Getting Organised – and staying that way….

It’s no secret that I’m not the most organised person in the world 😉

But I am trying and I’ve been experimenting with different ways to be more organised because I know that I really do need to be better, not only with time management but with remembering dates and places that we need to be.  I took the above photo on the beach last week while I was sitting in the sand feeling more relaxed than I have done in a long time and I’d like to have more moments like that and less of the kind where I’m running around trying to organise something at the last minute.

I’ve tried using the calendar on my laptop and my phone to keep track of things and I’ve tried using a wall planner but none of them were what I wanted so I decided to go old fashioned and have a notebook.  But then I remembered when I used to make little homemade books with the kids when they were little and I thought that a little 8 page booklet that I could make each week would be ideal.  So my little ‘Be Organised’ book was born and so far it’s working really well for me – I make one on a Sunday night and keep it in my handbag all week.

If you want to be this organised and I’m sure you’re dying to be, you need to learn how to make your own book.  I even made you a nice little Youtube video.  How organised is that then?

Easy peasy isn’t it?

Then you just need to decide what to put in your book, I have:

• a page for my week’s to do list,
• a page where I list the week’s meal plan,
• a page for things going on like parties and school things,
• a shopping list page that I add to when I notice that we need something or if I know I need to get a birthday card or present for someone
• a recently added important dates page which I tend to just copy over from one week to the next – this includes upcoming parties (dates, times and places), school holidays and any time off work I have coming up,
• lately I’ve been adding a goals for the week page which is similar to my to do list page but more things that I’d like to do if I get chance rather than things I need to do,
• sometimes I have a page for how much I’ve spend on food shopping for that week if I’m really trying to stick to budget,

The spare page is a random one for anything else going on that I need to be getting done.  At the minute my random page is a list of things I need to get for an upcoming residential that Miss Frugal is going on with the school.

My book takes me about ten minutes to do on a Sunday night and it really does help me to be more organised through the week – we haven’t missed a birthday party for ages!