How do I set up a home binder?

[lollie010]

I admit it. I am unorganized. A procrastinator. And I have a lot on my plate. I will be hs'ing a 1st, a K'er, and have a toddler. I work part-time and will be taking some classes. If I don't get organized we are going to have serious issues.

 

I am ok with setting up a system for the kiddos school work, but am at a loss for setting up a home management system. So I have a three ring binder with the Motivated Moms schedule printed out. I have a financial section with a list of bills, and a meals section. What else do you keep in your home binder?

 

I am open to any system that will help me have a sense of control even if I have no actual control. TIA.

[Food4Thought]

My planner has evolved over the last 6 years, so I'm sure no two people will have the same. When I first started, I wrote down a bunch of ideas of what I wanted to keep track of, and around the New Year, I reassess and take out what doesn't work and try new things.

 

Right now, I have several sections:

Daily - instead of a full schedule, I have a week-at-a-glance on one side. On the other side is my list of daily and weekly chores so I can cross them off as I go.

Monthly - the monthly calendar

Recaps - where I write down what we did, read, watched, and played during the week. It helps me see that I really am getting things done when it doesn't feel like it.

Meals - This is actually a grid with 4 different weekly meal plans that I rotate through. When I'm planning the week's meals, I look through those.

Reading - my own personal reading list

Exercise - Some exercise ideas + a grid to track my own progress

Occasions - Gift Lists, Christmas Planning, Christmas Card lists, Birthdays, etc. I look through it about once a month to double-check what events are coming up.

Brain Dump - This is borrowed from the Getting Things Done philosophy - about once a week, I'll write down every spare scrap of thought in my brain, from stuff I have to do to things I want to think about. Then I add stuff to my Weekly and Monthly calendars as need be.

 

Anyway, those are the areas I actually use right now. Hope that helps you think more about your own! I know I should have sections on doctors and emergency info and all that, but I don't. Maybe next year.

[FO4UR]

How does one KEEP UP with a home binder???

 

I've made 2 in the past 2 years....they lasted about a week each...the binder gets lost under other things or even neatly put away on my shelf and it remains forgotten until I see someone post about home binders:tongue_smilie:.

[Food4Thought]

Paula, I only started keeping up with it when I made it small enough to make sense. I use a half-size binder, (8.5x5.5 size) and I don't keep any extraneous info in there.

 

Then I made a nice cover. One that I actually like to look at. It's a collage of a bunch of different images from magazines that define what my "job" is (there's even a picture of a fox to remind me to stay sexy!). It's on my kitchen counter, leaning against the refrigerator, so I see it first thing when I get breakfast for the kids. It's usually open on my kitchen counter throughout the day, so I check it around mealtimes.

[lollie010]

Oh my!!! I think the brain dump idea just may revolutionize my life. I get so tired of having a thought and thinking it is so amazing there is no way that I could ever forget it...and then the next day I can't for the life of me remember what that wonderful revelation was. Brain dump--I love it.

 

My real problem is a lack of discipline, but I am at a point in life where I am ready to deal with it. I think I will add an excercise grid also.

 

I have used a binder in the past, but only had chore charts and financial stuff in it, so I think I can keep up with it if I just get it organized in a usable way. Thanks for the ideas.

[Peela]

I have a lovely Flylady COntrol Journal which I never open or look at :)

What seems to work at the moment is a HomeRoutines app on my ipad/ipod.

Whatever I use has to be very visible to me. Thats why I have a huge squared calendar to my right on my desk, a pin board above that where the bills get pinned until paid, a box to my left where all tax receipts go, a tray on my desk for all miscellanous paperwork that doesnt need urgent attention, and a page to a day diary to my left on my desk where I do my brain dumps, To Do lists , phone messages etc.

I have tried various computer based systems and I have found I need visual, pen and paper type systems. Except the HomeRoutines one...that works.

My systems ahve changed over the years and I love looking at new organising systems...but I find I can never jsut use someone esle's system...I have to individualise it a lot. My favourite recent read was teh 7 Habits for highly Effective People book...that gave me some great ideas...but I ended up simplifying it and going back to something basic that I will actually do.

I think the main thing is to have a space where you can keep it all organised. Even if your desk gets messy, it can at least be a place to keep all your bills and things. Stuck in front of me next to the computer screen is my Flylady Zone laminated card with the Zone of teh week on it, and 7 jobs I could do in that zone. Visual. If I have to open to a certain page in a journal, it wont happen. This way, I glance at it. As well, I am getting the email reminders again because I need them.

I used to be very disorganised. I encourage you to play with different systems until you find something that works for you.