s/o from Discouraged, now organizing to have time for the components of your life

[JumpyTheFrog]

Well, I got a head start for next year. I installed Evernote and entered 90% of the notes I kept on random papers or in various notebooks. I still have a few longer pages of stuff to enter, but I can do that tomorrow. I also got my physical inbox down to one thing. Yay!

[Mrs. A]

Even though I haven't gone beyond my huge brain dump I have noticed that I seem to be getting more things done lately. I haven't been making lists and crossing things off as they are accomplished (which I normally love to do) but I feel like I have the space in my head to remember what needs doing and so it gets done! I'm happy :)

[Soror]

Thanks ladies for mentioning The Happiness Project, I read on the website yesterday and a lot of what she said resonated with me. I also see she has a new book out, Happier at Home, I'm going to see if they have either at the library. I signed up for her 21 day relationship challenge as well. I started my listed yesterdays, things I want to do to improve our family relationships.

[Soror]

OH, and Joann, your bedroom looks great!

[Halcyon]

Thanks Lisa! Tday i began doing that. DH took the boys out for the afternoon, so I pulled out every single piece of paper in my schoolroom/office ( I also maintain dh's records for his business and run my own business) and put them all in a huge pile on hte floor of my living room. THen i went through every single one, and DEALT with each piece of paper, instead of putting it back in the pile because I "didn't know what to do with it". This is HUGE for me. I always have a 4 inch pile of papers that is just stuff that I dont know where to put, so to label files witih my handy dandy labeller and PUT the stuff inside them, that's huge. The pile is now GONE. I am thrilled.

 

My next big project is my upstairs closet. I did task #1 on the list today whcih was get storage shelves for inside the closet. So I bought them and put them next to the closet. Next task will be to empty the closet and put in the shelves. I have to list my tasks related to this project, I think.

[Pod's mum]

I think the best thing I could do right now would be to stop reading how to prevent drowing in un-done tasks....and write the essay I have due tomorrow.

Sadly for me, reading how to get organised and stop procrastinating, even buying books on the subject, does not get the tasks done.

 

So, I will bravely put off prioritising, until I have completed my top priority.

 

Ironic eh?

[AMJ]

I think the best thing I could do right now would be to stop reading how to prevent drowing in un-done tasks....and write the essay I have due tomorrow.

Sadly for me, reading how to get organised and stop procrastinating, even buying books on the subject, does not get the tasks done.

 

So, I will bravely put off prioritising, until I have completed my top priority.

 

Ironic eh?

 

 

 

Yup. I've found I can procrastinate quite a lot reading up on the subject, and all of the books, articles, web printouts, etc. I've accumulated on organization and decluttering have pervaded every room and deepened the clutter.

 

I like Flylady (www.flylady.net). I can always find the good pointers on her website and have that url memorized. No more printout clutter (I tell myself it will always be there, or will come again on her website). And her approach to getting going -- babysteps and timers. You can do anything for 15 minutes (or 5, or 3, or however long). Set the timer and do something.

 

Now I have to get off these forums and go to bed. Turns out I'm going to have to strictly assign myself a daily time limit on researching forums. Too many interesting threads.

[ILiveInFlipFlops]

Well, I've been dealing with healing from surgery and then from the entire family getting the flu since I started working on all of this, but the whole thing has really made a difference in my life so far. I managed to create a firm calendar setup, a to-do list that does exactly what I need it to do AND syncs both ways with Google tasks (so I can also enter to-dos when on my laptop, which is where a lot of things occur to me), and a period and a routine for my weekly reviews.

 

I organized and paid a huge stack of individual medical bills that were overwhelming me (a bunch of ER visits, procedures, surgery center, each individual doctor, some pre-insurance payout, some post-, some duplicates... :willy_nilly: ) and got through most of a huge box of mail and paperwork.

 

And I cleaned out my main email inbox (a huge task) and got rid of my other, pointless email address, unsubscribed from every email list that was useless to me, made individual folders for the other stuff and created filters to send the emails directly there so I can review them at my leisure, and made folders to save things like online transaction emails, online coupons I might need to use, and so on. So now my email inbox only contains things that are actually pending, which I delete when the task is completed or response is sent.

 

Now that these things are done, I am finding that I spend so little time online that I don't even know what to do with myself when I'm on! I used to grab my computer and try apply myself to the chaos that was my online life, just to run out of time and have to walk away halfway (only to come back to it looking even worse later!). Now, I sit down with my laptop, check my email (nothing pressing to do there!), scan my Facebook, look at the content I'm following here, and then...I'm actually done :blink: I get to close the laptop and go do something else! It's been happening for a few days now, and yesterday I thought, "But, what am I supposed to do instead?" It was mind-blowing, which is kind of dumb, but there you go. I actually cracked open a non-self-improvement book the other day and started reading (it's boring, but that's a whole other post :lol: ).

 

So I'm not even done setting myself up yet, and I'm seeing major benefits, just from being in control of the chaos instead of it controlling me. I'm still working my way through GTD, letting it sink in and start to make sense. When I first read through the "simple" system he advocates, I started to get overwhelmed and decided it just wasn't going to work. But after I let the concepts sink in a bit, I could start to see the wisdom in this part or that part, or how I might implement something I thought couldn't work. I think I'm going to keep making baby steps in that area. Maybe I'll take a look at Zen to Done too, since so may of you like it and say it seems simpler.

 

I'm really enjoying this conversation. I'm glad we've kept it going for so long and that so many of us are seeing success!

[Halcyon]

Last night I couldnt sleep so I spent some time internet surfing to find stuff related to GTD. Here's something that I thought might interest some of you:

 

 

Hipster PDA:http://www.43folders.com/2004/09/03/introducing-the-hipster-pda

This looks really good for people who like a paper based system, like that recommended in Zen to Done. I have a smart phone but dont really like it for lists. Anyway, I created a Hipster PDA this morning, and already have found it useful. Put down some bible quotes from this morning's sermon, some Next Actions for the day, and will be adding other stuff to it over time. Oh, and I wrote down a list of the things the church pantry needs, so I can access them easily when I go to the grocery store. Yes, I could have entered these into my smart phone, but I didnt want to. And another thing, at the end of the day you can remove your Action cards or all of them, spread them out on the table or put them in your inbox, and check off actions completed or write the next action. I am going to try this system for a month. I have always used a small moleskin in my bag, but I like this idea because I can pull out/throw away/refile the index cards much more readily than ripping paper out of a moleskin. I also put in some neon orange, green and yellow cards which I am going to put important numbers, maybe grocery list, and other stuff so that I can find them easily in my bag.

 

 

[LMD]

One part on Misty's GTD blog really stuck with me - if it takes less time to DO IT than put it on your list then just DO IT! I'm getting so many things done. I was cooking breakfast this morning and noticed the rangehood needed a clean, rather than put it on the giant mental 'to do' pile I just quickly got it done.

 

Amazing!

 

Now, I'm still working on my lists, I've started but I'm just jotting things down as they come rather than a big one-off dump. I'm finding that since I already made up a good schedule that the lists aren't as long as I was fearing. Sticking to the schedule on the other hand...

[ILiveInFlipFlops]

Hipster PDA:http://www.43folders.com/2004/09/03/introducing-the-hipster-pda

 

 

How funny, I literally JUST looked that up! I love the idea, but paper just doesn't work for me, as much as I prefer it from aesthetic standpoint. I hope it works for you!

[laughing lioness]

I bought a labeler after church today- it was 60% off! Woot! the tape, howevah, jacked the price right back up.

We are "going back in" - to the study again. I'm boxing up all fo the 4th gr and under books we can't part with and labeling them for the attic, getting rid of stuff we don't want and sorting through the rest of the books in the attic.

 

I am seriously thinking of having a "come and get it day" where I just tell folks to come and get what they want and leave a donation. The thought of selling this stuff (which includes entire books sets, a bitty baby, barbies, more books, clothes (like some velvet girls dresses from a wedding, etc) is causing me to have serious anxiety. My dilemma is that we could seriously use the cash, we live way out of town but my camera is broken for on-line pics ... what to do?

[Halcyon]

 

 

How funny, I literally JUST looked that up! I love the idea, but paper just doesn't work for me, as much as I prefer it from aesthetic standpoint. I hope it works for you!

 

 

Well, i have been using it today, and found a bunch of free templates on diytemplates, but not sure i want to get complicated. Paper REALLY works for me, and so far,so good.

[Halcyon]

I bought a labeler after church today- it was 60% off! Woot! the tape, howevah, jacked the price right back up.

We are "going back in" - to the study again. I'm boxing up all fo the 4th gr and under books we can't part with and labeling them for the attic, getting rid of stuff we don't want and sorting through the rest of the books in the attic.

 

I am seriously thinking of having a "come and get it day" where I just tell folks to come and get what they want and leave a donation. The thought of selling this stuff (which includes entire books sets, a bitty baby, barbies, more books, clothes (like some velvet girls dresses from a wedding, etc) is causing me to have serious anxiety. My dilemma is that we could seriously use the cash, we live way out of town but my camera is broken for on-line pics ... what to do?

 

 

I just brought everything to Good Will. I ask for a recipt and then get a tax deduction. I go there as much as possible lol.

[Soror]

I almost always take to Goodwill as well I cannot have stand to have stuff waiting around and I live rurally as well. I have 2 big bags right now waiting to go. I cleaned out my closet now that I'm not pregnant and the kids did the annual before Christmas toy purge- I cannot lift them though, so I'm waiting on dh!

[PrairieSong]

I bought a labeler after church today- it was 60% off! Woot! the tape, howevah, jacked the price right back up.

We are "going back in" - to the study again. I'm boxing up all fo the 4th gr and under books we can't part with and labeling them for the attic, getting rid of stuff we don't want and sorting through the rest of the books in the attic.

 

I am seriously thinking of having a "come and get it day" where I just tell folks to come and get what they want and leave a donation. The thought of selling this stuff (which includes entire books sets, a bitty baby, barbies, more books, clothes (like some velvet girls dresses from a wedding, etc) is causing me to have serious anxiety. My dilemma is that we could seriously use the cash, we live way out of town but my camera is broken for on-line pics ... what to do?

 

 

Can you borrow a camera for pics or have a garage sale at a friend's house in town? If not, I would consider donating it to a thrift store. You will feel so much better when it's gone.

[imagine.more]

Following this thread with interest and I'm working through GTD now too. So far I like it!

 

Thanks to Halcyon for posting the Hipster PDA idea! I'm a total paper person and was wondering how I could jot down lists on-the-go without dragging a big notebook everywhere.

[Halcyon]

Manda, do a google search and you'll find tons of fun ideas for the Hipster PDA. I have already found mine to be helpful! I love having paper and pen at the ready, and I have organized all my tasks into @home, @work, @volunteer, @yardwork, @errands and @phone calls. Then I go through these lists daily or weekly, depending on how much I am getting done, and write the "Next Things" I want to achieve on the front card. That way, i am forced to go through all my mind sweep stuff, and pick what I want to focus on most that week. Then I cross it off the corresponding card. I can add or remove cards as needed, and for bigger Projects, like closet organization, I put them on a separate card to work on when i have longer chunks of time.

 

I also have a library card # card as I hate having to get up and find my keys (which hold my library cards with numbers) every time I want to reserve a book online. Oh, and I have an @shopping card, so when I go out I know what to buy. I might even divide it by store.

[Moxie]

At first, I thought that this would be the worst time for me to tackle GTD again as we are moving in 4 weeks. Now I'm thinking that this might be the best time? New house, new routines, right??

 

I'm going to list my issues here in the hopes that one of you ladies can help me find a solution.

 

~Calendar. I have an iphone and it makes a ton of sense to use it as my calendar since it is always with me. But that is not how I roll, sigh. I really am a paper and pencil gal. But then I have too many calendars. I need to have one in my bag and I need to have a large wall calendar in the kitchen. But then I'm constantly cross-checking to make sure everything is on both and I'm always worried that I didn't put something on one or the other calendar. That makes it really hard to trust the system. Suggestions??

 

~I love the idea of the Hipster PDA because I'm all about paper and pen. But some of my roles (wife, mother, teacher) have items/ideas that I don't want to carry around with me (privacy concerns and not stuff I need to access on the go). Then I end up with multiple notebooks with ideas and things don't get done. How do I get all my stuff in one place? And how do you make sure the pen stays with you; mine always grow legs.

 

~Can we talk about AVA's monthly binders? I can see so many ways that those would be awesome. Does anybody else do that? I'd love to discuss some ways to make those super functional. I think I'll start a new thread on that.

[Lynnae]

I don't know anything about monthly binders or hipster PDAs, but have you tried Cozi as a calendar? I'm usually a paper and pencil person, but Cozi has really worked for our family. I just use the free version. No need to pay. They have an iphone and android app, and you can use it from your computer.

 

Since it's online, it's always synced, and you can color code each family member. It also sends reminders before appointments, which has been a huge help for me! I don't know how many times I've stood in the orthodontist's office, trying to make the next appointment and whipped out my phone to check my cozi calendar. So convenient.

[LMD]

I've been thinking about all of this and got out a bunch of folders/binders and dividers yesterday to get them organised. I think I was a big folder for myself with sections for all the things I need to plan, I'll pull this out when i do my weekly planning (teaching/meals etc). I have a smaller daily planner which I can carry around, that will be for school - still not sure how exactly I'll use it, should I write down the lessons I plan to get done? Or use it to keep track after we've done it? Or a mix of both, maybe plan in pencil, tick off in pen?

 

We have a monthly wall calender which is for birthdays/events/holidays. We have a magnetic weekly calender in the kitchen for appointments, also a magnetic 'to do list' notepad, for extra things that aren't on the schedule. I think this will help because things are compartmentalized and have their own place, if I look at a calendar/diary with everything in it it becomes a mess and my brain doesn't focus.

[Halcyon]

last night i organized my files, and realized that the reason i didnt use them often was because they werent within arms reach of my seat. So i bought something to put the files in that is small enough for my desk, and my frequently used files are there, so now i can easily put stuff in them. i also labelled everything with my brother ptouch and now it looks nice! I also organized my Desk Apprentice so I am feeling pretty good. Next I want to tackle the upstairs closet.

[joannqn]

I've been working on learning and setting up Evernote. The more I learn, the more I realize that probably no other thing is needed for GTD. You can create grocery lists with this thing, errand reminders, projects lists, everything.

 

I'm finding the website, The Secret Weapon, very helpful. It has a series of short videos that take you step by step through setting of Evernote to use with GTD. It covers everything from setting of Notebooks (think filing cabinets) to setting up tags (think file folders where one piece of information can be in multiple folders at once) to how to use it daily and weekly to know what to get done.

 

It's been so helpful that I wanted to share. Without it, I'd be hopelessly lost. One of my biggest problems is that I can't ever figure out how to set up an organizational system because I get bogged down on knowing what categories to use.

[Moxie]

How is everyone doing today? Making progress??

 

I've made some decisions and I've made a list of decisions to make :glare: .

 

~I'm going with binders instead of folders to store birthdays, school ideas, etc. I haven't decided if I'm using 12 small ones or 4 medium ones yet. Got to check prices before I decide.

 

~I need to find a paper calendar/planner for 2013 but I'm only going to use it for appointments NOT a to-do list. In the past, I've been really bad about writing things in random spots and then spending time trying to remember where I wrote it. I'm trying to keep hard lines.

 

~I'm dividing my life into my roles and I'm slowly doing a brain dump. Sure wish I had a nanny!

 

~I am coming up with a lot of stuff that will fit well on a "great ideas" list~not sure how I'll keep that one yet.

 

~Pinterest-I am going to sort things the same way I do the binders, monthly or by season, I'm not sure yet. Then I'll just include a note to check Pinterest in my binder.

 

~I'm pretty stuck trying to come up with in-boxes that I think will work for me without carrying around a calendar and a notebook. I'd love some ideas because I am stuck!

[luvnlattes]

How is everyone doing today? Making progress??

 

GTD came into the library yesterday, but it's at the library that's 30 minutes away so I haven't picked it up yet. However I did get something done yesterday.

 

On the s/o Evernote thread, Thessa talked about keeping recipes on EN. I have a stack of recipes ripped out of magazines and printed off the web that I thumb through periodically but it will take me forever to cook through them. It seems like I thumb through them, but don't have a certain ingredient, or am not in the mood for that particular type of food, etc. so they just keep sitting in the stack. After reading the s/o thread, I watched a couple of the Evernote videos that were in the link Joanne posted to get an idea of how the thing worked. I was so excited when I realized that I could get rid of that stack and store all the recipes on Evernote! Yesterday I put a bunch of them on it. I love that I could give them tags like "chicken" or "berries." Now if I want to try a new chicken recipe I don't have to thumb through a stack of 100 recipes, I can just check that tag on EN! Or if I'm at the grocery store and I remember I wanted to try Thai-Style Chicken but forgot the recipe, I can pull it up on my phone and the ingredients are right there! It made me so happy!!!

[Halcyon]

How is everyone doing today? Making progress??

 

I've made some decisions and I've made a list of decisions to make :glare: .

 

~I'm going with binders instead of folders to store birthdays, school ideas, etc. I haven't decided if I'm using 12 small ones or 4 medium ones yet. Got to check prices before I decide.

 

~I need to find a paper calendar/planner for 2013 but I'm only going to use it for appointments NOT a to-do list. In the past, I've been really bad about writing things in random spots and then spending time trying to remember where I wrote it. I'm trying to keep hard lines.

 

~I'm dividing my life into my roles and I'm slowly doing a brain dump. Sure wish I had a nanny!

 

~I am coming up with a lot of stuff that will fit well on a "great ideas" list~not sure how I'll keep that one yet.

 

~Pinterest-I am going to sort things the same way I do the binders, monthly or by season, I'm not sure yet. Then I'll just include a note to check Pinterest in my binder.

 

~I'm pretty stuck trying to come up with in-boxes that I think will work for me without carrying around a calendar and a notebook. I'd love some ideas because I am stuck!

 

 

I have been finding my hipster pda to be a great way to keep track of what needs doing, ideas that come in, notes, etc. i created a duct tape "wallet" slash pocket that I also attached and i put coupons, cards, receipts etc in there and empty it into my desk inbox at the end of each day. It's working well. Re calendar, Polestar was recommended to me and I really like it so far. It does have a to do section, and there I put my broad monthyl todo list, not my daily urgent list (keep that on my hipster pda). SO i have a physcial inbox on my desk at home, my hipster pda with different @ lists (@homeschool, @work, @pets, @medical, @computer, @yardwork).

[joannqn]

GTD came into the library yesterday, but it's at the library that's 30 minutes away so I haven't pick it up yet. However I did get something done yesterday.

 

On the s/o Evernote thread, Thessa talked about keeping recipes on EN. I have a stack of recipes ripped out of magazines and printed off the web that I thumb through periodically but it will take me forever to cook through them. It seems like I thumb through them, but don't have a certain ingredient, or am not in the mood for that particular type of food, etc. so they just keep sitting in the stack. After reading the s/o thread, I watched a couple of the Evernote videos that were in the link Joanne posted to get an idea of how the thing worked. I was so excited when I realized that I could get rid of that stack and store all the recipes on Evernote! Yesterday I put a bunch of them on it. I love that I could give them tags like "chicken" or "berries." Now if I want to try a new chicken recipe I don't have to thumb through a stack of 100 recipes, I can just check that tag on EN! Or if I'm at the grocery store and I remember I wanted to try Thai-Style Chicken but forgot the recipe, I can pull it up on my phone and the ingredients are right there! It made me so happy!!!

 

 

 

You don't even have to tag them with ingredients like that. I started putting the online recipes that I'm using this week and tagged them "dinner". You can then do a search with the ingredient you want and it pulls up all of the recipes with that in the text.

[I.Dup.]

you all are awesome. I've read the first page but will definitely be back later. What an inspiration! I am SO scatter brained it's not even funny.

[Lynnae]

This thread is so inspiring! I set up Evernote from the videos Joanne linked, and so far (yesterday & today), it's working really well for me. That combined with Motivated Moms makes my house run smoothly. Not to mention my house looks great, too! I feel like a productivity machine today!

[luvnlattes]

You don't even have to tag them with ingredients like that. I started putting the online recipes that I'm using this week and tagged them "dinner". You can then do a search with the ingredient you want and it pulls up all of the recipes with that in the text.

 

 

Really?!?!?! Love that!

 

I guess I should have watched more than two videos before I started. I was just so anxious to do something! :tongue_smilie:

[charlestonmom03]

This thread is so inspiring! I set up Evernote from the videos Joanne linked, and so far (yesterday & today), it's working really well for me. That combined with Motivated Moms makes my house run smoothly. Not to mention my house looks great, too! I feel like a productivity machine today!

 

So is there an easy way to load the Motivated Moms tasks into Evernote? (I just downloaded Evernote and watched the videos, but I am pretty much clueless beyond the info in the videos.)

[Lynnae]

 

So is there an easy way to load the Motivated Moms tasks into Evernote? (I just downloaded Evernote and watched the videos, but I am pretty much clueless beyond the info in the videos.)

If there is, I haven't found it. I just add a note called "Motivated Moms" to may !daily tag. Then I head over to the fridge where my Motivated Moms chart is hanging and work my way through it.

 

I'm all ears if there's a better way, though.

[Sahamamama]

The key to this for me is accountability! I was so confused as to how I went from being an organized, OCD, straight-A student to an employee with exemplary performance assessments to a frazzled, mentally disorganized nitwit. :lol: :blink: :w00t: It's embarrassing, but I think it was accountability (well, and low thyroid but I lost that excuse when I started meds :tongue_smilie:...also each kid stole part of my brain...) ;) Heaven help me, I like accolades. You have to tell people you are making changes and have them be interested in hearing about those changes. DH is good for this, but he's gone a lot and I've been guilty of letting things slide too much from the doldrums and exhaustion that his absence creates. I have a couple of great friends who challenge me. Honestly though, as my kids have gotten older, I find that making them (especially my oldest) aware of my grand plans is the greatest form of accountability ever. They want to do these fun things I have planned.

 

 

Wow, are we the same person? OCD, straight-A, employee, nitwit. Same trajectory, including low thyroid (when I had one). Also, each kid stole major swaths of my brain, exponentially with the twins.

 

Does telling people really help? My husband is nearly always traveling for work. Doldrums.... ? I'm not admitting to anything. Exhaustion? Okay, I'll admit to that. It's so good to know it's not just me.

 

Is my almost eight year old going to be my accountability partner? She would love that. I can just imagine the Mother Guilt, though. :tongue_smilie:She's a real stickler-for-the-ways-things-ought-to-be kind of person -- typical rules-based, bossy firstborn, LOL. I can just see her, standing with hands on hips, tapping her foot, saying, "Come on, Mommy, get off that stupid WTM board and teach us some MATH already!" (Yeah, that's going to happen).

 

She would, however, hold me accountable for crafts, if I was foolish enough to promise them. Which I'm not. :leaving:

[Sahamamama]

I have mixed feeling about a cluttered outside representing a cluttered inside. Because, honestly? My cluttered outside was a product of three babies in a little more than three years, lack of sleep, lack of self-care, low thyroid, a DH who is gone often and for (very) long periods... Just as you can form habits of good organization, you can fall into habits of disorganization--for any number of perfectly valid reasons that don't mean you are an inherently discombobulated person.

 

:iagree: Yes, three babies in less than two years, lack of sleep, lack of exercise, low thyroid, a husband who is gone often and for (very) long periods, and lack of space (800 sq. ft. house). We are the same person. Amazing. :D

[PrairieSong]

I have read much of this thread, not all of it, and I'm interested. I checked out Switched from the library and have read a few chapters. I need to get Getting Things Done.

 

Here's my question, and it may be more appropriate as a spin-off thread: why do so many moms today (me included) read organizing books, join Flylady or other email lists, and on and on, when women in the past just DID their housework and whatever else they needed to do? What is the difference? Is it just that there is more to keep track of?

 

My mil just passed away in October at age 78. She grew up on a farm and then was a farm wife and raised five kids. She gardened, raised chickens, helped during harvest, etc., cooked, cleaned, was active in her church and community. I don't recall her ever having a planner. She had an address book and a calendar. That was it AFAIK.

 

Do we make things more complicated than we need to? Or do we need more organizational tools, and if so, why? My MIL had a busy life but she kept everything going. Her house wasn't spotless but it was usually fairly neat and clean. I'm not asking this to point fingers at anyone, because I include myself as one who reads the organizing books, etc. I'm just mulling this over and wondering what others think.

[Lynnae]

...

 

Here's my question, and it may be more appropriate as a spin-off thread: why do so many moms today (me included) read organizing books, join Flylady or other email lists, and on and on, when women in the past just DID their housework and whatever else they needed to do? What is the difference? Is it just that there is more to keep track of?

...

I think there may be a few reasons.

 

For me personally, I'm somewhat ADD and have a hard time organizing my brain. If I can get to the place where I just have to do the next thing, I'm happy and less stressed.

 

I think we are out of the house more than our grandparents. It's a lot easier to accomplish things, I think, when you're on a roll at home. But these days we go to soccer practice, music lessons, AWANA, youth group, etc. I know it's hard for me to get a lot accomplished when I'm constantly having to drop what I'm doing to go somewhere.

 

I also think that we're entering an era where kids aren't really taught how to work. My mom grew up doing a lot around the house, so by the time she got married, she already had a housework rhythm going. I think I did less around the house than she did, and I had to reinvent the wheel, so to speak. And young people (in general at least) today are so busy, they don't do much around the house, so they have to learn to do everything as adults.

 

And then there's electronics. How often are we distracted by TV, the computer, our cell phones, etc. I know I'm dealing with less time in the day than my grandmother, because she wasn't distracted by these forums or Facebook. :)

[stansclan89]

I think there may be a few reasons.

 

For me personally, I'm somewhat ADD and have a hard time organizing my brain. If I can get to the place where I just have to do the next thing, I'm happy and less stressed.

 

I think we are out of the house more than our grandparents. It's a lot easier to accomplish things, I think, when you're on a roll at home. But these days we go to soccer practice, music lessons, AWANA, youth group, etc. I know it's hard for me to get a lot accomplished when I'm constantly having to drop what I'm doing to go somewhere.

 

I also think that we're entering an era where kids aren't really taught how to work. My mom grew up doing a lot around the house, so by the time she got married, she already had a housework rhythm going. I think I did less around the house than she did, and I had to reinvent the wheel, so to speak. And young people (in general at least) today are so busy, they don't do much around the house, so they have to learn to do everything as adults.

 

And then there's electronics. How often are we distracted by TV, the computer, our cell phones, etc. I know I'm dealing with less time in the day than my grandmother, because she wasn't distracted by these forums or Facebook. :)

 

On top of all this, we are homeschooling and have bigger houses to clean a lot of the time.

[Deb in NZ]

 

On top of all this, we are homeschooling and have bigger houses to clean a lot of the time.

 

:iagree: And we have a lot more possessions, creating clutter that makes cleaning a lot harder. I know, personally, I spend far more time searching for the right way / system/ etc. to make my life flow smoother. If I just put half that time into "doing" rather that "looking for the easy answer" most of my challenges would be solved. I'm going to focus on three things in 2013:

 

#1---Less is More (Declutter my possessions, Declutter my obligations, Declutter my stresses, Declutter my body :tongue_smilie: )

 

#2---Focus each month on one major habit, to help simplify my life.

#3---Practice forgiveness. Part of decluttering my stresses requires me to forgive people in my past as a gift to me & my future. This will be my greatest challenge, but most likely the most important.

 

Reading the above list, maybe I should re-read Sink Reflections :laugh:

[LNC]

I have a couple questions.

 

1. What notebooks did everyone set up in Evernote?

 

I have used it for a while but I am inspired by this thread to use it more effectively. I don't need to carry my bulky homeschool paper notebook up and down the stairs. We have some school in bedrooms and some in downstairs homeschool room.

 

My notebooks:

Homeschool

To-do

Family reference (meds, pt exercises with photo, wish lists, packing lists etc.)

Garden

Book lists

Kitchen

Husband's name (I can email him lists & to-dos, bc he can't access Evernote at work. But wants to use it at home in evenings and weekends)

 

Other ideas or categories?

 

2. I also installed Google Drive and have all of our docs on it. Does anyone else have that? I had to move the documents by sliding them into the Google Drive , now they aren't accessible in my documents. I thought they would be in both, but maybe I'm doing it wrong?

 

3. I cut and pasted some documents from Google Drive to Evernote. When I was in Starbucks, I couldn't access the Evernote note without logging into to the internet. Is that bc I cut/pasted from Google Drive? Is there a way to fix that? I would like to be able to access the Evernote notes in the car or somewhere I don't have wireless access.

 

Thanks for any help!

[ILiveInFlipFlops]

On top of all this, we are homeschooling and have bigger houses to clean a lot of the time.

 

 

And a lot more stuff to maintain than families have ever had, historically.

 

Plus, I think most of us tend to compare ourselves to women we admired when they were already past the "young children" stage of their lives. We're thinking back to our grandmothers and our MILs, but we didn't know those women when they were actually our age. I'd like to think that by the time my kids are out of the house, I'll finally be able to successfully implement all the skills I'm acquiring now!

 

ETA: I forgot to say that I think we're much more kid-centric than our foremothers ever were too. My kids are always with me. We do more out-of-the-house activities than I ever did as a child, and certainly more than my parents ever did. And my mom friends and I are always talking about how we left the house in the morning and didn't come home until almost dinner time. We had a lot more freedom to just roam and play and be outside, whereas my kids don't really care to do that unless I'm with them! Maybe it's because they're younger, but between HSing and spending non-school time with the kids, my ability to get other stuff done is pretty limited. I'm trying to get them to be a bit more independent, but they really want my attention a lot. I'm trying to keep seeing that as a good thing! :lol:

[laughing lioness]

How is everyone doing today? Making progress??

 

~I'm going with binders instead of folders to store birthdays, school ideas, etc. I haven't decided if I'm using 12 small ones or 4 medium ones yet. Got to check prices before I decide.

 

~I need to find a paper calendar/planner for 2013 but I'm only going to use it for appointments NOT a to-do list. In the past, I've been really bad about writing things in random spots and then spending time trying to remember where I wrote it. I'm trying to keep hard lines.

 

~I'm dividing my life into my roles and I'm slowly doing a brain dump. Sure wish I had a nanny!

 

~I am coming up with a lot of stuff that will fit well on a "great ideas" list~not sure how I'll keep that one yet.

 

~I'm pretty stuck trying to come up with in-boxes that I think will work for me without carrying around a calendar and a notebook. I'd love some ideas because I am stuck!

 

Wow!! You are going to town! I finished sorting the files and threw out 3 trashcans worth of papers. I'm going to continue sorting books from the attic. I'm going to continue working with dh on a huge project.

I've been trying to get on top of Google calendar, but I want to get over to Evernote this week. Our computer can be soooo slow. It's aggravating!

 

 

Here's my question, and it may be more appropriate as a spin-off thread: why do so many moms today (me included) read organizing books, join Flylady or other email lists, and on and on, when women in the past just DID their housework and whatever else they needed to do? What is the difference? Is it just that there is more to keep track of?.

 

I had this big ole' reply and the boards went down right as I was posting. Here's my thougths on this. My paternal grandmother was a farm wife-her house was spotless, she could cook like Martha, everything was ship shape, in the country, on a hog/ crop farm. My maternal grandmother (who is still living in her own home at 96) worked f.t., saved a ton of money, knitted us all sweaters, hats, scarves, took us shopping, encouraged adn paid for a lot of our experiences/lessons, etc. Her house was lived in but not spotless. As she's gotten older, it has gotten trashed. It's a wreck. She still knits, reads, keeps up with politics, etc.

I rarely dust. I just don't care. And I'm not adding it to my list of things to do. I'd rather read, research, work out. I dust when I see it needs it. I've often hit a wall with organizational systems because I feel like I have to list what I have to do- not what I want/am called to/feel compelled to get done. So the management system becomes a goat rope that I hang myself with. I either do it and hate it or don't do it and feel guilty. I don't want to waste MY time on stuff that's not important to ME- kwim.

I know HST works GREAT for lots of folks. For me it seems complicated, is going to take time to figure out and something I have to manage all year long. OR I can print a check list fromDonnaYoung each week, fill it in, refresh my mind (like a GTD project file I review each week). It works so much better for my random global mind, rather than a sequential, detailed list I'm overwhelmed by.

 

All that to say- having 2 vastly different grandma's I think options for our roles have expanded and we have a LOT more choices. My paternal grandma was very traditional and lived her tradition with excellence (we still talk about her cooking 30+ after she died). My maternal grandma chose a very non-traditional life, for her time, and was an excellent employee, invested wisely, read voraciously, but gave up on the housewifey thang. It's a matter of priorities.

[Murphy101]

I don't think my physical clutter represents mental clutter. Rather it represents three other things--a LOT of interests, mostly involving books or handiwork, both of which take up space, an absolute hatred of organizing as a process, although I like the results, and the conviction, built up and verfied over years of experimentation, that the first thing that happens after I straighten an area up is that my DH regards it as a blank space to fill with his carp.

 

 

I don't think cluttered space means cluttered mind either. Especially as it often only seems cluttered to others. I do however get ticked if I work my butt off and someone just trashes it. I hear many wives complain about it, but I seriously have never tolerated it. If dh (or anyone else) puts his carp where it doesn't go then he forfeits the right to gripe when I put it wherever else - which might include the trash. (tho truely my goal is usually not to be witchy about it unless I start to feel like he is purposely being passive aggressive or something.)

 

I am already very organized, but something I have found is that over organizing is killing me. Everything is getting done except the stuff I really want to get done bc there is just no time left to play the last year or so.

 

So I'm going to work on getting everything ordered even better so it doesn't take so much time. For example, flat surfaces are evil. I know, I really love my kitchen hutch and the little shelf next to my recliner and my large bathroom countertop... But flat surfaces attract piles of carp like one those huge cartoon magnets. So I need to either get rid of these flat surfaces or figure out a way to organize or keep stuff off of them without brow beating 11 other people. There's a million things like this adding unnecessarily to every single day here and it's ridiculously bogging me down.

[Murphy101]

I'm letting go of my younger kids rooms. About once a month I mandate an excavation, but otherwise, I'm letting it go.

 

I'm going through the house, room by room, and painting, organizing, and tossing anything I really don't need to keep up on.

 

The garage is also being cleaned out so we have somewhere quiet to do bigger projects without little people underfoot.

[Lynnae]

I have a couple questions.

 

1. What notebooks did everyone set up in Evernote?

 

I have used it for a while but I am inspired by this thread to use it more effectively. I don't need to carry my bulky homeschool paper notebook up and down the stairs. We have some school in bedrooms and some in downstairs homeschool room.

 

My notebooks:

Homeschool

To-do

Family reference (meds, pt exercises with photo, wish lists, packing lists etc.)

Garden

Book lists

Kitchen

Husband's name (I can email him lists & to-dos, bc he can't access Evernote at work. But wants to use it at home in evenings and weekends)

 

Other ideas or categories?

 

2. I also installed Google Drive and have all of our docs on it. Does anyone else have that? I had to move the documents by sliding them into the Google Drive , now they aren't accessible in my documents. I thought they would be in both, but maybe I'm doing it wrong?

 

3. I cut and pasted some documents from Google Drive to Evernote. When I was in Starbucks, I couldn't access the Evernote note without logging into to the internet. Is that bc I cut/pasted from Google Drive? Is there a way to fix that? I would like to be able to access the Evernote notes in the car or somewhere I don't have wireless access.

 

Thanks for any help!

 

1. I set up all the GTD notebooks from the videos linked earlier. Now I'm working on other notebooks. I have a stack of notebooks called "Brain Dump." My notebooks in that stack are: Blogging, Church, Family, Friends, House, Kids, Lynnae, Marriage. So far I don't have much in any of my notebooks, as I haven't done my brain dump yet.

 

2. I'm interested in Google Drive, too. My daughter's charter school uses it a lot, but I still am not sure how it works.

 

3. I have no idea. Did you sync your local Evernote to your online Evernote at home before you shut down your internet access? If that's not it, I don't know.

 

Did I mention I am loving this thread?

[thessa516]

We use Google Drive, also. My DH tells me that your documents should be in both places, so I'm not sure how to answer that question. Sorry. :(

 

If you want to access your Evernote offline, you need to make sure you have the desktop version downloaded on your home computer and let your phone sync to it before you go offline. Your notes should all be accessible offline after the sync.

 

This thread is really great! I'm loving it, too!

[LNC]

It looks like when you "slide" a doc to Google Drive it is still on your hard drive. It just isn't in the documents folder anymore. Is that wrong?

 

http://support.google.com/drive/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=2424384

[I.Dup.]

GTD Workflow Chart

 

And here's a post I wrote about using the workflow at home: Applying GTD at Home

 

So, every year I always make task-oriented new year's resolutions. I think this year I'm going to focus on organization/discipline habits in monthly bites and make it a project ala Happiness Project(which was a great book).

 

But first, more coffee.

 

Coming back to this thread and trying to flesh through everything I need to do.

 

Just wanted to thank you for doing this blog series! I am reading through it and it is SO helpful!!

[Pod's mum]

Thanks for this thread.

I've not read it all yet, but have checked out and ordered I think the abbreviated GTD and another book.

I've started to 'list', including future binder sections. I've printed out and read some of the de-clutter and organisation stuff linked to here.

I'll 2nd this: Thanks to Halcyon for posting the Hipster PDA idea!

We actually made some pretty ones to include with some other homemade family gifts.

 

And the biggy...

I've decided that I'll try to get rid of one box of stuff (trash/donate/sell/return) every day between Christmas and Easter.

Sort of an early start to Lent.

I'll not be too hard on myself if I miss a day or am not home.

But sadly, I think this will be very acheivable.

If so I'll be much happier here.

Happy Christmas.

Off to do rather than plan.

[Lynnae]

Thanks for this thread.

I've not read it all yet, but have checked out and ordered I think the abbreviated GTD and another book.

I've started to 'list', including future binder sections. I've printed out and read some of the de-clutter and organisation stuff linked to here.

I'll 2nd this: Thanks to Halcyon for posting the Hipster PDA idea!

We actually made some pretty ones to include with some other homemade family gifts.

 

And the biggy...

I've decided that I'll try to get rid of one box of stuff (trash/donate/sell/return) every day between Christmas and Easter.

Sort of an early start to Lent.

I'll not be too hard on myself if I miss a day or am not home.

But sadly, I think this will be very acheivable.

If so I'll be much happier here.

Happy Christmas.

Off to do rather than plan.

Which other book? Because inquiring minds (and avid readers) want to know!

 

And great job on the getting rid of stuff idea! I'm going to think about that one. I don't think I have THAT much stuff to get rid of, but I certainly have enough to warrant some serious decluttering.

[Pod's mum]

The other one, also from here, is

Sidetracked Home Executives

By Pam Young

Which gets good reviews for certain should-be-labled types.

 

By the way, I didn't say how big the boxes might be.

However it also needs to include a non-working car and a working very big bus. (Both empty thankfully).