EPSM

You sit down to send an email and an alert on your phone goes off letting you know it’s time for a meeting. You set up your Zoom screen when you realize you left your notes about the project you are collaborating on upstairs. You run upstairs quickly to grab your notes and you see the drawing you are working on and remember you meant to look up a technique on YouTube and try to make a mental note to do that after the Zoom meeting and walk half way back downstairs before you remember your notes are still upstairs… Sound familiar? 

Call it ADHD, Mom Brain, being scatterbrained, being creative, forgetful….whatever. 

This is all day everyday for me. I have started putting some systems in place to organize myself, but it’s still a struggle. Throw a husband, four kids and a dog on top of being “artsy” and it’s a recipe for disaster. The funny thing is, I LOVE planners and containers and all the things that should help me, but I mostly just collect them. 

Things I do to organize:

1. I make lists. Lots and lots of lists. On Saturday or Sunday I try to start my list of important things coming up that week. I start with Monday because I want to be on top of that. I usually begin by writing it on a piece of paper, but the best place for it is on my phone. I just use the Notes app on my iPhone, but I hear other apps like Evernote are really handy. Then I also take a few minutes in the mornings, after the chaotic school rush, to allow other things come to the surface. I check my email to see if there is anything that has come up there. I check my phone calendar to see if there are any upcoming appointments. I check with my husband to see what he’s up to for the week. As I go about my morning, more stuff comes to mind and I just add it to the list as I think of it.  This is how I brain dump. I can never remember anything when I sit to actually dump my brain out. 

2. I try really hard to add appointments and reminders to my google calendar with alarms as soon as I make them. If it’s going to be a recurring thing, I make sure to put it in that way. If I put it in my phone, at least I know I have it somewhere with a reminder for myself. If I wait to write it down, I will likely forget.  This takes some practicing if you haven’t done it regularly
3. I set up texts with everything that offers it. All of our doctors offer text . I have to take my phone out and add it immediately or I will not remember. I set up text reminders of appointments so if I somehow managed to forget when it is, they remind me. I also love when it’s a real person and you can cancel/reschedule by text. I hate talking on the phone.
4. I make a flexible time blocked schedule for myself.  When you are getting used to it, write it down and try to stick to it. Don’t try making unnatural time blocks for yourself.  If you know that you are creative in then AM, don’t schedule your creative time in the PM. If you know your kid naps around the same time every day, don’t make appointments for that window of time.     

5. Hooks for hanging and Bins for shoes. There is so.much.stuff when you have a big family. I feel like 4 kids is the big family starter pack. Even though I try to only keep out seasonal stuff and we don’t have 10 pairs of shoes each, it’s everywhere. If you can hang it up, it’s off the floor. There’s a grown up shoe bin and kids shoes bins. It’s not pretty, but we know where our stuff is when we need to grab and go. 
6. Folders. I’m not great at filing, but having a folder for important stuff keeps it in one spot. I would love to say it’s nearly in a binder, but I haven’t gotten that far.
7. Wall pockets in the kitchen. I bought one made by Thirtyone that is no longer available, but the one I linked will deo the job. It works out great for having a place for everyone’s papers and little miscellaneous stuff that accumulates on the kitchen table. Each kid has their own, I have mine, there are places for pens/pencils, paper and envelopes, coupons, school forms, stamps, business cards…just about anything I reach for on a regular basis.
8. I like to have Two of many things. Like, one for upstairs and one for downstairs. Or one for the house and one for the car. Some examples- I keep notepads, pens, nail clippers, hand lotion, phone chargers and lip balms upstairs, downstairs and in my purse or car. This eliminates having to keep track of little things I use all the time. I also keep things like bandaids, school excuse forms and diapers/ baby wipes (when they were little) in the car because those are things we easily forget when leaving the house in the morning before school.
9. Post it notes and phone alarms.  Reminders everywhere.
10. Planned downtime. I NEED time to decompress. I have learned that the more I tell myself I don’t have time or don’t deserve it, the more I stress and spiral. After the chaotic morning with the kids and right before bedtime are my usual down times. 

Some people might do these things naturally. I did not. I spent years in survival mode with 4 kids in 6 years AND a full-time job. I quit working outside the home when I had my youngest and have spent these last 7 years trying to get everything under control, get healthier and give myself what I need to be successful. These are the things that have stuck.

How do you get or stay productive, especially if your tend to be a bit all over the place like me?