Getting It Together

Aug 17, 2008 Unplugged Authentcity

A while back I wrote about getting Back to Organization and I have really been accomplishing that. I even have my husband on the bandwagon - well somewhat anyway, but hey sometimes it takes time. What I have been doing to pay attention to how things are unorganized is reading books and articles and asking questions. I am also taking a few mental and physical notes.

Some of the things that I have concluded are:

  • I have to be the example to my family and show them that glorifying God includes keeping the home in order and being more organized. I had given up somewhat with Mr Messy in the house. However, I have been pushing him daily to get it together by reminding him that the Word tells us that whatever you do, you are to do it to the glory of God. Talk about conviction :)
  • I am to teach Brehane now the value of clean and organized. He does pretty good with it but misses some point and that is to be expected at 4. So I am to model it for him.
  • In order to get my office organized I need my own space because my husband and I understand organization a little differently. That issue will be remedied once we get to GA in a few weeks.
  • I can’t get frustrated when they don’t do it as I want. As long as it neat and organized I need to be ok with that. I have to say that to myself about 10 times a day.
  • Your style and personality says a lot about how you organize yourself. For example my family is very simple but also a little anal (ok that can be a good thing really it can) in how we do thing so my organization efforts must reflect that. I am very tight on keeping thing in their place and I try to organize my home to reflect that and to make it easy to accomplish.
  • An unorganized mess equals an unorganized mind.

Those are a few things that I have concluded but not all. And I am still learning as I go.

With business I am learning to use tools and resources that will help me stay on task, keep up with my to-do list, keep meeting time straight, and be more functional as I work through that day.

Here are some of the things I have been doing:

  • I found that the to-do list applications online don’t work for me without writing it down on paper as well. I find that often times I open my email and ignore the ones telling me what I need to do. So I am writing it on paper and keeping it right beside me as I work. I am even reverting to using the whiteboard on my wall to help me stay on task. When it stares you in the face, you just can’t ignore it.
  • I add appointments, events, weekly tasks to my Google calendar as soon as they are confirmed. With Google you can print out the day, week, agenda, and month so that helps a lot. I am a very visual person.
  • I found a very cool way to Twitter and stay on task with Zenbe. You cna even invite your clients and friends to see your scehdule, documents, etct.
  • I am also using a very simple application called CreativePro Office for keeping up with all my clients, sending invoices, keeping time, and more. I am not using it as efficiently as I should be but I will get it all together soon.
  • I keep track of all my clients in a notebook. I jot down stuff like their names, phone, likes, dislikes, project possibilities, notes from meets we may have and more. It really helps me to keep up with them. I do the same for an JV (joint venture) projects I have.
  • I am creating charts. Charts for goals, blogging, and more. Did I tell you that I am a very visual person.
  • I narrowed down my daily work schedule for clients to about 6.5 hours per day. It really helps when accepting clients and assignments or projects. To work on the back end of business and my blogs I have set aside Sundays because my husband is either home or he takes Brehane with him to work. Sure there are days when I work longer or Sundays when the family is out but that is when you learn the value of flexbility.

A little sidenote: I am not an affiliate of any program mentioned here. I just think they are very valuable tools for getting and staying organized.

Now I am still organizing for homeschool but it should be pretty simple because AJ attends the academy now in Oklahoma and Brehane will only be 5 when we get started. Most of my time with him will be creative play and we only homeschool for a few hours per day.

So there you have it. A portion of my journey to getting back to organization. A good book to read about getting and stay organized is Organizing From The Inside Out. It is a great little read and will get your organizing wheels turning.

My husband actually brought it home and I told him that he needed it more than me. But I picked it up because you can never learn too much - well actually I think in some instances you can. I figured that if I read it my husband and I can talk about the ideas in the book and that will help us to communicate better when it come so organization because sometimes I can go on one of “Tara Rants” and that is just not a cool thing to do. To watch me fuss and clean can be hilarious but it wears this woman out.

How are you getting it all together? Do you have any tips for me?

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Back To Organization

Jul 25, 2008 Unplugged Authentcity

Before I got married, I was such an organized individual. I had days for everything I did, a running grocery list that was basically the same, a budget, a clean house, and I was timely and never forgot. Then I married an unorganized gypsy minded man and my world as I knew it turned upside down.

My husband’s family has a serious issue with being on time and it has proven more than detrimental in my household; manifesting itself in a number of undesirable ways. I in turn just sorta gave up trying to keep it all together because the Man just knew he had it al together. I stayed prayerful and knew that eventually, it would blow in his face. I just prayed for God’s protection and comfort when it did.

The last two years have really shown my man how cluttered and disorganized he has been living his life. Thank God. It took some serious storms, pissed off folks, and lost of income but he started seeing it.

Even got himself an organizing book. Had the nerve to tell me I need to read it. To which I laughed and said., “Dear, I know how to organize. I have just been figting with your lack of for the last 6 years.”

So the last few weeks have found me helping him because he is ready to listen and me also getting myself back on track.

I see that I need to go back to my lists: kitchen inventory, household cleaning, daily business tasks, and even a library so that I don’t take books back late. I am also trying to keep budget straight.  There are other things that I have to get straight but it is coming along.

For those who are married, please don’t think that your habits don’t have a direct effect on your spouse, because they do.

I am going to try and write my goals out here on Mom Unplugged and if you have tips, please share them with me. Here is what I am working on now:

  1. Off the Computer by 9:00pm
  2. In bed by 10:00pm
  3. Developing a Home Inventory List
  4. Organizing my blog posts so that all my blogs and those I am a guest blogger get attention
  5. Organizing my daily schedule and limiting my Twitter time

I am good with cleaning my house, doing my laundry and things like that because I hate a nasty stale smelling home, but the rest I let get away from me.

Do you have any tips to help me get on target?