Organization

I was going to do a post to recap where I am at with my goals at the beginning of the month, but can you believe it is almost the 10th already!? Seriously, time flies nowadays! Hopefully I will still get around to this before the end of the month, sooner the better.

My very first goal for my resolutions was:

"1. Be more organized.

This is with my time, as well with everything important in my life. I really haven't totally unpacked yet from the move and I just feel like everything is scattered. By the end of the month, I want to have my office completely unpacked and organized.

I want to have a weekly schedule where I sit down on a Saturday or Sunday and write down my goals for the week. I've always worked best by thinking about stuff weekly. If it was something two weeks in advance, I would completely forget about it and put it out of my mind. By writing it down, I will have more of a chance of getting it done."

Well, my ward had a class on organization tonight, and I would've have been silly not to go since this was my number one resolution! I am so glad I went because I got a lot of helpful hints, especially for my office which is still plaguing me!, and some confirmation on what I am currently doing.

The number one thing was prioritizing. I feel that I have done this really well so far. I have my priorities and I am able to move them around if need be. For example, I am working out everyday, but if something comes up and I have to skip it, I skip it, but I am right back on it the next day. It just depends on how important stuff is and I don't beat myself up about it.

I took notes on some of the stuff I wanted to use or remember. Writing it here will definitely help me, and maybe it will help some of you as well.

1. Use Microsoft Outlook or a calendar.
I had forgotten about this. I had one at work and why not have one at home? I am horrible with dates that are over a week in advance. I plan everything weekly so I am more prone to forget or think a date incorrectly. I have a hard time using planners and paper calendars, so I am going to give an electronic calendar, that automatically reminds me of stuff, a try. (Although we don't have Microsoft Office on any of our computers, so I'll have to get creative with this one.)

2. To-do list for everything.
This is not just a daily one, but a weekly, monthly, even yearly or more! I liked this because I have lots of goals and plans that are far off in advance and just having them written down means I won't forget about them. I already write stuff down mentally for the week, I'm awesome at that, but doing a monthly one would be awesome since my mind is often in overload.

3. "Live each day on purpose."
I liked this quote. Everyday I am just happy if I get one important thing done. That can even be doing the dishes or laundry or going outside for a walk with the baby. I guess this quote has a lot to do with your attitude. We have control of what we want to be; we just need to do it.

4. "Progress, not perfection."
This one was awesome. If you have a big project, organizing a closet or basement or whatever, just make sure to keep going back to it and not letting it just sit. Sometimes I am guilty of saying, I can't do it perfect now, so I am not going to try. I love this quote for my office. I can definitely say I am making progress weekly. :)

5. Don't let the little jobs add up. AND Include cleaning up as a part of every single task.
I like these ones a lot. I need to listen to it about laundry. I always have a load in the dryer for over a week and it's such a pain to have to go into it to get something and it wastes a lot of time. If I had just folded it and put it away right when it was ready, I wouldn't have to spend the time going down the stairs or over to the laundry room to get what I need. So I really need to listen to this suggestion.

I have also learned that if I don't clean up Ryan's high chair right after he eats, I hate myself when I have to clean it before he eats. Dry stuck on food is NOT fun to clean when you have a hungry infant crying and pulling on you. Since I can do this cleaning after he eats, hopefully I can do the folding of the laundry after it's done.

6. 3 Pile Process: Love/Use, Ambivalent, Discard
This is what to use when you are cleaning a big project like a basement, closet, or garage. You don't need to put everything away or in a certain place, just put them in 3 piles and then get back at them later. I think this makes getting started a lot easier. There is less to think about, just focusing on those three things. I already tend to do this, but not so simplified. I will try this with the rest of my office organizing.

7. Mail
Oh mail, how I hate thee! I hate how messy it is and the filing you have to do or whatever. I think I have gotten better and I still hate it. Right now, we don't have a place to put it so it goes on the kitchen island, read, into a pile, taken up to the abyss which is the office and forgotten forever. Yes, it isn't pretty.

We will be buying a table for our entry way soon, and I am going to buy one of these nice thingys. It's a 3 bin thing that you would see on most people's workspace. It helps to separate the mail until you can get at it. The top is to shred, middle is for bills, and the bottom is for filing. I am going to see if I can find a nice decorative one and I think it is going to make the mess that is our office much easier to handle!

8. Magnetic shopping list
I can't wait to use this! While I was unpacking the office boxes I found one, but it is Christmasy and I am still going to use it. I'm am so excited to be more efficient in my grocery shopping!

9. Alphabetize spice rack
Most people already do this. I just learned about a week ago that the grocery store does this. Yes for years I searched and searched for the spice I needed. Now that I am a SAHM, I am so glad I figured it out since I am cooking more and need more spices. So of course it makes sense to do it in my own home. Searching for spices is NOT fun! Now I just need to get one of those circling spice racks!

10. Ice cube trays for jewelry
I don't have a lot of jewelry, but I thought this was cool. If you have a draw you put all your jewelry in and it's all a big mess and you don't have the money for a nice fancy looking jewelry organizer, just use ice cube trays. You could probably even decorate them to make them look fancier for all you crafty ladies out there. :)

That is it for all the stuff I wanted to remember. It was fun and made me so much more motivated to get organized! Hopefully the office by the end of this month. I know I said last month, but progress is what's important!

Here are some websites that were given out:

www.hgtv.com/organizing
www.getorganizedwizard.com
unclutterer.com
organizedhome.com
www.organizedwithstyle.com/blog
getorganizedtips.blogspot.com
www.stacksandstacks.com
containerstore.com/welcome
lifeorganizers.com/cm_articles/16_the_organized_closet
www.thehomeknowitall.com/the_home_knowitall/2007/09/organize-it-the.hmtl

I hope this gets some of you motivated and gives you some fresh new ideas! Good luck!