Baby Steps to Organization for the Mom Who Is Barely Treading Water!
I used to believe that I was an organized person. In college, I roomed alone and I kept my stuff pretty neat. After moving into my first apartment, I had an extra bedroom to put any “extra stuff” that I might need.
And after all, people who are not organized don’t read books and magazines about being organized!?! I had it together. I had file folders, binders, baskets, bins, the list goes on!
One day, I was at a conference for work, and the speaker said, there are 2 kinds of people, 1.) those who are organized, 2.) those who read about getting organized! That’s when the bomb dropped, I really had so much stuff and I just shuffled it around. I had no idea what to do with all of the stuff!
And here I am. It has been several years since heard that speaker at the conference. Now I have 4 children and lots more stuff to maintain! Am I any more put together? NOT AT ALL!!! I wish I could say that I was, but I’m not. We have 6 people living in our house, 3 children in school, we go to church, play instruments and sports, and life is CRAZY!!!
The Piles (of Paper), They Keep on Growing!
And there are these piles of paper that just seem to take over (not to mention the piles of laundry)! I often look for something, and can’t find it. Weeks later I’ll find it in a pile stuck in a basket in my bedroom floor! Ugh! It drives me crazy!!!
And even worse, now that I have 3 in school, trying to keep up with homework and permission slips and sending money…. I can’t remember from one week (er… make that day!) to the next what I am doing! Lol!
I can see that things are not going to get better on their own. And my desire to get organized has everything to do with being able to enjoy my everyday life and not feel like I’m just treading water! So, what can I do right now to make life easier and more manageable? I can think of a few baby steps!
Make Organization a Priority
So, I am starting to realize that I am going to have to make organization a priority! No more throwing papers into a desk in a hurry and then having to shuffle all those papers around to find anything! I am going to start a better filing system. I am also going to have to start using a calendar to keep up with things, including what it happening at school with my kids!
Implement a Plan For Being More Organized
People don’t get organized by accident, it takes a purposeful system and then the willingness to keep it up! There are many systems out there and they don’t have to add to our overwhelm. I have looked into the LearnDoBecome STEP program and it looks awesome! There are also many 31 days challenges that would be a great way to start organizing!
Recruit Help: Organization At Home Is Everyone’s Job
No one can do everything, and Moms are no different! We can’t (and shouldn’t) keep everything perfectly in order for our families. What are we teaching our children if they never have to pick up after themselves, or do laundry, or load the dishwasher. My children are still fairly young, but I have already realized that I NEED HELP!!! Make a simple chore chart (here’s mine), and teach your children how to help keep your home (Hey! It’s theirs too!) running well.
This can involve a nightly 5 minute pick up, where you turn on music and clean up all you can in 5 minutes. We have done this a couple of times and it seems to cut down on the grumbling a little. And it’s quick and pretty painless! And be sure to teach your little ones where everything belongs so they don’t get into bad habits of shoving things wherever they can find a spot.
In the end, our goal is not to have a perfect home, but to have a haven, a place that we can all feel comfortable and relaxed. For me, that means learning to have a place for everything, even those annoying papers that I don’t want to have to deal with!
So, let’s do this together! Let me know in what areas you are struggling or if you have any tips or tricks to staying organized!
