Organizher

About two or so years ago, I came up with this BRILLANT business plan that involved organizational products for for moms.  I got two of my besties involved in the project with me and we were plotting to launch Organizher.  Love the play on words?  Yep, that was my genius.

Well, babies started coming and our lives just got busier and busier and the business never took off.  I still haven't given up on it though.  One day....right?

From time to time, I like to escape the house after the kidlets are in bed and wander around Target for some "me" time.  On one such trip, not so long ago, I stumbled across this:

That's right!  Mead STOLE my business name!!!!!  And worse yet, they trademarked it!! 

Yeah, yeah, I know I didn't actually do much with the business other than buy the domain name (ha ha ha!  Take that, Mead!), but I still feel violated!  Now, I have to think up a new name!

But, being a Type-A personality and always looking for ways to be better organized, I couldn't resist picking up a few of the products to try out myself.  And you know what?  I really like them!

I use this pull-away note pad to keep everyone's schedules and our meals organized:

And this notebook to keep track of my daily To-Do's and things to remember:

And because I'm very unselfish, I decided to pass on this tip to my dear friends.  Seriously, you should check out this line of products. 

Mead even has some printable templates on their website for you to download and print off.  Otherwise, this line is sold at Target.  Happy organizing all!

I WILL

You know me. I'm stuck on the proverbial hamster wheel. Not just with my career, which is endlessly sucking hours out of my day that I don't even have. But, with everything. Every week I start off believing THIS week, I will do it right. I will keep my life in order. I will enforce routines. But it never happens. I swear, once upon a time, I really did have my life together. I dunno what happened. Oh yeah, I had another baby (and I want another one too, like, really bad). But, I refuse to surrender defeat and conclude that those days are gone for good. So, yep, each Sunday night, I sit here and write out my game plan for getting my act together.

This week I WILL...

...get up when my alarm goes off at 5:00 a.m. No matter how sleepy (or, lazy) I feel or cold the house is. Or, how much sleep I got the night before.

...work out each and every morning. Again, no matter how lazy I feel. I mean, sleepy.

...leave the house on time, no matter what dilatory tactics Carter pulls.

...focus at work and make every minute count, resulting in less work I have to bring home with me and more billable hours.

...eat healthy, whole foods. I will NOT cave into that evil little demon inside my head that says "but you NEED that Coke because you need the caffeine jolt."

..."eat the frog" and conquer my most-loathed task first thing in the day.

...not sit down at night to "relax" until my home to-do's are scratched off, and I've spent 15 minutes doing general pick up around the house.

...fold AND put away the laundry on the same day I wash and dry it. As opposed to leaving it in piles around the house for the entire week like I usually do.

Yes, I WILL do these things. You'll hold me accountable, won't you?

But if I don't, please don't judge me too harshly because I never have a problem with plastering my babies with kisses, and cuddling with them and soaking them up and breathing them in. And those "to do's" mean so much more in the long run, right??? But I digress, because I'm determined. I WILL regain control.

Focus

Its really quite simple. So simple in fact that I feel a bit silly even posting it. But, its something that I needed to hear, so I figured maybe some of you do too?

The number one impediment to my productivity and success is - lack of focus.

Adult-onset ADD? Perhaps. I speculate that its more properly diagnosed as declining self-discipline. And why not? There are zillions of things these days to steal moments of our attention away. We live in a fast-paced world that is over-immersed in information. I have found that this makes it more and more difficult to train my brain to focus at the task at hand. Hello, Ritalin??

But naw, I don't need medication. I need to buckle down, grit my teeth and focus. Set my course and not deviate until I have reached my planned destination.

Who knows...perhaps if I can focus long enough to complete the tasks that need to be completed, it will get done more quickly so that I have more play time left at the end of the day!

So, dear friends. I know its Wednesday, and it feels unnatural to start anything in the middle of the week. But, starting tomorrow morning, join me in this little experiment and really truly focus and concentrate on your tasks and see how much more productive you really are!

New Beginnings

If you've read more than two posts on my blog, then you've probably got the hint that I love organization. Scratch that, I crave organization. Its an endless battle for me. I'll get into a great cycle where things seem to be moving like clockwork gears, and then it will all fall into chaos.

Right now, I'm in chaos mode. I'm not exactly sure how I got here. Perhaps it has something to do with the 200+ billable hours I clocked at work last month? Or, the super-di-duper fun and busy summer I've been having with my boys? Sheer laziness?

Whatever the cause, its been worth it! Since I've last chatted with you, our little family has been bike riding, gone to our first Orioles game, and ** drum roll please....** my baby started WALKING!!!!! I mean, who can possibly do laundry when they are busy cheering and encouraging those first precious steps??? Well, maybe you can, but I'm not that great at multi-tasking.

But alas dear friends, summer is beginning to draw to a close. Yes, technically we have over another month until the autumnal solstice, but whatever. When you are a mom, your seasons are guided by the school year. Carter has one more week of summer camp and then **sniff sniff** Pre-K begins!

New school year. New classroom. New teacher. New lessons.

Ahhh....how I love a fresh start! I'm determined to take this next week to get our routines back in order so that we go into the new school year with some semblance of routine and organization. That means 8:30 bedtimes, 7:15 wake times, laying out school clothes and packing book bags. Filling out chore charts (hence enforcing them...).

So, I made a list of all the things that I have fallen out of the habit of doing this summer. I won't bore you with the details, but its long. Half a page, single spaced. Eeek! As much as this laissez-faire lifestyle has ben enjoyable, its starting to drive me wee bit nutty. Back to order!!!

The Juggling Act

Life feels like a juggling act.
You try your hardest to keep all the balls in the air at once.

You believe that the balls are glass; if one falls, it will surely shatter.

Better yet, the balls are made of glass, and they are all connected to each other by an invisible string. If one falls, it pulls down the others with it, and only those balls which you can hold securely in your two hands remain safe.

The better you become at juggling, the more balls you add. You have this idea that the more balls you have, the happier and more fulfilling life will be.

But the more balls you add, the faster your arms must work to keep them in the air. Thus, your exhaustion grows and you will eventually run out of energy to keep up "the act." At some point, you must chose a ball to let go. But which one? They all seem so important. They all seem so interesting. While you labor to decide, one falls.

Something astonishing happens - it does not shatter! Rather, it bounces! And you discover that you can put down balls and pick them back up again! The revelation has been made that, while no woman (or man, especially not a man) is capable of maintaining perfect balance forever, we do have the choice to determine at this moment which balls to keep in the air. In that, we can experience the multitude of joys in this life, while not forsaking the joy of simply living.

Running Like a Well-Oiled Machine

In the never-ending quest to find balance and organization amid the chaos of life, I have found a few little tools that I have found to be helpful. Out of the goodness of my heart and sincerest interest for your wellbeing, I thought I would be kind enough to share them with you. Aren't I nice??

I currently have a super secret project underway that will one day (in the hopefully very near future) obliterate the need for these various archaic pieces of paper. I mean, come on people - its the 21st century and we're still writing with pen and paper?? However, until the great unveiling, to which my beloved and loyal blog readers will be privvy, I rely on these handy dandy forms to hold the pieces of this great juggling act together.

One of my favorite websites is the Mommy Trackd website. They have great material on there and some hilarious articles. You absolutely must check the site out! They have some awesome (and cute) downloads there too!


I really like this "Week at a Glance" to get the big picture of what is going on each week with the family. It also helps me get a better idea of which nights are better for planning things, and which days are full already.

In the bottom part for my "to do" I write out the ONE thing I will focus on from my goals list. For example, this week, my focus was working on getting up and working out each morning. I succeeded in that endeavor only 2 out of the 5 days this week, but its a start!




If you do nothing else to streamline your life, you must do this - meal plan. It saves you time, brain power and money. Long gone are the days where you rush home at 5:30 p.m. and think "ugh, what am I going to make for dinner tonight?" and try to piece together the random ingredients lying around in the fridge and pantry. No, no, no...you must plan this in advance. Every Sunday I write out my meal plan for the week (I include lunches too since I pack for both me and Carter), then I write out my grocery list and do my shopping for the week (and if I really have it together - 2 weeks). I try to chop any veggies or do any prep work I can ahead of time too!



I think this is my favorite form - The Balance Sheet. I print one out every day at the start of the day (I have it saved to my desk top) and write out what needs to get done for both work and home. Its a great way to stay on task!

Now, for my old nemesis - housecleaning. Many moons ago, I stumbled upon the Motivated Moms housekeeping planners. The lady who owns this business is a stay at home mom who came up with a way to stay on top of household chores while still preserving time for yourself. She sets out day-by-day a handful of chores that will keep your house in order. Now, I'll admit, its really hard to keep up with the daily schedule while working full time, so sometimes I have to look at it in terms of the week rather than the day, and that works too. But, its really nice when I can stay on top of the daily tasks and then don't have to carve out huge chunks of precious time with my kids on the weekends, or my down-time for myself (while they are asleep of course) to do housework. Its only $8 for the whole year and she has several different formats for you to choose from. For this paltry sum, I highly suggest you give it a try!!

If you are list-crazed OCD and want lots of different options for every conceivable situation (ahem...Melissa), then you will probably like the Organized Home website with its gazillion forms (and great content too!!) and the Mom Agenda website, which sells planners but has lots of free downloads as well (and they are super cute too!).

Of course, all the organization in the world won't help a lick if you don't actually do the work, so I'd better get back to writing this legal motion now. I hope you all have a FABULOUS weekend! I plan to do a major overhaul cleaning of my house tomorrow, so wish me luck and cooperative children!