How I Organize Myself as a Busy Mom with Young Kids

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How to organize yourself and keep your family’s schedule straight as a busy mom with young children.

Mom organizing things

The best way to be able to accomplish what you want to in a day is to organize yourself somehow.

There are many facets to organizing. I love to organize and I am definitely an organized person. The problem for me in conveying how I organize to other people is that it is such a part of who I am, I find it hard to explain how I do things.

My husband often makes comments in marvel about something I do to organize myself, and it isn’t something I have ever thought twice about.

So it kind of feels to me like trying to explain to people how to know how often to blink. Or trying to explain to non-English speakers how to use the articles A, An, and The appropriately. I managed to jump that hurdle in college, so hopefully, I can work something out here.

Lists, Lists, Lists!

A very important thing for me and my organization is to create lists. I have so much to keep track of that I need to put it down somewhere so I don’t have a head explosion trying to keep it all straight.

I used to do this, of course, on paper. I just had a little notebook that I wrote a list of things I needed to do. It worked well. I also had a calendar that I wrote every appointment on to remember.

Today I am high-tech and loving it. I use my iPhone. I have lists in my phone under subcategories…plus my phone is always with me, so as soon as I think of something, I add to it. I really like this and find it so much easier.

However, I did manage to survive just fine before I had this phone–I have only had it for six months. So organization definitely can happen without the help of technology.

I do still love my paper planner and like to have a combo of tech and paper.

Break Down the Task

When I have a project I need to do, I like to break it down in my head (or on paper) and create a list of smaller steps.

Right now we are remodeling our kitchen, so I will use that as an example.

There are lots of steps to remodeling. I think through and list everything that needs to happen–each step. I then order it. Certain things need to happen before other things can happen. Do that with your own organizing of your day. What needs to happen? What order does it need to happen in? Write it out.

Set Reminders

I have a white board in my office that I write down our set-in-stone weekly appointments. Dance class, piano lessons, time school starts, time school gets out…I don’t always need it, but I literally leave it there all school year long.

I used to consult the hard-copy calendar for our appointments, but now I also put them all in my phone. And the best part is that I set my phone to give me reminders for things so I don’t forget about them. I love my reminders.

Books or Apps

I have created several books to keep myself organized in various areas. I have told you about my Emergency Preparedness Binder and Menu Planner. I have also made a Cleaning Book and a Project Planner. I love using these resources to help keep myself organized.

There are tons of apps out there that can really keep your organized, also. Give them a try and see what works for you!

Shopping Lists

I used to keep my shopping lists for groceries and non-food items in my kitchen hanging on my refrigerator with those list pads you can buy for a dollar at lots of stores (one is Target). Worked great most of the time (except for when I would leave the list hanging on my fridge).

Now I, of course, have my lists on my phone. I know, my phone is getting annoying, right? It is solving too many of my problems.

This Blog

Organizing this blog is really a huge feat in my head. There is a lot to keep straight for me with the blog, questions, Google group, Facebook, and Twitter (I know, I am sorely lacking in my tweeting. Once I get perfect control of everything else, I hope to be a better bird).

I currently use a small calendar. At the end of one month, I write out every post I am going to write for the next month on its respective days. I keep a running list of post ideas on that calendar, also (I also have a Word document with lots of ideas saved). I do write things in pencil so I can move things around if needed.

Think Ahead

I have a running list of everything I can think of that I need to get done. I also have a list of things “To Do Today.” These are things that MUST happen that day, then things I would like to get done and think I can accomplish given what I must do.

Each night, I evaluate my list for the next day. I decide what needs to get done and what I need to try to get done. I kind of visualize myself throughout the day. I know what I will do and how long it will take me to do it, then fill in the gaps where possible. I know visualizing is cliche, but it works.

App

I have to share my current favorite app for organizing. I think I have, but I will again. It is Cozi and it is free. You can set it up to sync among family members. My husband and I can both add events, things to shopping lists, and things to do. We are both on the same page and I LOVE it.

We use Cozi for organizing not only the family schedule, but shopping lists. We can all access the shopping list and add things to it.

Conclusion

That is the basics for how I organize myself. This is just organizing myself to be able to accomplish the things I need to accomplish.

Please share how you organize. What are your tips? Any favorite resources?

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