Organize for Your Month!

I'm honestly the worst person to talk about organization. I am often late, I often take on too much, I am that person that could forget a child...

So, why am I offering any advice on organizing?

For the exact reasons stated above...plus the fact that I have survived children (almost, I still have a teenager at home... all the more reason to organize) and jobs and charity work, active groups, and... I'm fairly unscathed. Though I have to admit, there are times when I have had too much and I literally go into hiding...

So,what to do when you have kids going separate directions, you work, your spouse works, and the dog needs to go to the vet and you don't know what day it is?

My suggestion is to hire an assistant, but that isn't feasible... so, try to schedule your kids school, after-school activities, and your carpool duties, gym, shopping(because admit it, we all have to go to the grocery) and any volunteer work. Sometimes it helps to just see all you have to do. I mean, in black and white, it looks grueling.

I've written about managing time before, it is hard to do, but we have to squeeze everything we must as well as want to do in 24 hours a day.

That's it...

We can try to squeeze 20 activities into it, but they just don't fit... unless you are a politician, and it just doesn't help even then. 

So, here are a few pages that seem to help me get organized, and a couple of links to other pages that will help get you organized. If none of this works, then...maybe you should think about getting an assistant!

 Click on this link: "Organizer Pages" for the printable organizer pages to use for your projects from this series. 

This is our "known" list for the Monthly Calendar, it is subject to 20 more entries at least!

Monthly Calendar:

I start by filling in those "Known" time slots. My son has private lessons each Wednesday, payments are due each month on the first Wednesday.

Work, for me, is the same time each week, except when we have scheduled registration, testing, or Personal Development.  Those can be marked down before hand...

My son is in school except for the scheduled days off for Records Day, Holidays, etc. I write those in. 

Band, Jazz Band, and Orchestra (yes, he's in all three) have scheduled rehearsals, competitions, and concerts. Those are written in as well...

You see where I'm going with this. Once you see what you have to do, it becomes clear that you have x-amount of time to do this or that... and you can add those things that you really want to do.  

We are always in a state of flux, as I was writing out the calendar, I was told the date of the Fall Orchestra Concert... I remembered that there needs to be a shirt... but that is going to have to go on the Friday before... I'm flexible, I can do that! 

I'm tremendously lucky, I do have days that I can be flexible. October may not be the best month to demonstrate that idea, but it is there.  

I have  added in some of the extra writing and photography and projects for October, since I know from my projects page that I need to do those things instead of sleeping... but the regular work at home items are not listed yet. I know I need to work on 5 pieces of jewelry, so I do need to schedule time each Monday morning and Friday morning to do that, so I don't forget!

This is what works for me. Oh, and I'll add a projects page, because I think they are fun! I use them for sketching out ideas, maybe the steps that are needed, the sequence of events that take place to do a project.

 You might want to use it for a project you are going to do with me, or you may have something in mind for your kids, it helps to see what steps you are going to do and what really needs to go first, second, third...  This type of thought process slows me down a bit, which is a good thing. I don't go headlong into a project only to find, at midnight, that I don't have certain items on hand. 

You are free to  download and print these to begin your organizer. Tomorrow is an art project, I'll use the pages to help get me... organized... 

The fun part of that project is that I will use a component of it to create an Organizer Cover the following day (Wednesday) for my own Organizer. I hope you will follow along and create a personalized cover for your own Organizer. 

There will be a shopping list available for supplies, click on the tab "Shopping Lists".  I try to separate the list into two sections, those things that might be on hand and those things that are definitely needed.