I kind of put a lot of things on hold or pushed them aside for the marathon.
So now I’m on a quest to get organized and catch up.
I’m also on a mission to become more organized in general. Permanently.
I can’t take it anymore.
The other day I was listening to Howard Stern. If you’re not a fan you may have some preconceived notions about him, and you may be unaware of some things about him too. Like the fact that he’s a super organized person.
The other day he was talking about why he’s organized. How it alleviates stress. How it takes one less worry off his mind.
He said that he follows his father’s example, and that if he has a task that will take him less than 2 minutes to accomplish, he does it immediately. Then there isn’t that one little thing hanging over his head to get done.
I thought about it.
In addition to the regular things I have to do every night, I usually have about 27 other little things to do at the end of each day.
At least.
Because I tell myself they won’t take that long and that I can take care of them later. So a one-minute thing here, a 2-minute thing there, a 30-second thing here, times 10, well… that shit adds up.
Plus, with so many little things, at least one of them gets forgotten.
Like yesterday. Number 3 was going to a friend’s house after school. I put off writing the note to his teacher until the morning.
Because it would only take 30 seconds.
Inevitably, I forgot the note. You can’t call that into the school over the phone. They must have the physical note.
So I had to make a second trip to school yesterday morning.
Putting off a 30-second task didn’t save me any time. It cost me 15 minutes. That’s a lot of wasted time. Wasted gas too.
It pissed me off. Time to change that.
I’m putting myself on a schedule.
Sort of.
I do still have the little kid issue. So I need some amount flexibility.
But I’m also neglecting the kids. Not in a call DCF kind of way, but in a hands-on kind of way.
I’m trying to get too much stuff done without a plan.
I’m asking way too much from a 2, 3, and 4-year old. I’m expecting them to play together, on their own, without any guidance from me or quality time with me for long periods of time.
Hours.
It’s unreasonable.
And unfair.
I spent 2 hours yesterday trying to get shit done in this house.
Two hours.
I did nothing with the kids.
I mean, except for yell at them for not cooperating and following the directions.
I’d get about 10 minutes of something done, but while I was doing that, they were undoing something else.
There was a laundry incident yesterday.
And a fireplace ash incident.
And a powder incident.
Instead of my list of crap to do getting shorter, it was getting longer.
I spent two hours accomplishing pretty much nothing and getting really frustrated and tired in the process.
I became more stressed, instead of less stressed.
Well, no more.
No more searching for books and socks and papers and water bottles and pencil sharpeners.
No more inefficiency.
No more working without a plan.
No more spinning my wheels.
No more days gone by without doing a single, quality activity with the kids.
Nope.
I’ve been using the seven kids as an excuse.
Of course your house is a mess. You’ve got seven kids!
You forgot to send this paper into school. But I understand! You have seven kids to take care of! Here’s another one!
It’s easy to hide behind that.
But if I’m not using them as an excuse to not run a marathon, well, then why is it okay to use them as a reason to be disorganized?
It’s not.
Not for me.
I don’t want to be extraordinary in one aspect of my life.
I want to be extraordinary in all of them.
So I started yesterday.
At 7:30 p.m.
I could have said I’ll start fresh in the morning. I’ll make a change first thing tomorrow. But I didn’t. I started at 7:30 p.m.
On a Wednesday night.
Number 3 gave me a field trip permission slip last night. Normally I’d tell him to put it in his folder and that I’d look at it later.
Then I’d forget and be the last parent in the class to hand it in.
Not this time. I filled that sucker out immediately.
This time I’m going to be the first parent to hand that in.
Sure, it’s just a permission slip, but it’s a start.
Baby steps.
Today?
The phone.
I suck at returning emails and texts.
Because I carry my phone around with me wherever I go, and I check it constantly.
But I don’t reply to the emails and the texts I receive. I say I’ll do it later. And then I forget.
It pisses people off.
It’s irresponsible and unprofessional.
Plus, it disrupts any other task I’m trying to get done.
So I’m putting the phone away and limiting myself to specific times each day to check it. When I do, I’ll reply to the emails and texts immediately.
Aaahhh.
Just having a plan feels good.
So what little change are you going to make to simplify your life?
To alleviate the stress?
It doesn’t have to be major.
It can start with a permission slip.
Don’t wait until New Year’s.
Don’t wait until Monday.
Don’t wait until first thing in the morning.
Do it now.
Make that change.
I’m on week 2 of using meal plans and so far I LOVE it! Even the family is into it. Now when I hear the dreaded “What’s for super?” I actually know the answer. It makes grocery shopping more efficient and there’s a lot less wasting of food (especially veggies) cause it’s all planned! I even set a reminder on my phone so I can take things out of the freezer in the morning and not at 4 PM like I used to!
I think that phone alarm reminder is a great idea.
I love this! Just going thru this in my mind the other day…i have a 4 year old and 2 1/2 year old twins that i stay at home, but also work from home…constantly stressing and expecting them to be older than they are…thanks for the encouragement!
I am right there with you. I am tired of being so disorganized and hands off with my kids, hell even with my husband. I’m starting right now! I don’t even have an excuse to hide behind, other than maybe just having a baby THREE months ago, however that was three months. We can do this! It will only be beneficial to us and our families. 🙂
I also need to take some inspiration from Julie and start meal planning again, that makes evening so less stressful and helps everything run smoothly.
I’m pretty good with the meal planning. It helps for sure.
I am constantly stressing about the house and how disorganized it is. I organize/clean up one spot and the kids are messing up another area. It is a never ending cycle. One thing that I have done (and I find super helpful) is I put sticky notes on the fridge for various stores…Costco, supermarket, Home Depot, etc. I write down what I need on the sticky note, so when I go to that store I grab it and go. No more big runs to Costco and coming home to my husband saying, “Did you get the printer cartridge?” Also, it doesn’t get “lost” on the counter of crap and the kids don’t take it. Now if I can just organize the rest of my life.
My problem with the post-its is Number 7. She’ll get to them. But I know I can outsmart her 😉
Laws I have been struggling with being disorganized for years, actually since being married. I’ve hid behind the excuse of my husband’s horrific disorganized chaos schemes of just jamming shit in any square inch of our house like ok, where did he put the dental floss, ummmm let me check the kitchen cabinets where we keep our food yeah that would be a place he’d put it or hmmmm, how about utility drawer and wouldnt you know it its right there…. I’VE ALSO HAD ENOUGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I’ve been thinking about this for weeks now, how to get started what to do…. where to find the time with 3yr old twins and a 10 month old and work fulltime. But Im not hiding behind any of this ANYMORE!!!!!!
Susie, you dont know how you affect people in so many positive ways. I wish one day I could meet you and just say thank you and give you a hug. You really are an inspiration : )
Oh, thank you! You can do it! Even if you just pick on little thing each day, it will make a difference. Even for me, since writing this post, the last 24 hours have been better!
I haven’t been very good about it lately, but what helps me is on Sunday evenings to make all the lunches for the upcoming week. I put them in plastic grocery bags in the back of the fridge and then that’s one less thing I have to put together in the morning while trying to get out the door. We do weekly meal plans pretty regularly and if I can, on Sunday I’ll do as much prep work as I can so that getting home from work in the evenings, the easy stuff is done.
I actually have the kids make their own lunches, so that is a big help!
Hi Susie, I have been reading your blog since right after you sent me the link after the NYC tri ( which I did with you). if we had more time to chat then, we would have realized we have so much in common! I have 5 kids in a ten year span, I’m a little ahead of you age wise , they are 9-19 years old. We also have 2 dogs and I work 3 evenings a week, and my kids are involved in lots of sports and activities. Anyway, I am not tpe A and I don’t think you really can be( and be the kind of mom I want to be) with a lot of kids. But, I do agree that some degree of organization is actually stress reducing. I have had tremendous success with decluttering and organization using a website called ” fly lady”. The FLY stands for finally loving yourself, and she is like an encouraging aunt or fairy godmother in what she teaches. She also gives you ways to work your kids into helping you and making it fun. I’m not 100 percent, but I’m soon much better than I was before- I usually know what’s for dinner, kids have their laundry and socks,and I have time to do my workouts. I hope this helps, it’s just another way to be good to yourself.
Conrats on the marathon! Awesome! Elaine
Hey Elaine! Thank you! Thanks for the tips! So when’s your next race? 🙂
Hi Susie- As Coach Kellie told me , I’ve been bitten by the tri bug! I did another Olympic tri in September- in Maine in the ocean with currents and a wetsuit, but thankfully no sharks! I finished but my time was not the best. I really want to aim for a half ironman but my running I needs help. So I continue to work on it. I think next year I’m going to aim for 3 or 4 Olympic tris and possibly a half marathon in the fall. there, I wrote that down ( gasp). I might also do an open water swim just for fun and to bolster my ego because its the only part of the tri that I’m decent at! But the fact that you are a swimmer like me and did a marathon gives me hope. maybe well do another race together! Also I am going to be helping TNT out with coaching swimming and maybe cycling up in the Hartford area.Although I let go of my fitness when I had 10 years of pregnancies, breast feeding and babies, I do think its critical for sanity off us moms! Since I went back ( when my number 5 was not yet one year old) , I’ve done 3 Olympic tris, 2 century bikes, and earned a black belt in Kempo karate. so when I say all that, it seems like a half ironman is an eventual goal! ( ps . team in training is doing one this summer…)
There’s one in Bridgeport, I think. It’s on my list.
I’ll do it if you do it. 🙂
You’re so right, all those little things add up and end up taking away so much time from your day! Mother to 5 kids, the youngest is 4 months, I can completely sympathize with you. Keep it up!
Thanks Amanda. You too!
OK, my plan. As soon as I get home (because I’m at work), I am going to do the dishes and then do them again after we are finished with dinner. Then, I will make sure I do dishes after every meal. That way, I am not rushing home to a sink full of dishes before I can start cooking dinner every night. One less thing to worry about, right?!?!?
Sooooo….did you do the dishes? 🙂
I did! And I did them again this morning after breakfast! I am on a roll!!! 🙂
LOVE THIS along with all of the replies to the post. Sometimes it’s really nice to know you’re not the only one going through these stressors!
You’re never alone…we all struggle with this stuff in one way or another!
This post totally spoke to me. I, too, want to do everything well but the hours in the day always seem to short-change me. I’ve recently started writing a list on a hard-copy, instead of writing it in my Notes app on my iPhone, so I can visualize how much I’ve done. I love the satisfaction of crossing something off. Also, heck yes, I put small, 30 second to-do things on there because it makes me happy haha 🙂
http://www.krissyj0606.blogspot.com/
Making a list is on my list of things to do today 🙂
I can relate to this too. I have been finding myself asking my 2 youngest (1 and 3) to play and keep themselves busy while I get stuff done. I then ask my oldest 2 (8 and 10) to play with the little ones while I get dinner and get it cleaned up. I feel guilty that I am not spending quality time with the kids. My goal is to get dinner prepared during nap time so when the older girls get home we can do homework and get to activities without being stressed about dinner.
I’m right there with you.