Ain’t nobody got time to look for that. Again.

I am having issues with organization.

I have been down this road before.

About a year and a half ago, I went on a cleaning/purging/organizational binge, and for three weeks I went through my house room by room.

But I had to stop exercising to do it.

My house looked great.

But my body didn’t.

I put on about ten pounds in those three weeks, I think.

And now my house is not as out of control as it was back then, but it’s still not great.

I am still wasting time and pissing myself off on a daily basis, looking for stuff I should be able to easily locate.

So I keep doing the same thing with my house as many of us have done so often with weight loss.

I do a complete overhaul of that one area, neglect other areas of my life, make lots of progress in a relatively short period of time, but have no new habits that are ingrained, and eventually fail to maintain the weight loss/organization/whatever.

I realized this with my e-course.

When I first started offering it a few years back, I was expecting people to do too many things in too short a period of time.

Most people were just overwhelmed.

Gradually, the course changed. I realized I was asking too much of people, and I realized I had to start with smaller steps, and move more gradually.

I needed to encourage consistency and patience.

And once I did that, more and more people started having success and seeing long term results.

Why I didn’t apply that to other areas of my life, I’m not sure.

I had started with a few things.

About a month ago I started cleaning out my car every day, inspired by a member of one of my e-courses.

For the most part, I have kept up with that, and it has made my life much more manageable. It has taken some of the chaos away.

I don’t forget there is a bunch of stuff on the backseat of the car and have to rush around to move it when we are trying to get out of the driveway to preschool.

When the kids are getting out of the car, they are not dragging crap that’s on the floor out onto the ground with them.

It really does affect the overall atmosphere of the car ride for all of us.

After the cleaning of the car had become a daily habit, I tackled my purse.

I was spending a stupid amount of time looking for, among other things, my Costco card every time I went shopping.

It was kind of infuriating. I was wasting so much time, it was pissing me off, and I just kept doing it. Over and over and over again.

Which pissed me off even more.

So I got myself a new wallet.

And rather than getting my Costco card back from the cashier and just mindlessly shoving it into my purse like I usually do, I take  my wallet out and put the card right back in the same spot every time.

Do you know how much easier this has made my life?

It probably seems really obvious to most people, but to me it just wasn’t.

But now that, too, has become a habit.

I always know where my Costco card is.

So anyway, on Mother’s Day I had finally had enough with all the other stuff that is adding chaos to my life, and I wrote this post. And then rather than going full speed ahead, I really started taking small steps to get shit under control.

I started on Tuesday when I made the commitment to start getting up earlier so that I could start my day with less craziness.

Then I got myself a bullet journal, which has turned out to be the most effective way for me to organize all the plates I’ve got spinning simultaneously as well as the non-stop thoughts and ideas going through my head.

Rather than trying to also clean my entire house, or even just one room, I committed to be consistent with those two things.

And after writing the bullet journal post, someone mentioned The Fly Lady.

I checked out her website, and I read this:

OVERWHELMED? DISORGANIZED? LIVING IN CHAOS? http://www.flylady.net The FlyLady’s Simple FLYing Lessons Will Show You How to Get Your Home and Your Life in Order–and It all Starts With Shining Your Sink!

Sounded like what I needed.

So I got on the email list, and I’m starting tomorrow.

Getting up earlier has made a big difference, but I’m still having trouble with many, many areas.

And aside from just driving me crazy, I think it’s holding me back professionally.

We are still searching for socks and shoes in the morning.

And brushes.

And ponytail holders.

That drives me insane.

So does searching for blankies and stuffed animals.

And I am still having issues with clutter.

I have not been able to stay as consistent with the kids  about keeping their rooms picked up as I would like to.

And I know the disorder bothers them.

I know, because if one of their rooms gets out of hand and I clean it up for them, they notice.

And they enter their rooms and exclaim, WOW!

They like it. It makes them feel better. And I bet if they had less clutter and chaos in their rooms, their behavior might even change.

But there’s no freaking way I’m going to do that every day.

First of all,

Secondly, that is their responsibility.

So here is what I am going to do.

I’m going to commit to the fly lady’s program.

But I’m going to add my own twist.

My kids are going to do it with me.

They don’t know it yet, but tomorrow, they are going to start learning how to set up routines that will (hopefully) become automatic.

Because I want them going to college and adulthood and their own apartments and parenthood with these skills that I am lacking.

I don’t want them wasting any of their time or talents because they can’t find their fucking Costco card or their shoes.

I want to set them up for success.

Want to join me?

Check out the Fly Lady.

And then, I’ll let you know what my first easy task for the kids will be.

And we can all get our shit in order, help ourselves, and help our kids together.