idea is to get a unique color paper, like those Thomas O'Brien papers you gave me one year...easily spotted in a sea of white.
OR -- recruit your friend(s) to help and treat them to pizza/enchiladas!
And, if you figure it out, please come here and help me!
Recently I was given the suggestion to not try to break habitats, but to use organization to bring order to the chaos. So you have the tendancy of kicking your shoes off when you come in the door. Don't try to force yourself to carry them to the bedroom...consider a basket with a lid by the door. Now for you I know you have a thing for dumping on your kitchen table. Consider having a basket and setting aside time each day (or every other) to go through. Also, just trying to be intentional in putting things away as you use them helps. In the long run it takes less time. But for a mom, remember -- having a happy safe baby is always going to be more worthwhile than a perfectly clean home. Hope these help.
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