Organizationally Challenged

I admit it. I'm organizationally challenged. I used to be the queen of organizing. Somewhere between getting married, having a kid, starting a business, selling a business, and starting a farm, I lost my ability to keep things organized. (Is it any wonder?!)

Well, I decided (after seeing the piles of papers around my kitchen) I needed a change. I was being overrun with stuff and it was stifling my creativity. So a couple of weeks ago, I went on an organizing search. I saw a segment on GMA about organizing your family and I saw a tip posted by Big Picture Scrapbooking. I combined the two to create my own little organization system.

Ta-dah! My own little slice of heaven :)

A place to keep up with everything that's going on with my family. Who's doing what when! I color coded everything. Farm events are green, Rachel's stuff is pink, Family stuff is blue, my stuff is purple, Calvin's events are orange. EVERYONE can now see what's coming up and who's going where. I got the calendar/cork board and white board markers at OfficeMax (20% off coupon was used!)

The biggest challenge I had was all the PAPER we get in the mail. I didn't have a place to put stuff so it ended up in piles (and piles) in my kitchen, on the computer desk, just everywhere. So here's what I did:

I created six files and got these wall pockets to go right under our family calendar. The files I created were:

• Shred: If I don't have time to shred after opening all our mail, I stick it in this folder to do later.
• File: All the papers I need to file away go into here to be filed later.
• Bills: All of our bills go into this file. I look in this weekly to make sure nothing gets paid past due.
• Traci: If anything needs my attention, like a paper from school that needs signing, Rachel sticks it in here.
• Calvin: I'll stick things in here that needs Calvin's attention.
• To Do: This file is for things that need doing THIS WEEK.

Now, when I open the mail, it goes into one of these files or the paper recyling bin! Ahhh...I can't tell you how much this system has helped us. I hope it can help you, too.

(I got the wall pockets, files, and file tabs at OfficeMax. Same 20% off coupon was used!)

Creatively yours,

Traci