A little while ago, I wrote about small business owners achieving work-life balance. That was more of a thousand-foot view, or big picture, perspective. Grab a cup of coffee, because today we're going to zoom in a little bit and talk about organization. So fun, right? Some of you may be cheering while others are groaning, and that's the beauty of community. We can have different talents, abilities and levels of tolerance while we agree on a common goal, this one being that organization makes life run smoother with less anxiety.
Let's address that last point first. When our kids were younger and it was time to go somewhere, we would had one with shoes on, ready to go, one who was looking for a shoe (or a shirt or the backpack or the homework...), and one who we couldn't find because she had her nose in a book and hadn't heard us calling for the past five minutes. Once we learned to teach them where to put their stuff so they could always find everything on their way out the door, the routine saved us time and our sanity. No more last-second panic, running around trying to find something. Of course, everything did not go perfectly every time. We still had to hunt down our reader; but overall, the systems we put in place worked and helped make our home more peaceful.
For purposes of brevity, we'll break down the concept of organization into time and physical space. In regards to time, do we have to have every single moment designated to an activity? Of course not. If we are stay-at-home moms, homeschoolers and/or business owners, we have flexibility in our schedules. If our children attend public/private school and we work outside of the home, we have that structure as a parameter.
We all have calendars on our phones, of course, and the fact that we can set notifications as well as connecting to other family members is helpful. Being old school, I still like to keep a paper calendar around for aesthetics and as a backup reminder. When I was homeschooling (everyone's graduated now), This Old Schoolhouse was a helpful tool for lesson planning, and I used fivejs.com Gradebook+ for years and years. These two resources saved me time and energy, because I didn't have to keep reinventing the wheel. They both also have many, many other tips for homeschooling moms; check them out if you are already on that journey or are thinking about educating your children at home. At the risk of being thought of as super nerdy, I also made a chore chart for the family.
The chores were age appropriate-this chart was made after they had been instructed in how to do everything properly. I could wax on and on about the hard work of parenting, but you already know that, so I'll just say this chart kept anyone from complaining about doing all the work by themselves and left our weekends chore free (for the most part).
As far as physical space is concerned, some clutter is to be expected. Does every piece of paper, Lego and electronic have to have a home? Yes, if you want it to/no if that stresses you out too much. Do you absolutely, positively without-any-exceptions have to make your bed every morning and pick up all the toys before bed at night? Please give yourself some grace for new baby adjustment, sick days or crazy-busy schedules. One of the mantras I have is what my mom said when I was growing up, "It'll be there when you get to it." That expression eased my guilt when the juggling act became overwhelming. And you know what? She was right. The toys that had been left on the living room floor the night before were still there in the morning, and then I had the energy to put them back in the toy box which the 2-year-old would promptly scatter across the living room again, but that was to be expected.
Holding our children and ourselves responsible for chores helped drastically with organizing our home. So did having homes for categories of items. For example, homeschool supplies were kept in the China cabinet (a dear friend taught me this hack and saved me much brainpower). They could be used anywhere in the house but needed to be returned to their "home" when schoolwork was done. Food and screens were not allowed in the bedrooms (and when they were older, neither were boyfriends or girlfriends), so their rooms could be for reading, practicing music and sleeping. And the aforementioned system for getting out the door was essential to our family arriving anywhere with all the shoes, coats and equipment needed. When we first moved to our house built in 1888, there was no closet near the door everyone entered which happened to be the back door. Throughout our first year, we had temporary coat hangers and a milk crate for shoes. After that, we settled on an "open locker" system that many people have now with spaces above for small baskets (mittens, hats, etc.), middle spaces for coats and bags as well as space below for shoes. Once we became empty nesters, we revamped the system to include a bench so we can sit while putting on shoes. These systems can be fun to establish as you find unique solutions for your family.
How about your workspace? Is it in a place everyone else uses? Mine was for years, so we shared, and I set up my schedule to coordinate with theirs. For the first few years, I would work during naptime or after they went to bed. When they were older, I would have my office back after their assignments were done. If you have an office or area of your own, hallelujah! You can close the door or make it off limits if you wish.
You can organize your life without becoming lost trying to bring order to the disarray. As with any other endeavor, start small with one room or area at a time. Involve your family as much as possible, because they will feel more sense of ownership in something they helped create. And try to have fun with music or little games; organizing doesn't have to be all work and no play :). If you need a break and some baking therapy, check out our cutters (we have new ones)!
