"How I organized my entire life"

-a wishful post, from Modern Parents Messy Kids via pinterest


One thing I've picked up in unemployment is meticulous organization. Yesterday, I wanted to clean my room. But there was practically nothing to clean. Everything had a place, and everything was in that place. Have no fear, I ended up pulling out one of my 4 so-far-avoided small boxes of "stuff" and went through things I'd brought back from a trip to the UK a few years ago. But this high level of cleanliness and organization had never happened to me in my life before. It's kind of amazing. And not really that hard to maintain - once everything has a place it will fit, it's not that hard to periodically pick up and put it all back, especially when utilizing Gretchen Rubin's one-minute rule ("It’s very simple: I must do any task that can be finished in one minute. Hang up my coat, read a letter and toss it, fill in a form, answer an email, note down a citation, pick up my phone messages, file a paper, put a dish in the dishwasher, ...") to keep things from accumulating . I'm not particularly sure why I became so organized - it has probably been some sort of subconscious reaction to culture shock, spending more time at home, increased "free time," procrastination, the desire to feel in control, wishing to never lose my keys again, or some mixture of all of the above. 


I hadn't really thought of what it would take to organize my entire life though, at least in those terms. The post mentioned above however, lists these, as well as some other aspects of a organized life, beyond a tidy room: 

I've compiled and categorized enough healthy, inexpensive and easy recipes that I have a 90 day dinner menu (complete with theme nights like pasta Monday and slow-coooker Thursday) and I have the grocery lists to match.

There is nothing in my house that we don't use.  I've ferociously weeded out the clutter and sent it packing via Craig's List or Goodwill.

I now have a weekly schedule with time carved out for blogging, housework, play dates, park time, library time, and other activities we've been wanting to try but never got around to.

I also joined a gym and started exercising regularly (part of the new weekly schedule).  The kids love playing at the drop off center while I'm burning calories.

I went through all 2,000 of my digital photos, edited them, imported them to yearly photobooks and backed them all up online.  I've also caught up on my personal blog and am regularly contributing to it.

Last but not least, the hubs and I have a set-in-stone date night that we never miss and we've recently instituted family game night.

Although my job search is my first priority, and becoming more and more important every day, perhaps a little more organization in my eating habits, stuff accumulation, weekly schedule, exercise routine, photo organization and preservation, and social life are next. Especially a weekly schedule! :)