I.Dup. Posted May 31, 2012 Share Posted May 31, 2012 I have lots of young children and am trying to become more organized. Between working from home, all the meals, diapers, staying on top of house cleaning, planning for school, and on and on, this is the first time in my life I have felt truly helpless to the amount of chaos around me (I grew up an only child). I am NEEDING to get more organized and create more of a plan to our days, esp. regarding house chores and homeschooling, as my kids are getting older and can't just be left to occupy themselves as easily anymore. I am realizing just how wildly ADD I am. I guess I have chalked it up to just being a woman and being able to multi-task, but I don't know how I will ever get to the level of organization I want to when as soon as I go to do something, it's like "SQUIRREL!!!"...this goes on all day long whenever I try to do anything at all. I love being online, I truly feel at home online (does that sound pathetic?) and I think I am realizing it is because being online is perfect for my ADD tendencies. I can jump from page to page as quickly as I want to, while still feeling like I am "completing" something (usually regarding reading something). When I get offline, I am just a disjointed mess and can't seem to complete what I want to, esp. big tasks like creating organizational systems in the home or planning the schoolwork like I want to. My mom is even worse ADD than I am, hers is very severe. I guess since I grew up with that, I just figured it was normal. Maybe this is just how we as women are? Surely not because I know other women who are able to complete big projects in their home and stay really streamlined and organized. I know I'm not just lazy. Any advice? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommymilkies Posted May 31, 2012 Share Posted May 31, 2012 :lurk5: Just to let you know you're not alone! This is where I enter inappropriately placed dialogue about squirrel varieties. Did you see a gray, white, or brown squirrel? White ones are nasty mean buggers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sasharowan Posted May 31, 2012 Share Posted May 31, 2012 I have found that the more complicated I try to make an organizational system, the worse I do at keeping to it. So, I streamlined. I gave each of my older 3 a laundry day, helped them do laundry on their day, now, everyone over 10 can do their own laundry. I assigned sections to the house and each kid a section. Originally we rotated weekly, but now it is monthly. They do pickup, sweep/mop or vacuum in their section, wipe downs, whatever needs doing. About twice a month, we all do a thorough cleaning together. Kids are responsible for their rooms. We go in 2-3 times a year and weed through the accumulated stuff and help stuff find a place if it doesn't have one. For school, I sit down on Sun using Home School Tracker and make up a weekly list for each kid. They follow their list, and can do subjects in the order they wish. This also allows them to move to something they can do independently if I am in the middle of something when they get done or hit a block. I am still trying to find an organization technique that works for us as far as meals go. This has been about 10 year journey just getting to this place or organization and this is with kids that prefer routine and schedules and knowing what comes next. I have no idea where I would be if not for that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommymilkies Posted May 31, 2012 Share Posted May 31, 2012 As far as cleaning goes, we do a nightly pickup before snack and bed. ~15 minutes and I blare loud music that we like. When the music is over, we can quit cleaning provided nobody dawdled. We can get the whole house clean in that time period and I usually have time to clean a sink, do some dishes, and clean the litter box. Rushing is the only way I'll get it done. I love organization. I worship Martha Stewart. But my system is so backwards from an outside view. It works for me. In the other organization thread, I detailed my Thirty One bag that has some files in it and pockets for all of the stuff I always search for. I also went to Sonlight and I am trying to cut back on some of the programs we use. My oldest is to the age where she can do more independently, too, so that will be helpful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
I.Dup. Posted May 31, 2012 Author Share Posted May 31, 2012 I have found that the more complicated I try to make an organizational system, the worse I do at keeping to it. So, I streamlined. I gave each of my older 3 a laundry day, helped them do laundry on their day, now, everyone over 10 can do their own laundry. I assigned sections to the house and each kid a section. Originally we rotated weekly, but now it is monthly. They do pickup, sweep/mop or vacuum in their section, wipe downs, whatever needs doing. About twice a month, we all do a thorough cleaning together. Kids are responsible for their rooms. We go in 2-3 times a year and weed through the accumulated stuff and help stuff find a place if it doesn't have one. For school, I sit down on Sun using Home School Tracker and make up a weekly list for each kid. They follow their list, and can do subjects in the order they wish. This also allows them to move to something they can do independently if I am in the middle of something when they get done or hit a block. I am still trying to find an organization technique that works for us as far as meals go. This has been about 10 year journey just getting to this place or organization and this is with kids that prefer routine and schedules and knowing what comes next. I have no idea where I would be if not for that. That's a good idea to keep things simple. It's hard because I know I need a detailed plan, esp. with schooling, but I get too sidetracked if the plan is too complicated! As far as cleaning goes, we do a nightly pickup before snack and bed. ~15 minutes and I blare loud music that we like. When the music is over, we can quit cleaning provided nobody dawdled. We can get the whole house clean in that time period and I usually have time to clean a sink, do some dishes, and clean the litter box. Rushing is the only way I'll get it done. I love organization. I worship Martha Stewart. But my system is so backwards from an outside view. It works for me. In the other organization thread, I detailed my Thirty One bag that has some files in it and pockets for all of the stuff I always search for. I also went to Sonlight and I am trying to cut back on some of the programs we use. My oldest is to the age where she can do more independently, too, so that will be helpful. This is a really good idea. I have to rush with things too. Well, I don't HAVE to, but that is the way I get any cleaning or anything productive done. OTOH, I have been attempting to plan next year's school year for a good 3-4 days straight and still haven't gotten any real planning done. I am so overwhelmed...I know I need to plan every, little detail or it just won't get done, but I can't seem to focus enough to plan! Can you tell me more about your organizational "backwards" system? :lurk5: Just to let you know you're not alone! This is where I enter inappropriately placed dialogue about squirrel varieties. Did you see a gray, white, or brown squirrel? White ones are nasty mean buggers. :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mandymom Posted May 31, 2012 Share Posted May 31, 2012 I am a bit like that as well. I have found that if I have an online-based organizational system, I actually get more things done. I plan my meals online (www.plantoeat.com) and I use Google Calendars to schedule most everything else. I also use those on my phone as well so that I always have everything handy. It helps a lot, because systems outside the online world don't always happen for me. There's a lot of "squirrel" going on here too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tntgoodwin Posted May 31, 2012 Share Posted May 31, 2012 Tabbed browsing and high-speed internet have certainly not helped me haha. You could try this: http://www.cozi.com/ I use an app on my phone that I can put stuff into and it shows up on my Google Calendar. When I am online I make sure to have my Google Calendar up to remind me of tasks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LittleIzumi Posted May 31, 2012 Share Posted May 31, 2012 Me!!!! Actually what's helped me the most is meditation and energy work to caaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaalm myself down, so I can stand quiet and a lower level of mental input. Then I turn the computer off. Completely. And when I don't have the computer to turn to, I end up wandering around looking for things to do, and I end up cleaning and reading to the kids and reading myself and going for walks, etc. Massive organization doesn't work yet, but I can sometimes follow a system of what rooms to work on which days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommymilkies Posted May 31, 2012 Share Posted May 31, 2012 There isn't anything good about my backwards system. :lol: It's just one that only I can understand! I have a medium notebook that I write everything in-book notes, to do lists, plans, stray thoughts, etc. That way it's all in ONE place. Then I have a master schedule that I'm constantly redoing. And the Desk Apprentice and 31 bag are so handy to keep everything in one place. It would help more if I didn't constantly move them around, but I'm a chronic reorganizer, so I find it impossible to keep them in one place! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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