to ask how you become organised and together? Seriously how??

[inatrance]

This is a question for any of you who used to be disorganised/flaky and are now organised and sorted. I have been like this for so long and I drive myself and everyone around me crackers. I'm unbelievably forgetful, I am late a lot and I'm rubbish with finances. I'm so fed up of cringing because I'm so bloody rubbish and make stupid mistakes all the time!

I've got an 8mth DS and a 10yo DD and while I've always had disorganised tendencies, since I had DS, it's gone from bad to ridiculous and I feel like I am constantly trying to catch up with myself.

I'm self employed (which is for the best as even I'd have sacked me by now) and have somehow managed to run my businesses haphazardly over the last ten years without fucking up too massively. Well, not often anyway...

Well, no more, I've had enough. I am using the New Year to kick me up the arse and I need your help.

If you used to be crap and are now brilliant and incredibly organised, please, please tell me how you did it. What changed in your mind and where the hell did you start?

I am so sorry to bump an old(ish) thread but could someone please send me the masterlist? I'll PM you my e-mail address if you can help. Thank you in advance.

I've just read through this entire thread whenever I got a chance. It's taken network month...and now I can't remember anything!

bump for a poster on Good Housekeeping

Great thread

This is fab, as its new year and hopefully some of you are trying to turn over a new and organised leaf I am bumping

Any more tips I need help!

Or have you done any of the ones below that have been life changing? (Hopeful)

Hoping to read through this old thread as it looks useful

I second that monkeychicken...thing is need spare time to read posts that will help you get organised and save time!

Thirty pages. Bloody hell!

This is my secret

www.organised-mum.co.uk/OM-Diaries.html

A friend bought it for me for Xmas now I buy it every year. It had everything. Week to view diary. Month to view planner. Budgeting section. Shopping lists. Xmas and holiday planner and you can run it from jan to dec or sept to aug. whichever suits.
It is bloody amazing!
My life would fall apart without it!

yes, please some one send me the master list too!

I have the master list

If you pm me your email address i'll email it to anyone who wants it

Love this thread !!!

callmeroger - I don't know know how to pm you! please tell me or I'll never be organized enough!

This evening I will mostly going though this thread with a notepad and pen :-)
And master list??? Not sure what that is but I think I definitely need it!

amazing mum of six click on 'message poster' in the blue line of callmeroger's last post and send her a message! You can also click on your 'inbox' at the top of the page and write a new message there.

thanks janek all done!

This amazing thread has given me such a boost for trying to make this year the year I actually get organised......or at least try! Very little to add other than in addition to the kitchen family-organiser type calendar which DH/DS manfully seem to ignore at all times, I also pin a smaller one, but with room still to write important info on, on the wall opposite the loo. My theory is that whenever DH/DS are in there minding their own business for a while, staring vacantly at the wall, perhaps some salient information from the calendar might make contact with brain synapses.......well we live in hope anyway!

Pppplllllleeeaaaaaseeee can someone send me the list. I'm new to mums net and only joined to get this list! I need all the help I can get!

Can I have the list too please!

Ooh, yes! I'd like a master list too, please!

This is one of my favourite threads. My life is so busy that if I wasn't organized I think everything would fall apart! I try to stay on top of things every day. It really helps to do things as you go along so they don't pile up. If you put things off then at least make a commitment to yourself and do it when you say you will. A few things that work for me are:

• I prioritize. Family, home, finances, and work come first. I used to be crap at remembering to pay all the bills on time. I created an Excel worksheet with a breakdown of what is due when and how it's to be paid. I keep a copy in my email folder, desktop, and a printed copy in our office. I also have a diary where I right down everything I need to remember for all family members. In addition to that I put reminders in my phone. I check my diary and bank account online every single morning.

• When I receive a bill I throw out the envelope, highlight the amount and the date it's due. Then it goes into a clear plastic folder that I keep in my (rather large) handbag. The due date also goes in my diary. Every Monday I sit down and pay the bill in the folder, usually online. I then mark it 'paid' and put it in the back of the folder. Each Sunday my handbag gets cleaned out and the paid bills are filed.

• When I'm running low on somebody we use and need all the time (dog food, toilet paper, toothpaste etc) I don't replace it with just one. I buy at least two or three to avoid running out in the future and having to make time consuming and expensive mad dashes to the shops. I've taken this a step further- if something we use all the time is on sale I get as many as I can. Yes, I know I might look like a hoarder with 10 deodorants and 12 tubes of toothpaste in my cupboard but it saves us money and a lot of headache. I also buy a bunch of blank, pretty cards in January that I can use throughout the year for birthdays, thank-you's, etc etc. Same with wrapping paper and gift bags. I buy my Christmas wrapping paper on sale after Christmas for next year.

• Laundry! I have to do it over the weekend since I don't have time during the week. Hate putting it away. The last time my husband organized his drawers I put little sticky labels in side each one with the contents on it (ie DH's jeans and shorts, DH's long sleeved t-shirts etc). Now when I'm putting clean folded laundry away I spread it on the bed with all 'like' items together. So for example I put all DH's t-shirts in one pile, my workout clothes in another and so on. Then it's really easy to look at the labels and stick the right items in the right drawers. Not only has this saved my tons of time putting clothes away, but our drawers stay neater much longer. It also saves time when looking for something to wear.

• I don't do batch cooking since TBH that's not how I want to spend what little spare time I have. I decided last year that's there's nothing wrong with keeping weekday dinners simple and easy. I bought a rice cooker. I'll call my DD when I'm on my way home and she'll cook a couple of cups in no time. Heat up some pre-cooked chicken and frozen veg. We'll do sandwiches and quick homemade soup one night, frozen pizza and salad another night. I always have a frozen pizza or two in the freezer, and always have a few boxes of pasta on hand.

Hopefully someone will find this usefull! I'll post more tips when I have time :)

leQueen and Helengrace - please come to my house - I NEED you!

bump!?

Fabulous thread!

I have been lusting after Filofaxes but do I really need one?

I use my iPhone for calendars/to do lists, have a family planner in the kitchen and at work I have an A4 pukka pad which acts as my diary/work to do list

But I really really want a Filofax!!!!

OK, So IABU for resurrecting a dead thread. I know I know, total taboo.

Thing is, some of us NEED this thread, and need a good reminder. Hope my MN sinning will at least help someone else (besides me). I've lost my way with it all, and am trying again!

SlobAtHome - I need this too.