Time to Organize

Today is the day! I have been putting it off for too long. I MUST get organized! things are getting out of control. there really is no excuse. I probably know more about organizing than most people. I had read just about every book on the subject....including being in the middle of a few right now. Well, not this very second. If I was reading it this very second I wouldn't be typing this post. It is obvious I am typing this post right now because the letters are showing up on my computer screen. But I do have a bookmark (I mean a real bookmark, not a computer bookmark) in a book or two, which means I am in the middle of reading them....just not at this very second.

I do enjoy reading. I should be the most self-helped, organized person in the world. That is if reading about it made it so. And as for daily routines, schedules and lists...well, I have multiple notebooks, journals, and 3 ring notebooks with dividers devoted to just that. And let me tell you, those notebooks are organized PERFECTLY. We're talking indexes, laminated sheets to mark off things on a daily routine list, and lists of anything a person could possibly list. I even have separate email accounts to organize separate things such as one devoted just to kids and school, one for organizing tips, one for everyday stuff etc. (which has proved to be a HUGE mistake...more on that later!).

I'm not 100% positive but I think that the lists and routines may just be a starting point. I could be wrong, but perhaps there is this thing called "Following through", you know, actually DOING the things on the list. HHmm, that's something to think about.

There's another thing that comes up fairly often in these books and websites. Finish one thing before you start another! What a novel idea! (get it, "novel" idea, book, haha, I crack myself up).

But the biggest part of getting anything done is JUST DO IT! Nike knew that all along. That applies to almost anything, except of course drugs, then you say JUST SAY NO. Otherwise, JUST DO IT. Maybe that is my problem. I get ready to JUST DO IT and somehow end up with the thought JUST SAY NO!

But today is the day. Today I am going to JUST DO IT! (that is, organize, not drugs) I am going to open up my main e-mail account and try to clean it out. Not ORGANIZE it, but delete everything over a month old...well, almost everything...I have to be sure it isn't important. Although, hopefully not urgent. Since I started blogging I got behind on my e-mails. Then it got so far out of control that I stopped opening the email account. I am positive I have HUNDREDS of unopened emails. The thought of opening it up is overwhelming. But that is what I'm going to do today. (right after I go write it on my To-Do List!)

On second thought, I'm going to skip the email account thing today. I can do that any time. Today I am going to go find all my to-do lists, need to do immediately lists, things that aren't urgent lists and The MASTER list of things I want to get done "one day". I am going to consolidate them. I'll put it all together in ONE notebook. I'll have A, B and C pages. A = Urgent, B= ASAP but not Urgent and C= Someday. Then I'll go to my A list and MINIMIZE. I'll A , B, and C THAT list.

I'll have everything together in one binder. I'll re-do my index tabs with A, B and C. Maybe I'll even add a D. D could be for things I want to get done around here, but realistically know that they really aren't going to get done. Still having them written down will get my a feeling of maybe....just maybe.... just one day ......(you never know....yes you do.).

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Hhhmmm, this is a much bigger ordeal than I realized. I just pulled out all my lists, notebooks etc.

I have the large 3 ring notebook that is going to be my MASTER PLAN...it will have almost everything else combined in it.






I have 2 notebooks with medical info for family members, (one is for me and the other is for everyone else ....Mine is still thicker). They have all sorts of little slips of paper in them to be updated. I think I'll put that under B.











I have 2 books for recipes. One has tried and true recipes in it (under the dust). The other has clippings of recipes from magazines etc that I want to try one day. If they turn out good, I'll transfer them to the Tried and True book. I think I need a section in my MASTER PLAN notebook for B 1/2.











4 more various binders with lists. Fire Dept info, certifications, duty crew info in one. Disaster Prep info in another (I'm big on Being Prepared), A book I'm writing for my dad in another, and one more for...hhmmm, nothing in it but blank notebook paper. It was probably for some great idea I had once upon a time. My dad's book will be under B. The rest can go under C.

4 more notebooks and journals. These won't go in the binder of my MASTER PLAN but still need to be updated. One is my journal where I keep Bible verses that talk to me, quotes I like, and happy things that happen. I'll write that on the MASTER PLAN under A. The other is a notebook of lists I keep in my purse for things I need to get while I'm out doing things and a few addresses that I forget every time I need them. I need to purge this one and then be sure it goes back in my purse. Definitely goes under A. The other 2 stay near my computer. One is e-bay info and the other is wonderful blog ideas that strike me from time to time that I may even get around to writing about one day. Hhmmm...A.










2 Portfolio Clipboards. One has info for the children I babysit and the other has...hhmmmm... more of my medical info...CONSOLIDATE!! A 1/2?










Last of all is this stack of various folders. One for each of my kids school info, one with college info, phone lists that may be needed one day, however, I don't think I'll ever need the class phone list from JM's (17 years old) preschool class. Maybe they could use a little bit of purging. We'll label that B. The others have various excersizing tips, magazine articles to read etc...file 13?

Also, in my MASTER PLAN notebook I already have lists and lists of projects, cleaning ideas, organizing articles, things that should be done, daily, weekly, monthly, seasonally and maybe one day. Lots of C and D things.

Oh yeah, here is a sampling of my organizing books. I sold some on e-bay but still have a few I'm not ready to part with. I've even read a few of them...ok, skimmed through. I'm not going to buy any more...well, there is this one I just heard about, Organizing Solutions For People With ADD. I MIGHT get that one...but after that...NO MORE ORGANIZING BOOKS!!









Well, I'm exhausted. I'm going to go make a short list of things I must do today. I'm going to put all these notebooks and binders in one spot so I can get started on them and TOMORROW I'll start consolidating them. Maybe this week some time I'll even be able to get started actually DOING something on one of those lists. Not today though. I've done enough on this project today. And after all Tomorrow Is Another Day!!