#laundry. groceries. rearranged my entire room. got my oil changed so shes good as new

[clowningaroundmars]

i got SO much done over the weekend you guys PHEW!!!

[imnoexpertblog]

Get Your Shit Together. Please.

6/26/18

I would like to lead this blog with a joke my coworker texted me coincidentally while I was writing this blog. It will all make sense in a moment.

What did the clean whale say to the messy whale? … Time to get orcanised. LOL.

Now that I got that out of my system (pause for more laughter), I have been requested to talk about organization and since I am doing nothing but organizing and packing lately, I think this is a great time to discuss it! I am a busy woman as you may have gathered, and I also take care of my Big Bear and my Little Bear. I have to practice effective time-management and organization or everything kind of just… Falls apart. So here are some things I recommend and do myself.

The first thing I think of when I reflect on what keeps me organized is the fact that I make lists. I make lists for EVERYTHING. What I have to do for the day/week, upcoming bills, grocery lists, lists of things I need to discuss with Baby when I see him, what we will be eating that week, etc. This cuts down on spending money on going out to eat because when we have a weekly list of our meals, we don’t forget to thaw things and we don’t have the opportunity to be indecisive. We also use the food we have before it goes bad by doing things this way. I also feel that physically writing things down helps me retain them better. And how satisfying is it to legitimately cross something off?

Much like my lists, I keep a calendar that I write events on so nothing is skipped/forgotten. It also helps up from double-booking ourselves. I have a lot going on, all the time. I usually model once a week at the minimum, pick up/drop off Nugget at daycare every now and then, have hair appointments, maybe breakfast with a coworker after our shift, Nugget’s soccer or swimming lessons, oil changes, orthodontist appointments, I may have to work a random weekend and have a few weekdays off instead, a family dinner, birthdays, holidays, etc. We are busy people and we’ve been even busier on top of all this with buying a house. I have had to attend open houses, meet with my realtor and mortgage lender, go to the bank, attend the inspection, etc. If I didn’t write these things down and mark them on a calendar, I would miss things left and right. I pride myself on being punctual and reliable. I also mark my paydays, which days bills are due, etc. for good financial organization. I’ve made a budget for Baby and I so we can see exactly how our debt to income ratio stands every month. Knowing how much you will be spending on bills and mortgage alone every month really puts things into perspective and helps you save the leftover money.

It may seem unnecessary, but I recommend investing in a filing cabinet. As an adult, you will acquire some rather important paperwork you need to hang onto. Tax info, vehicle titles, medical info, etc. It’s best to keep these things safely put away and readily accessible if needed. Nothing it worse than rifling through a stack of paper and forms in a hurry, or even worse; losing these important items. Things like your birth certificate, passport, social security card can go in there as well.

As for general organization in your home, I suggest as you buy new things you should make an effort to get rid of the old. I have made it a habit to donate an old piece of clothing for almost every new one I buy. Sometimes it’s hard to be honest with yourself when it comes to wearing everything you own. If I haven’t worn something the entire season it’s meant for, it’s time to give it up. I don’t only do this with clothes, but with décor, as well. When I notice I have multiples of something, I take it upon myself to pick my favorite one/ few to keep and I purge the rest. I don’t need 8 vases, so I choose the 2 I like the most and donate the others.

Sounds simpler than it is sometimes. It can be hard to get motivated to de-clutter your space. Having an event that requires a cleaning or organizing session can help. This can be a party of some kind, a move (like me right now), if you’re expecting someone to be staying with you for a period of time, or having a sale of some sort. Use one of these to get started, if possible. Even just rearranging a room can spark some de-cluttering.

Another tip I try to remind people of is that everything has a place. I know people who instead of cleaning up a mess, they just organize the mess where it is. Sharing a room with my sister was torture back in the day. I would ask her to clean off her dresser. Instead of putting the scissors back in the junk-drawer and putting the hair ties back in the bathroom drawer, she would simply just straighten all these random items on the dresser. I would have to say, “Go put the DVDs in their cases and then put them on the shelf instead of just stacking them all neatly on your bedside table.”  It drove me crazy because all of these things really do have a place! Find it, and put it there. If you really have a hard time finding a place for something, assess if this thing or item really serves any purpose. If not, maybe it’s time to part ways with it.

Having designated days for certain chores has helped me remain on top of housekeeping. For example: Mondays are for laundry, so every Monday I round-up the towels, wash cloths, sheets, and clothes around the house and get down to business. Doing this every week keeps laundry to a minimum and there’s never any reason to scramble at the last-minute for a specific piece of clothing. Another example: Tuesdays for bathroom cleaning. Bathrooms can get dirty quickly so dedicating a day each week to tidying them up makes for easy and fast clean-up. Nothing gets too messy if you are consistently making sure it’s kept up!

I have learned how much I value something is completely based on the fact of whether I would pack it up and move it to a new house or not. Moving 3 times in 4 months last year really gave me a new perspective on things. What matters, what doesn’t, what I need, what I don’t. I get rid of so much every time I move! I rarely regret donating or throwing these things away because I’ve become very realistic in what I will use in the future. If I don’t care enough to even put it in a box and then take it out of the box somewhere else, that definitely shows me I don’t want it very much.

These are the general rules I follow to stay organized! Keeping lists of everything, updating calendars, filing important paperwork, out with the old and in with the new, keeping your material things simple and minimal, less really is more, putting everything in its place, and having a chore schedule for each week. There are many other things you can practice in order to stay on top of things; in big ways and small. You can do things such as labeling, keeping your room clean to promote relaxation, keeping your purse clean for on-the-go organization, clearing your email on a regular basis, downloading organization-based apps, or even setting reminders on your phone. What are your tricks to stay organized? Do you think any of this is helpful? I’m no expert but, personally, I find these tips successful in making my life run a bit more smoothly. Comments are always welcome and I always reply! Talk to you soon!