Sunday, February 1, 2009

Back to the binder

OK, I have once again become the most disorganized person! Everything is a mess and I can't take it. It hasn't helped that DH has been laid off for 2 months and DD & DS are out of school due to snow for the last week.
I've decided to go back to using a homemanagement binder. I started using one early last year and once I got started it was WONDERFUL! Things got done and I wasn't overwhelmed every day. Well, too many trips to the hospital and laziness on my part (yes, I admit it-I got lazy!) and now it's all a mess again. I need a simple system that anyone can fall into my shoes can follow. I found an e-book for under $9 that got me started. I tweeked it for me & life was much simpler. I've seen it put into a card file instead of a large binder and that was really cool too but it would be lost in our house-guaranteed.
I spent last night with the old binder out going thru all of what I had and deciding what will & what won't still work. It wasn't as hard as I thought. Most things just needed updates for our current needs. I don't use all of the sections in the e-book since some don't apply but they are a reaaly nice staring point. I have also begun researching other types of checklists for cleaning. I need something to keep me on the right track and there are so many great ideas out there.
I find my creativity goes out the window when I get stressed. A messy house is STRESS. Now it's probably gonna take me a few weeks to fix this mess but I've learned to not try to do it all in a day or two. It didn't happen that way & I can't fix it that fast. Don't think I haven't tried-it never happens and I get too frazzled.
I got my e-book from http://myblessedhome.blogspot.com/
It's a great starting point and she's got a lot of information about making this "yours". I have the previous version but it's been updated now and I'm thinking about getting the newer version because it's that good.
Simplemom.net also have some great checklists and ideas to incorporate into this. Just remember it will never be "finished". It should evolve as you do, parts will come and go as needed or not used. My challenge was to tweek it for a special needs family-try one of these if you find yourself feeling scattered. It doesn't have to be a binder, the card box is one of several options that take up very little space. I like the idea of having a 31 daybox and just rotating out the day as needed. Pretty nice way to keep track of things, huh. Good luck and God bless!

1 comment:

Sanity said...

Will be checking out the home management binder. I think I need a little help with that, too.