Why I Can't be Organized

I am not a very organized person.

I forget things. Often. I lose things. Often.

I frequently do things last minute.

It's not on purpose. I swear. And I don't enjoy those moments of panic, where I'm frantically trying to find something or finish something or when I have to say "hey, I can't finish this on time!"

So last week, I decided I was going to get organized.

I pulled out a notebook, a pen, got myself an app (pen/paper and apps can be used together).

I sat down and wrote all the things I needed to do on a regular basis. I wrote down all the things I wanted to do on a regular basis. {yes, things I wanted to do - like time to read or knit or other things. because I love myself enough to know that I need some time to just be on a regular basis, and if putting it on the to do list is how I get it, then so be it}. I wrote down some long term projects that I had going on. Things that would need a lot of little sessions to finish. I wrote down all the occasional must do's (i.e. cleaning that only needed to happen once a month). And then I made a list of all the one-time things I had looming on my list of things to do.

Basically I made a lot of lists! Several pages of several columns of lists

I looked this over and thought about the average week and tried to figure out the best day to do certain tasks. Weekly tasks were added first. Long term projects added to the days weekly tasks weren't taking up every spot. Occasional tasks added to the most empty day of the week. And then I figured every day I would try to knock off 1-3 things from the one-time to-do list.

Are you following all of this? It sounds complicated. It wasn't. I just had to spread tasks around over 7 days.

Then I pulled the app out. I'm using any.do right now and I'm happy with it so far. But I added a folder for each day of the week, and then I put my tasks in under each day.

I looked it all over and added in a few more things where I could. I started a folder for my one daughter who struggles to organize like me because with any.do you can share lists with people. Win-win. I can share a list and not have to nag. (okay, we're still working on this, but I see a bit of progress).

And let me tell you, I was feeling all puffed up and proud of myself. I was crossing things off the list. I was all "yeah. I rock."

For about 36 hours.

Then. Then I left the house to run errands on my list. So I could cross them off.

Except I did something not on my list. I lost my cell phone. And I panicked. I panicked like I've never panicked before. I walked around the store I was in when I lost it for 90 minutes.

Then I gave up. Admitted it was gone. Moved on. Without my to-do list. Without my phone. Feeling like I was Laura Ingalls Wilder.

I came home, defeated, but ready to keep moving. I'd just consult the paper version.

That's about the time I stepped on a nail in the garage. Oh yeah. That was fun. And by fun I mean a lot of pain.

Then I got a migraine. Or probably a bad stress headache.

And boom. Just like that. Organization gone. Out the window. Forgotten about.

Okay, not entirely. I'm trying to keep up with it. I've got my replacement phone, I've got my notebook and pen. But life is rarely like an average week. So I'm trying to do the best I can. And forgive myself when things are left not crossed off at the end of the day.