Lists and Pretty Boxes Do not Make You Organized

I love to look at all those pretty organizing boxes, shelves, and other containers. Anyone else go buy a bunch of pretty containers with great intentions of getting your house organized? It’s an impulse I often have to ignore. But having a list of things to do or a pile of pretty things to organize your stuff, doesn’t automatically make you organized; I so wish it did! I would feel more like the expert I’m supposed to be with writing and designing tools to help others become organized. Shouldn’t that mean I have everything together in my life? I could write a list of excuses as to why my house is a mess. Most of them would be quite legitimate even.

Chores Are A Never-Ending Grind

Everyone has to do chores if they want to be a functional human being in this world. I can write lists galore of what needs to be done every day or week. My main status is “stay at home mom” and I’ve got 2 loving young boys that make entirely too many messes for my organizing wishes. Daily chores somehow become long and endless. You need to take action to accomplish that list of chores. It is the only way to get things done, yet systems and routines are the only way all this will stay organized:

• Mountains of dirty laundry waiting to be sorted and washed
• Piles of clean laundry that needs to be folded and put away
• Stacks of dishes that need to be washed
• A dishwasher filled with clean dishes that need to be put away
• Floors to be swept and mopped
• Carpets to be vaccumed
• Shelves to be dusted
• Bathrooms to be cleaned
• Mail to sort and deal with

Organize Chores and Projects

I could go on, and I’m sure your list is quite the sight to behold as well. There’s always so much to do! So how in the world do you get this organized? While still keeping up with it? I sometimes feel like I’m spinning my wheels in mud. I am also living through a renovation, while pregnant, after moving into our house a couple months ago. Not the most ideal situation. I’m supposed to be good at organizing, which should prevent the whole “wheel spinning” feeling.

I am discovering that having ideas, and implementing them, are two very different things! Also, that chore lists and project lists are very different as well! Chores are those monotonous tasks we do every day, week, or month that don’t have an ending in sight (see list above). Checklists for those can be tedious to some, as you often repeat them over and over, negating the feeling of accomplishment. If all you ever manage in a day is chores, you will feel burned out fast! Chores are necessary, but having a system for how much you should get done in a day, and planning for it every week is the only way to stay organized!

Projects Galore

Now projects, those give you a feeling of accomplishment! They have a start and an end. You can cross them off your list and never have to do it again! Now that’s what I’d rather work on in a day! This is also when you can implement those organizing ideas you have seen all over Pinterest.

The key is to write it all down! Make a project list on a piece of paper (or you can check out the project to-do list printable in my Etsy shop). Write all the projects you want to do. The next important step here: prioritize! That’s where it can feel overwhelming. It’s impossible to do all your projects ASAP. Figure out what is most important, and start with number one. When you finish that project, cross it off and move on to the next! Eventually your paper will be messy (I know, I know… but it will be ok) with crossed off projects! You got so much done, yay! Celebrate each accomplishment!

Become An Expert Organizer in Your Home

My hope is the overwhelming task of getting projects done is eliminated with a helpful prioritizing organizational tool. That is why I created the project to-do list printable in the first place. Between my husband and I, we have so many projects we want to do and never felt like we were getting anything done. So I made the list, printed it off, and we’re going to start using it tomorrow! This is where my ideas will become realities, and I might start to feel like I’m getting closer to that expert organizer title. (Not really, but that’s the goal!) Who’s with me? Take those lists, plan it out each week, then start accomplishing those projects! Who knows, maybe you’ll get to use those pretty boxes after all.