to wonder if anybody else is rubbish with organisation and admin

[saturdayturnsintosunday]

I am always missing things, losing things and forgetting about things. I know it drives DH batshit and I hate it as well.

Has anybody actually managed to get on top of stuff despite not being very good at it?

dontcryitsonlyajoke.

Siri uses the addresses in your address book for location based reminders. You need to have location services turned on for it to work.

I've put in my favorite shops.

I use a location based reminder most days. It's often daft things like remind me to put the bins out when I get home or remind me to ask Sue about the dog when I get to her house.

You ask to be reminded when you arrive or leave a location.

It takes a little effort to learn to use it but it's so useful.

Siri isn't difficult to use but you have to practice a bit at first. I can get it to understand me almost all of the time now. There are some words it can't get but you can train it to if you want.

Some people are too self concious to use it in public but I've got over it It's just too useful.

I am excellent at organising and have it down to a fine art. I want to start a website like the Flylady (hers is mainly on cleaning) which turns you into an organiser extraordinaire in baby steps

I deal with paperwork and move it on. Letters from my dc school are signed and immediately placed in their book bag. Letters giving information are discarded once details are logged on my phone/hard diary.

I put reminders on my phone for everything. Generally memory is fine but I will not take the risk of forgetting anything.

I prepare in advance wherever possible. Iron and hang out clothes out the night before, pack lunch night before, pack bags the night before, shoes by the door. This means no mad morning rush.

Every item has a home. I am anal about this.

I agree with the poster who said that one must have the desire to be organised.

Thanks princesstooty - I'm going to give it a go!

Im naturally chaotic... Or as I like to think a divergent thinking creative... This saved my life... :

kanbanflow.com

I'm rubbish but I prob have a touch of ADD !

I have a calendar with a column for each of us (DD, DS, DP and myself). With both of us working shifts, both kids at school, ballet and swimming as well as all the other family stuff, birthday parties, parents evenings, GP visits etc we have to be organised or everything falls apart.

I also make individual lists for everyday, even the small stuff like cleaning/ironing. Having it written down gets it out of my head and physically crossing achieved goals off the list is satisfying.

It is a faff to start with but if you do it religiously everyday it will just become part of your life.

Large calendar on kitchen wall. 'A3 To Do' Note book, keep in one room only so you never lose it: daily or weekly list of 'to do' and cross off when done.

Add any school events/ Dentist/Dr reminders to calendar on your mobile as well as kitchen one as back up. Make all bills monthly direct debit and do paperless online billing to get the discount. ALWAYS keep stuff in same place, ie,door keys go on hooks by door. Shoes go in hall under coat hooks. Never have two places/ anywhere else 'as well as' for stuff. Then things dont go 'missing' as often - this one saves HOURS of fruitless searching.

I used to be super organised but this year its all gone downhill. I am going to look into some of these suggestions.

I do have a family planner, diary, phone reminders but i still forget.

I am crap too. But having a simple system in place is the best solution.
I keep a diary handy, all letters from school, appointments etc are written in as soon as they arrive, and the paperwork kept there too.
I pay all bills within a day or too before I forget them.
I don't keep paperwork. Only the latest copy of bank statements or credit card bills. If you need them copies can always be maintained. I keep a small filing cabinet in the garage, with sections for Tax, mortgage, insurance, car documents etc,

OP this is what works for us:

I keep a calendar for medium and long term things on then every weekend I fill in a big whiteboard in the kitchen with the events for the week ahead.

Like a previous poster I also send myself emails in the evening to remind me of things I need to do during the following day.

Letters about school events and invitations are stuck up in the kitchen, with a note of whether reply slips have been sent and info about what needs doing when written on them.

DH and I only go through the post at the weekend, and sort financial stuff at the same time.

PrincessTooty - i just came back to say I decided to have another go with Siri and getting along much better this time, I googled how to get it to make shopping and to do lists, and have started using it to set reminders. Haven't used it for locations yet, but have popped my local supermarkets into it's location list, just in case.

I am useless, forget everything. If it's important I remind DD, at 6 her memory is shit hot. My filing system is a pile of paperwork by the beer fridge, drives my DP crazy, he drives me crazy with his 'secret' organising i.e hiding shit that he doesn't like DD playing with etc so my motivation to improve isn't there. No advice but tons of empathy