I've learned through the years that any organization system is only as good as your follow-through. If you don't take the time to sort that mail into its appropriate home each month, your organization system is still a pile on the counter, not that pretty filing box with pre-labeled folders. (Not that I'm speaking from experience or anything.)
My challenge is finding easy, simple organization systems that are FAST. As a single working mom, I am way more likely to be interrupted in the middle of a task before I get the chance to finish. I also have a limited amount of time that I'm willing to invest in any given task. At the end of the day, I'd rather spend my free time with my boy than organizing my mail. But I've also realized that I'm much less stressed and generally happier (which means the boy is also less stressed and much happier) if I have a neat home.
So here's my strategy for working toward an organized home in 2016 (because it's good to have goals!):
* Practice child labor. Seriously, I am going to put the Boy to work. I realize that this effort is going to be harder on me than actually doing it myself. Right now. But when he's 17, I am not continuing to pick up after him, and chances are highly likely that I'm also not going to be doing his cooking or his laundry. This effort has multiple purposes: I will (eventually) end up with a neater home; the Boy will grow up to be a self-sufficient man; and I will stop screaming profanity when I step on Legos.
* Find shortcuts for important things, like this one from my seriously clever big sister: instead of throwing my recyclables into plastic recycling bins that I reuse, I'm going to start using the sturdy, grocery store paper bags. The whole dang thing can go in the recycling, and that's a bin that I never have to clean again.
* Do something every day. Even if that something is throwing one piece of mail in my new recycling bag. One thing. Every day.
No comments:
Post a Comment