I am so disorganized!!! Need suggestions

iVillage Member
Registered: 08-23-2005
I am so disorganized!!! Need suggestions
17
Thu, 06-08-2006 - 3:18am

Ever since we moved into this house, I have been feeling overwhelmed and extremely unorganized.

lvhunnie2005

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iVillage Member
Registered: 09-20-2004
Thu, 06-08-2006 - 8:26am

Maybe your new home just doesn't seem like home yet, and that is part of the problem. i have been having an extremely difficult time settling in since we moved in April...we haven't forgotten the bills, but it has still changed our entire family dynamics. Can you house only current bills in your desk drawer, and once a month move stuff to another room? Can you buy a locking file cabinet to keep next to your desk to house the old stuff in?
Do you use quicken or ms money? These programs both allow you to set up reminders of when your bills are due...we connect daily to the bank to download our transactions, takes 5 minutes tops.

Things will settle down for you...it just takes awhile. I hope you find a system that works for you soon. :)
Heather

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-27-2003
Thu, 06-08-2006 - 11:03am

I know the feeling! Only, my life used to feel like that ALL the time.

I know it seems a little off-topic, but I highly recommend you try the Flylady homekeeping system (www.flylady.net). It's totally free, and if you follow her system, you'll be organized in no time, and you won't spend money or an entire Saturday doing it. In fact, you'll actually spend less time doing routine tasks, but you'll be doing them automatically, regularly, and efficiently.

I started her system off and on for several years, and it helped me every time, gradually filling me with skills and routines that worked for me. Even when I would back-slide, each time our home and lives would still stay a little more organized and peaceful than before flylady. Recently, I signed back on and decided that this time I was going to do everything exactly the way she told me to--no picking and choosing. So I read my welcome letter, and started adding the habits one day at a time in the order she told me to do it.

I can't believe the difference. For two months now, my house has gotten better and better every day. For the past month it's actually been guest-ready every day, all day long, without it even feeling like I've been working at it. I don't believe I have EVER lived in a home where every single room in the house was suitable for showing to guests. But today I do.

And the side effects have been many: Because my house is ordered and I have a routine for getting done the things that need doing, my menu-planning and grocery-purchasing has been more organized; I haven't been forgetting dates and events because they are marked in my calendar and I actually look at it regularly; we packed for our trip to Alabama in about half an hour; the kids are dressed and clean and their hair combed (a major achievement for me) every day, and I actually cut their nails regularly; I actually sit around and read for part of the day and don't feel guilty about it! lol; and I'm spending less money because I'm not having to buy stuff a second time (because I can't find it), and I've discovered that I don't need more stuff to make my house look nice (in fact, it looks nicer with LESS stuff). Not to mention there's time for playing games and doing puzzles with my kids, and for gardening and quilting. It's helped me become so much more organized in every aspect of my life, and I feel so much better about myself. And it doesn't feel like work!

Among other things, the system works by helping you learn one small new habit at a time, and mastering it until it's second nature. Some of what she says to do may not seem to make sense at first (the first thing you do is shine your sink), but there's method in her madness, and I have discovered this time around that even the things that didn't make sense to me (wearing lace-up shoes--I'm a barefoot kinda gal) have a purpose and really do help me.

My recommendation--don't go out and spend money at the container store to organize your stuff. Sign onto Flylady's free web group and just do what she tells you (and although she sells products on her site, they are all EXTRAS that even she will tell you are fun but not necessary--I haven't spent a penny on her site, though it's sometimes tempting).

Good luck. I hate that overwhelmed feeling, and I don't envy you! I hope things get better for you soon.

Blessings,

Heather

iVillage Member
Registered: 08-23-2005
Thu, 06-08-2006 - 11:14am

Thanks Heather!

lvhunnie2005

iVillage Member
Registered: 09-02-2004
Thu, 06-08-2006 - 11:52am

I hear ya about how disorganized home paperwork can cause emotional feelings of mental chaos. BTDT.

I personally use my bank's billpay service at $4.95/month--Compass. I pay all my bills this way. I have a small nylon "briefcase" type bag that I carry back and forth to work each day, along the lines of what flylady recommends. My "off=hours" life is so hectic, I take care of my personal stuff while at work or on weekends. Every evening when I pick the mail up, I toss the bills in my briefcase and every few days or so, I go on my bank's website and set up the bills that need to be paid. I also use an excel spreadsheet instead of a paper check register. I can list out deposits/recurring payments months in advance and plan my non-recurring payments/discretionary spending as the funds are available. I update this about every 3 days to reflect actual spending and future needs. I estimate what utilities/food costs will be in future and enter them in blue. I clean out that bag on Sundays and put in new stuff and file the paid bills by month. I also put stuff in there that require phone calls or stuff to enter into my calendar. This has helped me tremendously. Having this future plan helps me to "FEEL" mor financially secure. You might try something similar.

iVillage Member
Registered: 06-23-2005
Thu, 06-08-2006 - 12:26pm
I ditto everything Heather said about Flylady. This woman has it all figured out and she's so positive. Her system is more than just telling you how to organize, clean, etc. She really has some great ideas on WHY we get in such a mess sometimes- and she provides simple, free solutions to working our way out of it all.
iVillage Member
Registered: 05-10-2006
Thu, 06-08-2006 - 12:52pm
I completely support a locking file cabinet if you want to have it in where your guests will hang out (no telling who is nosy!!). I would keep the current bills in the desk drawer and file them once they are paid. I also highly recommend flylady. She has been a great help over the years.
Avatar for endomagazine
iVillage Member
Registered: 11-09-2004
Thu, 06-08-2006 - 1:19pm

Hello,


I would start out with the simplest system possible until you get

Sincerely,
Lindsey Schocke

Geeks on Tap: Mission Accomplished

iVillage Member
Registered: 01-31-2006
Thu, 06-08-2006 - 1:40pm

I need some help getting organized too, but mostly with my family's clothes. I went on FlyLady's web site (thank you Heather) and I understand how shining the sink would help to get things started, but lace up shoes? Could someone please explain the rationale behind this?

I have a pretty good system for bill payment. I have a 3" binder and a pack of sheet protectors inserted in it. Each sheet protector holds bills for one cc account or a phone bill, etc. with most recent statement on top. As I get the mail, I open the bills and file them in the side pocket of the notebook. Once a week, as I pay them, I file them away in the individual sheet protectors. This has worked for me for years. You can shred old bills when the binder gets full or start a new binder.

student.

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-27-2003
Thu, 06-08-2006 - 1:52pm

Lace-up shoes--I think the only way to understand this is to try it! LOL

I am a barefoot kinda gal, as I've already said, and I resisted the lace-up shoes for years. But I finally did it, and I love it. I really do feel more "together" (even compared to putting on slip-ons every day), and I really do feel better able to get things done. And my feet feel better too.

But, honestly, if you feel like it's pointless for you, then skip it for now. Do the other stuff (baby steps at a time, mind you--don't jump in and try to do everything at once or you'll crash and burn), and maybe in a few years, you'll give the lace-up shoes a try and find out what I've found out--that it really helps! LOL

Flylady has helped me get my family's clothes organized--and that was even BEFORE I started wearing lace-up shoes, lol. My youngest son's clothes are organized in sets a la flylady--shirt and pants together so I can just grab an outfit, some socks and underwear, and we're together. My older son's clothes are organized by shirt and pants, mostly because that's how he's been used to it, and he knows how to grab one of each and get dressed. He's not always matching, but at least his clothes are all in one place. And since flylady, he actually wears underwear most days (used to be, we couldn't ever find it, so we didn't bother). I get the laundry done quickly enough that dh and I have thinned our clothes out. I discovered that I have plenty of everything, except underwear (just because mine are old and full of holes), and dh discovered that he has plenty of everything, except blue jeans. So now we know what we need to get, and what we DON'T need to get, and, perhaps most importantly, what we can GIVE AWAY. Since starting flylady again two months ago, I've given away probably eight or nine car-loads of stuff (that's the back of a station wagon FULL) to Goodwill, plus probably two dozen large items through freecycle, and every week our garbage dumpster is full with stuff I'm throwing away (we used to fill it only about a quarter full and then pat ourselves on the backs for generating so little waste--little did we know that all that waste we thought we weren't generating was just filling our house up!).

Anyway, flylady will definitely help get your family's clothes organized. But, again, DON'T try to do it all at once. When I've done the organizing blitzes in the past, I've always ended up sliding back again into CHAOS within weeks or even days. But with the flylady system, our wardrobes have gotten gradually organized and stayed that way for two months, with no end in sight.

Thank you, flylady! LOL

Avatar for endomagazine
iVillage Member
Registered: 11-09-2004
Thu, 06-08-2006 - 2:22pm

Hello,


I declutter our closets in 15 minute stretches. I donate anything that is too small, too big, doesn't fit so I don't wear it, popped a seam, torn, missing a button, etc. I toss undergarments that have holes, stains, or where the elastic is just worn out.


The torn, ripped, damaged, etc items are separated when I fold laundry from the dryer. I'll get a stain remover out and re-wash something that's stained, but after a few tries, it's going to be donated.


I switch out Spring / Summer clothes with Fall / Winter clothes when the seasons change. The clothes that are not in season are stored in plastic bins in another closet.


If I haven't worn it in years, it gets donated. Special occasion clothes are kept (one nice evening dress, a christmas sweater, etc) but only if I've actually used it for a special occasion in the last 2 years.


My husband is losing weight slowly. He has a range of clothing sized from 2X to 6X. I keep in his closet *only* the clothes that currently fit him *now*. If it doesn't fit, it goes in a bin. This makes it easier for him to pick out clothes in the morning.


When we moved into our house, my husband brought along several garbage bags full of underwear and socks. Apparently he didn't like doing laundry much, so he would purchase tons of underwear and then do a really large laundry marathon when he ran out. I was tired of trying to wash, dry, fold, and store all of the underwear.


I purchased 14 days worth of underwear socks in his current size

Sincerely,
Lindsey Schocke

Geeks on Tap: Mission Accomplished

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