How good are you at planning ahead? I used to be good at this but not so much lately. I long for the day when the birthday presents are mailed on time and I am prepared for when we will run out of toilet paper.

In thinking about these things I am attempting to come up with solutions that will allow me to plan in advance and therefore allow me to live a less last minute and stressful life.

{calendar by 4th Letter Studio on Etsy}

I mentioned that I have a big calendar in my kitchen and this helps me to see what it coming up for the month but I really need to sit down and plan out the next year.  For me this means that I am thinking about when I need to make doctors and dentist appointment so that my kids actually get in at the right time.  I also need to have a list of birthdays the month before so that I can be shopping, wrapping, and mailing them on time.  I also need to think ahead to home projects or seasonal crafts that I want to do for the year.  Really anything that needs thoughts and preparation I should be planning well ahead for. Even shopping for the next size or season for my kids could be planned for.

So today I am thinking ahead and filling in my calendar for the next year.  I will set reminders so that I have fare warning that things are coming up. Oh, and I’ll eat the frog when I see them come up.

How about you? Anything else you can think of that needs to be planned out ahead of time? How do you stay ahead of the game?

Welcome back to our 31 Days to Becoming an Organized Mom series. Today I want to encourage you to eat the frog first thing in the morning.  Before you leave because you think I am disgusting let me explain.  Mark Twain said:

“Eat a live frog first thing in the morning and nothing worse will happen to you the rest of the day.”

The idea is that if you do the hardest thing on your to do list first you will have accomplished it and everything else will be much easier.  This is an idea to live by!  Do the hard things first, while you still have the energy and the time.

What frog can you eat this morning?  How about tomorrow morning?

Today I am taking time to really analyze my major clutter spots and dysfunctional places in my home.  Sometimes things just pile up until I get frustrated, clean up the mess and let the cycle repeat.  So, I am intentionally considering what I can do differently to change this burdensome cycle.

My kitchen seems to be a dumping zone for all of my kids.  Just now I found multiple pairs of shoes, plenty of school papers, games, jackets, purses, and toys all in my kitchen/breakfast nook area.  The answer to some of these problems is how consistently I {calmly & lovingly} teach my kids to handle their things. Some of the problem is just not having a very clear system for where these things go in this room.

Here is what I am doing and what I challenge you to do.  Go through each room with a notepad {or a list on your phone} and write down all of the clutter issues.  Once your done, sit down and write out potential solutions.

Mine might look something like this:

Kitchen

Shoes all over—–> an additional basket for shoes that is checked daily by the kids

Small toys on the ground—-> work on a no toys outside of the playroom and bedroom rule with the kids

Jackets on bar stools—-> new hook rack in here that has enough space for each child. Have kids check daily at the same time they collect shoes

Homework and art projects too large for files—–>make some sort of clips for the kids to each hang up their projects on the wall {dual purpose- art & storage}

Once I’m done with my list I may need a trip to the store to purchase a few new organizational items OR I may be able to re-purpose items from other parts of the house.  The great thing about taking time to analyze the problem areas you have is that you are identifying solutions to things that may be causing you additional stress every day.  Now you can proactively work toward eliminating those things.

What are some of your problem areas?  What solutions have you come up with for them?  I’d love to hear your ideas!!

If you are following along with our 31 Days to Becoming an Organized Mom Series I hope that you are encouraged to tackle what you need to get organized in your home.  I don’t know about you but I need both practical ideas on how to get organized as well as help overcoming the mental barriers that got me disorganized in the first place.  I am very much in this with you.  The only reason I am writing this series is because I NEED it. It is a working out of what I need to overcome and what I need to get done.

Today I just want to encourage you that you are not behind and you are not overwhelmed.  If you feel overwhelmed then be careful of the voice you are listening to.  There is an evil little voice that likes to scream in your ear that you are overwhelmed and that you’ll never get on top of anything.  This voice wins when it gets you to repeat what it says because you start to believe what you say and it becomes your reality.

If you are feeling overwhelmed with your life or your home, take a deep breath and listen for the voice.  If you’ve been repeating negative things then stop.  You can do this!  Start believing you can and you will. When you hear the negative then learn to quickly realize it’s negative and tell that negativity the truth. You are not overwhelmed.  There is nothing that is too hard to overcome.  Yes it takes some {a LOT} of work but you are up for it and YOU CAN do it!

How do you overcome the times you just don’t feel like doing the work?  How do you make time when there seems to be no time?