0 Organized Mess

The past seven months have been the most blessed of my life.  They have also been the craziest whirlwind!  Amidst the craziness I have found a piece of me, and a love has grown greater than I will ever know.  I have also lost a piece of myself...organization.

I am sure it is normal for a new mom to get a little out of sorts, but it just doesn't feel normal for me.  I have always been a very organized, and driven individual.  You know that person who flawlessly keeps it all in check; the house, the job, school, is the perfect wife, friend, daughter, sister.  I lived off a to do list and gauged my successes by how many items I checked off each week.  These days I judge success by the number of smiles and giggles I get from my gorgeous baby boy or the minutes a day I get to spend with my family.

My new way of life is amazingly beautiful...but it could be better.  Many of the days I spend with my baby are overshadowed by a looming sense of stress about my house, the bills, grocery shopping, and an ever growing to-do list.  As soon as I get him to sleep at night I melt down.  The amount of tasks I have left at the end of the day far outweigh those I complete, and this leaves me feeling like a complete failure.  I have been telling myself for weeks that it is just a period of adjustment and that it will get easier; and while I know this is true, I have really not done much of anything to help alleviate the problem.

This week I reached a breaking point.  I'm not sure what the last straw was but I realized that I must get organized.  After some quick research I decided to make a home organization binder.  Nothing too crazy but a place I can keep it all straight.  I want to run a more organized home but more than that I want to shift my focus from what I don't get finished in a day to the things I am able to accomplish; no matter how big or small.

So this little book is my new partner in crime...

Sometimes the tasks are a bit overwhelming for me.  I used to be able to devote an entire day to getting things straightened out if it got out of control.  Today I need to take it one day at a time and too many things on my plate can get me overwhelmed and shutting down quickly.  Breaking it all down is the key to staying on top of it all.

There are lots of sites dedicated to these types of binders.  The important thing is to customize it to your life.  Some of the binders I found looked like these women would spend more time working on the binder itself than the things written in the binder.  For me it is about a quick goal setting, focusing session for each day.  If I know the plan for the day I can enjoy every second with Jack and then when he is napping or in bed I can flip right into business mode rather than think of the overwhelming amount of things I need to do.

So finally, here is what I put in my binder

Schedule: A monthly schedule with each family member's goings ons, My "daily docket" a breakdown of my goals for the day.

Cleaning: A daily, weekly, and monthly breakdown of what needs to get done around here using a page protector to make it a dry erase checklist.  Also a list for each season of things I need to do seasonally.

Planning: A special section with a master to do list and any special planning I am working on.  Right now it has a special section for holiday planning and one for birthday party planning. 

Menu/Shopping List:  This section has my weekly meal plan and a running list of supplies I need from the store.  Most of these sites suggest you plan meals by the month but I just don't have the pantry or fridge space for that kind of shopping. 

Contacts:  A quick reference to get numbers I will need to get things accomplished.  The doctors office, friends, relatives, etc.

I made this binder out of free printables from the following sites:
http://organizedhome.com/printable/household-notebook
http://simplemom.net/tools/downloads/
http://weloveourbeautifullife.blogspot.com/2011/11/holiday-planner-freebie.html

Today was my first day using the binder and I really feel like it helped me stay focused on the important tasks for the day and use my time wisely.  I do think I need a lesson in less is more.  I was a little surprised and somewhat disappointed that I was not able to finish everything on my list for the day but when I look back I realize there was a ton on the list for just one day.  Nevertheless, hopefully I am on my way to feeling a bit more sane and a lot more organized. 

I'm not looking for that flawless, perfect life...just an organized mess with a blissfully happy family!!