Organizing for the Non-Type A
Hey, we all got a lot of things going on in our lives. From all your family and friends, home, and everything in-between. It can all get crazy trying to remember everything. Especially when you have to do it with other very unorganized people.
Don’t get me wrong, all of this can be very fun and exciting. But if you start missing import things, or at least forgetting until the last second then its nerve racking. And no one wants to feel that all the time.
After this move, I feel very on top of my game with how much I got done and set-up within the first month. With the Internet, trash, recycling, TV, gas, electricity, bills, buying everything needed, and a dozen other things. It made my head spin. But I kept up with the right organizing tools. And for those of us who are not type-A organizers, finding what works is a lot of trial and error.
Physical Planner
I’m a paper and pen kind of gal. I need to have something physical to hold, look at, and write in.
Not going to lie, I’m a little biased to this planner because I designed it. It has all the space for me to free write and plan all my big dreams. Then be able to schedule them out for the year. They are broken down into quarters so you don’t have to plan the whole year out. But each section has a area to list all your tasks, then monthly calendar pages to schedule it all out.
You can choose whatever planner works best for you. You might need something smaller, or with each page a individual day. Look around, there are plenty of options at Target, Barnes and Noble, and online.
My planner, which you can check out here, and my weekly paper planner
Phone Calendar
Oh man, this has been my life saver for a while. I mean, we all have our phones with us right? With moving, no matter how organized, this get misplaced for a while. So all my usual organizing things and habits were up in the air. On top of all the extra things I need to take care of. I was starting to forget about my normal life things.
These guys can be alarmed to remind you before you need to leave. They can also send reminders through your email. Cause sometimes you need more then one.
White Boards Everywhere
I shit you not, I have 7 white boards in my house. Three big ones in my office, two on the frig, one on the dining room wall (center of the house), and one the floats around. You can say I really like them.
The one in the dining room is a month calendar so help us remember what we have going on on what days. The ones in my office has a lot of my business stuff, bills, brainstorming, and quick notes. I have lots of different colors to help organize, and because it makes me really happy. It never need to be perfect because they are meant to be erased regularly.
Weekly Planner Page
I personally like having one for my desk top. Just something to jot down things I need to do for each day and cross out ones that I’ll be too busy. Yes, its really redundant to have another place to put down my schedule, but because I have so much going on I try to put everything in as many places so one of them will help remind me what I’m actually doing. Not everything needs to be put on here. But it is nice to figure out my to-do list and spread it out throughout the week.
One Giant Year Calendar
This one I actually just started last year. Someone showed this product in a facebook group and I knew I had to have one. You can use either side; either vertical or horizontal.
Its really great to have a full overview of your year. So you see better your busy times, when you shouldn’t schedule things, and just nice to be able to see your overall progress. Sometimes we just get too focused on whats happening now and the next that we don’t really look up to see and plan. I personally like to have it so I can see all my bigger events, vacations, appointments, and my aerial training. Hell it really helps me to remember to put flea and tick on my dog.
A Spare Notebook
I keep one of these on me at all times. When you’re out and about you will hear about some cool things, get a recommendation, or come up with a great idea. Having a notebook on hand is great to actually write these down. Yes, you could put it in a note in your phone. But I find the actually writing of these to get my creative juices going and more likely for me to remember them later. Cause you do need to remember to look back at this to put this on your to-do list or to look up for later.
Not all of us are gifted in the art of organizing. Sometimes life gets in the way. But that doesn’t mean that you can’t find your own version. cause we all got lives to live and shit to rememeber.