Organize Your Time...

A lot of folks have asked me over the years how to manage their time and I have found that one system does not work for all people!  Here are a few tips on how to organize your time in order to manage it better.

1.       Schedule in your week/days with every hour accounted for,
          prioritize as you do this.

          Monday

          6:00                       Breakfast, tea, read emails

          7:00                       Wake kids, eat breakfast, get dressed

          8:00                       Drop kids off to school, 

          8:30                       Clean up breakfast dishes, clean kitchen floors

          9:30                       Pay bills online, make phone calls

          etc......

2.       I use 3 forms to keep track of my appointments, I have them on my 

          tablet, in a day timer and on a white erase board in my kitchen 

          that is part of my family message centre, this way everyone is 

          able to see what is coming up. I like to colour code my 

          appointments so I can see what the appointment is for,

          ie. work, family, social, medical, school etc

                                             

3.        If life happens and my day is not going as planned and 

           I do not get things done that need to be done I can 

           always look over my weekly schedule and see what 

           I can hold off on and reschedule the most important 

           appointments first thing.  

4.        Remember it will take time to get use to scheduling 

           your hours everyday every week so be gentle on yourself 

           when you miscalculate at first, try to give yourself a little 

           more time than less time to get a task done.  Worst case 

           scenario you have time for a cup of tea  

5.        At the end of my day I like to look over my day schedule 

           be sure I completed all tasks, those I could not finish for 

           whatever reason I prioritize and reschedule in the next 

           couple of days, I look over what my plans are for the 

           next day and make sure I have everything out that I will

           need to make tasks and appointments happen  ie. clothing

           for dry cleaners, item to return to store and its receipt...etc. 

6.        If part of your day is being online and you tend to get 

           distracted on there, I know I sure can, use an egg timer 

           for 15 minutes this way it will remind you as to how much

           longer you have to complete tasks but also will pull you 

           away from that great site with leather hand bags.....must  

           not surf over there now I have a blog to write.

7.        Make sure you divide your time up that makes sense as to 

           the locations.  If you have several errands to run maybe 

           only run the ones that are close together one day and the

           next make the trip to the further location if this helps with

           managing your time better.  Be sure to schedule in breaks 

           and FUN stuff like 15 minutes of online shopping or browsing 

           or watching a favorite television show.

I hope this is helpful to you and please feel free to share any of your tips on how to organize your time better!!  Thanks for reading  :)

Confession of an Organizer...

Hi there folks, I guess I need to confess something to all my readers....my house is not pristine, perfectly de-cluttered and everything is labelled...there I said it!
I actually used my own Craft Room/Office as a demo of Before and After Pictures:

 

 

Ok there it is all out in the open for all of you to see.  My life gets just as hectic and overwhelming as anyone else and well I ended up making my desk and small work table my dumping ground for all and any craft supply or paperwork  :(  To motivate myself I put the before pictures up on Facebook knowing I had to have after pictures to soon follow.

I guess in my house, yes, you will find baskets everywhere to house items and I have some things labelled (files), shelving to hold all my baskets and I love to switch things up once in awhile to see if another organizing system may work. For my office all I added were clear containers with handles, these are ideal so I can see the crafting materials clearly and can transport them from closet to work area very easily.  The rest of my supplies can be found in gorgeous material baskets I purchased off of ETSY, www.etsy.com/shop/wildfleurdelis she is an amazing seamstress and has any fabric style you can imagine, don't see it message her she probably does just not listed!!

I try to live my life the way I preach it, de-cluttered, organized and gorgeous, but had to share that sometimes life can take over and things get pushed to the wayside.  All I can say is I made it a priority and in a couple of hours I had everything in its home and created new homes for un-housed materials. Once we make de-cluttering a priority nothing can get in our way. If you cannot find a couple of hours then commit to one area for 15 - 20 minutes a day and do not start another area until the first is finished, you will be amazed of the results you will get in such a short time.

I want to see your before and after pictures, share them to help motivate each other...you can do this!!