Don't Hate Me Because I'm Organized

I have a very strong love/hate relationship with organizing.  The love part is - of course - the end result.  But not everyone requires organization to be able to think clearly or enjoy life fully. Unfortunately, I do.  That's where the hate part comes in, because if there is anything that bores me to tears, it's moving stuff from one place to another, so I kind of avoid it whenever possible, and then I can't think clearly or enjoy life fully. (Love run-on sentences!) And it's not just disorganized closets and garages that make me crazy, it's disorganized priorities, schedules, routines, and other immaterial parts of family life. (But organizing ideas and words? That, I love, love, love. Mostly because it doesn't require moving.)

So with the momentum of the move, more functional space than we've ever had before, no more babies on the horizon, and my association with Mrs. Organized herself (April Perry of The Power of Moms), I've been pulling it together in some small and simple ways that are helping me a ton. I thought I'd share a few things that have made a big difference in my ability to feel kinda-sorta on top of things.  (Except when I've had a bad night of sleep, or there are too many extra things on the calendar, or I just don't feel like it because I'd rather be blogging.)

1.  GTD (Getting Things Done) and April's version for moms.  (Click on it! You know you want to!)

2. THINGS app for my iphone 3G (they are only $99 - put it on your Christmas list!)  

3. ical which I sync with and view from my iphone.  

Those are the 3 biggees, and I'm still working on implementing all of them better.  My brain is constantly filled to overflowing, and I'd like to get to a point where I can just be okay with what I can do and let go of the rest.  I've got this crazy part of my psyche that always wants to keep pushing until that magical moment when everything is "done" - and that just ain't gonna happen anytime soon, so I've got to find a happy compromise with my twisted psyche.  

Here are two other little tiny things that have made a big difference in our home: 

1. Keeping the little kids' hair stuff in a drawer in the kitchen so I can do their hair in the morning while they are eating breakfast.  (I must give the credit of this genius idea to Saren.  I saw her drawer last October at her house and I've never forgotten it.  Now that I have enough kitchen drawers, I'm finally doing it!)

2. Super cheap, bought-'em-at-the-grocery-store, over-the-door shoe compartments for both the pantry, and the winter clothes closet.  


I've got things in here like jello, sweetener packets (keep those babies high up), tea bags, food coloring, gum, birthday candles - all the little giblets that are always floating around without a good home.

I accidentally bought two, so I decided to use the other one for all the mittens and hats this winter. Isn't this brilliant? I'm sure millions of other moms have already figured this out because they read the "Special Organizing Issue"of some magazine, but I'm proud of myself for coming up with this on my own. (Well, it was an easy jump after the pantry, which was an idea I got from something online . . . wait, am I the last person to hear about this idea?)  

You know, I have deep seated anxiety about people thinking that I think I'm something, or feeling like somehow their life is less than because of something I said or did, or wondering why they can't get it together, yada yada yada.  It's a condition called "blog envy", and I have no desire whatsoever to make anyone "jealous"or give the impression that my life runs super smoothly and is perfectly hunky dory, so in the the spirit of full disclosure, I give you . . . our home office: 

Feeling better about yourself?  Wait! There's more:

Thankfully, this room just off the entryway has doors. It's amazing how little you need to access your collections of books, family photos, inactive files, and general junk papers.  Of course, today I wanted to take the kids to the bank to open checking and savings accounts, but I needed to bring their social security cards and . . . you guessed it! Couldn't find them.  Hmmm.  Maybe we'd better put this next on our list of areas to organize.  (After the garage and the basement.)

BUT, if you turn just 90 degrees to the left you will see this: 

(That Halloween snow globe makes this look like we're conducting seances in our psuedo dining room, doesn't it? Didn't intend that.)

What a roller coaster!  First, you were feeling down on yourself, wondering why you've never even heard of David Allen let alone read his book, then you saw that glorious mess that made you feel SO much better, but then THIS!  

I've got a few more organizational things brewing, but as always, I'M TIRED, and Brandon's getting really serious on me about getting in bed because I've been super tired today and so NOT on top of things . . . it feels good to at least organize a blog about being organized.  

cleaning sticks
Family Bank
Family Mission Statement, etc.