Speaking of organizing my life, I was wondering: How do you organize yours? How do you remember things? Are you one of those rare types that just remembers to do/buy/make/ things? Do you always come home from the grocery store with everything you need? Do you always remember to pack lunches? Do you always complete the tasks for the day in the office without needing reminders? Or - are you normal and need something to help you remember?
This is a popular topic in my home because LilZ sometimes shows the same tendencies I did as a kid and her forgets things. Whether it’s a jacket at school, or a permission slip, or to do a certain piece of homework - he sometimes forgets. I’ve tried to encourage him to come up with different “systems” to try to help him remember. He seems to get better every year, although I’m sad to say the most effective system is: Write It On Your Hand/Arm/Forehead in Permanent Marker. Hey - at least it works, right?
What is YOUR system? I have several different systems depending on the task. I repeat groceries I need over and over again in my head hoping it will help me remember. This is about 5% effective. But it’s better than 0% which is what the “grocery list” provides me in terms of effectiveness because I ALWAYS LEAVE IT AT HOME. At work I have a few things I use. I have a marker board, I have index cards, and I kinda use my inbox as a To Do list. (Bad! I know!) None of these methods - here or at home - seem to really help me make it through the day completing every task successfully.
On the way home Wednesday I said to Lil, “Wait. Did I make your lunch this morning?” Nope. I didn’t. And I didn’t even think about it until 12 hours later. That’s one of the normal tasks I do every morning, but for some reason I missed it that day. I sent my kid to school with no lunch. He had to get a friend to buy him a hot lunch on her account. It’s like I need a checklist before I walk out the door in the mornings. A list that must be filled out before the door will open. Why hasn’t anyone invented that yet? It would surely keep me from forgetting to bring my laptop to work, which I’ve forgotten EVERY DAY THIS WEEK. Bah.
So - enlighten me. What is your system? How do you remember groceries? How do you successfully get everything done for your child’s school (permission slips, supplies, homework etc) without becoming that Mom that the teachers all talk about as never remembering anything on time. (Yes. That’s me. I admit it.) How do you get everything done at the office without feeling like you’re running in place? Most importantly: How do you remember to FEED your children, since that’s obviously a tough thing for me to remember.
I like you have a habit of forgetting things. I started carrying a little notebook in my handbag. Anytime i need to remember something i write it in the notebook. Its always in my purse and i can pull it out and check to see if i need anything or need to do anything. This seems to work for me. I have already gone through 4 notebooks. Hope this helps.
I am totally with you on forgetting stuff. I’m terrible. But as to the things I MUST remember, I put a note on the door I will use to walk out of in the morning. Did I leave lunch money? Did I sign a permissioin slip? Whatever. If it is something I need to do on my way home from work, I’ll put a sticky note on the dashboard of my car, where I wont miss it. (usually over the speedometer), “pick up rx on the way home”, etc.
Its not perfect, but it does help.
My system is crossing my fingers and then still forgetting shit half the time. I also work “driving everyone in my life crazy” into my system.
I’m just scatterbrained. I’ve tried to work on it but to no avail. I’ve made lists and whatnot but then have done stuff like lose the lists. I had a calendar and then always forgot to look in it. I think I might be hopeless.
Haaa, remembering stuff. There are people who just remember what it is they’re supposed to do?
Seriously though, I use 3×5 cards. I keep them in my bag, so I don’t forget them when I’m going to the store. Throughout the week I pull the card(s) out of my bag when I need to add something or cross something off. One side has items I need to buy — on the left is my grocery list; on the right is stuff like clothes, HABA items or stuff I “need” from Target. The other side of the card has a list of things I need to do, like “get oil changed” or “go to post office.”
If there’s something really important I need to remember, like bringing papers home from work or getting gas on the way home, I will write it on my hand. (Then I just have to remember to re-write it after I wash my hands!) If I know I have to do something the next day, like re-scheduling a dr. appointment, I’ll call myself at work from home the night before and leave a message. The little light on my work phone lets me know I have a message, and that way it sticks in my head that I have to do whatever before I can delete that message.
I actually do have a dayplanner, but I forget to write stuff in it or look at it. My little “system” has worked pretty well for me, but I still forget stuff all the time!
Our front door is communication central. On one side of the door is a markerboard calendar with the activities for everyone listed. The front door itself is metal and we attach envelopes with lunch money, signed permission slips, etc. with magnets. On the other side of the door is a storage closet that we painted to be a chalkboard for lists, reminders, etc.
Every night before I go to bed, I make a pile with everything the children need for the next morning. Clothes, shoes, backpacks, lunches, band instruments, etc. If I have morning appointments, I also put a packed diaper bag, my clothes, whatever paperwork I need and my goes everywhere planner.
By some miracle, we have mastered the grocery list, which is the only thing I can offer insight on here. We keep a white board going all the time of things we need to buy and we plan out meals as if our lives depended on it (wait, they do), so all of that gets transferred to an index card or something when one of us goes to the store.
BUT. If we weren’t so systematic, we would be really bad at this. It’s more self-preservation than inherent inclination.
My mom is not the most organized, but her “system” is to carry a notebook with her in which she writes EVERYTHING. Groceries to buy, contact information, appointments. It’s more like, she won’t organize it into a calendar, but at least she only has to look in one place. When the notebook gets full, she records what needs to be kept (like phone numbers) and dumps the rest. Then it’s time to get a pretty new notebook.
Never forget things… HA! My last post was just on that. Have forgotten everything lately. I still use paper and pen. Lists. All on one sheet. Try to keep it with me/in purse. Take out - put right back in or it will stay on the counter. Planner in purse at all times. I find if I write it down immediately I won’t forget. If I say, I’ll add that later, I forget. Hence the writing while driving. Also, kids stuff - fill out as soon as I find out about it and put back in the backpack - Immediately. Only thing that helps at all.
At work, notebook on desk that I add to and cross out with things to do.
I’ve got a few systems going at once, but they mostly work.
1. I write everything down. That being said, I have to admit that the writing it down part is what makes me remember. If I write a grocery list, I can throw it away and then go to the store and remember everything on my list (maybe I’ll forget one or two things, but not usually). The same for the calendar - if I write down an appointment, it’s stuck in my head forever.
2. If I’m worried I won’t remember something important, I email a note to my husband and copy myself in a different email account.
3. At work, I use my Outlook reminders as reminders. The interruption they create usually is enough to jog my memory.
4. My husband is in charge of lunches. So that’s not my problem. He does the after-school stuff, and he and the kids have a great system that I have no understanding of.
OK…I’m probably the last to know about this one, but here goes…..
There’s this website called “30boxes.com”. It’s a calender. I, like you, used to buy several datebooks a year and rewrite everything. This website is great. You put EVERYTHING in there and you can set it to repeat as often as you need and you can go as far into the future as you need. The best part is you can set it to send you reminders (to your e-mail or as a text message to your cell phone) as far away or as close to the event as needed. I put EVERYTHING into this program and set it to send me reminders and it has been wonderful. If I want a hard copy of my calendar I just print out a week or month at a time. I think it has cured me. I love it.
As for lunches and stuff, I make a morning checklist, so everyone brushes teeth, takes vitamins and has what they need before leaving the house and I carry a spiral bound pack of index cards to write myself notes throughout the day. Obviously it’s not foolproof because for three days in a row I have forgotten to go pick up my new contacts from the eye doctor
Good Luck.
I carry a notebook that contains everything I need to remember. I also use sticky notes on the dashboard and a chalkboard by the front door for stuff that I can’t leave home without (and yes I have written LUNCH on there many many times) I also have list after list at work of all the little things to remember. Now the problem is remembering to use the system!!
I have a cell phone that has a space for notes and reminders in it. i keep an ongoing note in there that is called grocery store. so whenever i need something i pick up my phone and add it and since i always have my phone at the store i never lose my list. also on my phone is a calender with a reminder function. i use that to remember appointments or phone calls. works great
OMG, I can’t believe I would ever deem to give advice to anyone on this…yes, I am still TERRIBLE at most of those listed things…but one thing has helped….
We took a whole wall (well, it’s not that big) in our kitchen…and painted it with Blackboard Paint….and it’s become our communications/list/to do….wall. And you know what? It works….it really does.
Every morning, when we eat breakfast….(or at least take the time to feed the dog….if we’re running late) we have no choice but to see what is on the wall.
I live in constant fear of forgetting something, so much so that I usually am on top of things. I have a very compulsive personality, so when I am at the doctor’s office and I hear about people who just didn’t show up, I am in awe. I sort of wish I could let go enough to forget about appointments.
I used to live by a paper calendar (like the ones you have), but I have migrated to an electronic calendar over the past year. EVERYTHING is on there, and if it’s not, I forget about it. Which actually happened today, and now I’m fretting about what ELSE I might have overlooked.
Grocery store… I just buy whatever I want. I buy the staples (milk, cheese, cat litter, bread, bananas and lettuce) every time I go, and if we have extra… oh well!
If I need to take something with me in the morning — books, etc. — I put them directly in my path to the front door. Obviously this wouldn’t work for lunches, but it’s good for jump starting my brain. “What’s this pile of cra– ohhhh, right!” That said, I live alone and blocking the front door doesn’t inconvenience anyone. I also second the idea of a dry erase board, corkboard, or chalkboard by the front door.
I’m going to help you with 1 thing - that has been working for me. I give my kids a certain $ amount for lunch every week. That check goes to school & is for their school lunch account. If they don’t want to eat the school lunch they make their own. I figure that at 12 & 15 they can handle this small task. Saying that, my 15yo son will not make/take food from home - if he hates school lunch he goes without. The 12yo daughter however makes lunch from home about 4 days a week.
By making it not my responsibility (except for check writing & cupboard stocking) I don’t worry if I remembered to do it or not.
I have to write down pretty much everything, otherwise I will forget. I forever am carrying a to-do list
If I want to remember an item of food for either a party or for my lunch at work or whatever the case may be I always put my keys in the refrigerator. Because, hey, I can’t even get out the front door without my keys let alone make it to the car, right?
I forget everything, all the time. At work, I survive with a written to-do list. At the end of every day I start a new one for the next day, putting up top what I didn’t finish. It’s usually long and scary, but it keeps me on task. I also use a lot of Outlook task reminders. Oh, look, I’m overdue on five tasks right this very moment.
For my daily life, I depend on my paper calender which I carry with me everywhere. I get mocked about it at times, but if it isn’t written in my calender, it doesn’t exist as far as I am concerned. Electronic devices don’t work for me, because I need to remember to turn them on. Paper is always in my face.
My husband remembers everything, always. So if there is a task that I absolutely must do or something unusual that I need at the grocery store, I call him and ask him to remind me. He complains about it, but he does it. Because he knows the alternative is that we will be without sugar for another week.
As for kids, have them help you. LilZ is old enough to make his own lunches; which I did from 5th grade on. He’ll only forget once or twice. Maybe keep permission slips, etc. in an obvious place (in an open basket on the kitchen counter, for example) so that you won’t overlook them.
I use my inbox as a to-do list sometimes, too. What’s really so bad about that? When you get it done, you get the pride of pressing “archive” and *Evanesco!* (hah!) it’s gone!
Otherwise I make lists … I am one of those people. I’m also pretty good about actually remembering to put things ON the list. But, like Liz, I’m constantly carrying a paper to-do list.
Lists, post its, reminder alarms on cell and laptop, and refrigerator notes. and you know what? sometimes I still forget. bah.
I have a small notebook that I carry around in my purse that has all of these various lists and to-do lists on it. That way I don’t lose that random sheet of paper and I can keep immediate things and longer term to-do items all in the same place. I fold the pages over when I am done with them. It is kind of satisfying to see the folded pages.
I repeat in my head until I remember. I don’t know how…I think maybe it was from memorizing lines for plays when in HS and College. Sure I do forget things from time to time….as I get older it seems to happen more often. I am sure if I do ever get to have a kid, I will lose this ablity all together.
I forget things all the damn time. When I was teaching, I always had my grade book/plan book on me so work related stuff was covered — I just wrote it down in there and CONSTANTLY checked it.
Now that I’m a SAHM, the forgetfulness returned — only worse because I had the needs of a baby to attend to. I made lists but forgot them in my rush to make sure everything was in the diaper bag, the baby had been changed, etc. It got to the point that I wasn’t even able to keep up with housekeeping.
I’m almost ashamed to admit it, but I’ve started following the flylady plan — http://www.flylady.org. Basically, it all boils down to a notebook with routines written in it (at bedtime, you always look at your calendar and update to-do lists in your notebook; in the morning, you always look at your to-do lists to see what’s going on) and you do certain tasks every week on certain days (for instance, we have one day a week that is library day so we never have late books anymore and another day that we do the laundry or go to the bank — always the same days for mundane tasks, never any surprises)
I’ve kind of fallen off the wagon after our summer of vacations, but when I’m doing it, I get everything done, the house is super-clean, we spend less money, and best of all, I don’t forget to do things or come home from the store missing half of what I needed!
I’m like you and forget everything.
For schedules, I use my Google Calendar and a whiteboard that hangs in the hallway. For groceries I just keep a list in my head, and repeat it over and over on the way to the store, which is about 50 % effective. I also put things in front of the door the night before so I won’t forget it on the way out the door in the morning.
Like Miss W., I’ve started following Flylady, though I have to modify it a bit as I work outside the home and go to school and have a 9 month old. This morning was the second day and I had a nice, smooth running morning as opposed to the usual frantic chaos.
I usually try to get as much together the night before, when everyone is in bed and I have time alone with my brain. I sign every piece of paper from school and put it back in the folder with any payments (for trips or lunches) the day I receive it, instead of waiting until the actual day it is due back. I put all backpacks, jackets, shoes, laptops, etc by the front door. I put notes on the top of each backpack with a list of anything else that needs to be remembered in the morning (lunch, usually). Clothes for the next morning are laid out on everyone’s bureaus.
On Sundays, I make enough peanut butter & jelly sandwiches for everyone’s lunches for the week and put them in the freezer (my own version of Smucker’s Uncrustables). I grab ziplock bags and fill the with enough pretzels, cookies, and other snacks for the week and put them on a special shelf in the pantry with other easy to grab snacks for the lunchboxes. Then during the week, I can just grab a sandwich from the freezer, a few bags from the snack pantry, a juicebox from the fridge and lunch can be ready in under 30 seconds.
I don’t have such a complicated life being single and such…but I do rely on Sticky Notes…lots and lots of sticky notes.
I stick everything in my Outlook calendar. Then I pray the computer doesn’t break.
I can be seriously forgetful at times, but I’ve gotten better as I’ve grown older and more paranoid. When I was a kid I would regular leave school at home time and walk home, leaving my coat, bag and lunchbox right where I’d left them. I don’t do that kind of thing so much now, but like I said, if the computer breaks, I’m screwed…
I’m a rabid list maker. And I have to cross everything off.
I also call myself at home or work to leave myself messages to remember.
I write stuff on my hands too.
My new thing, though, is to set a reminder in the calendar on my cell phone. Because then it rings and I’m all “WTF?” Because I have already forgotten and the phone reminded me.
I have a calendar (yay!) that I put our activities on. And it’s in our kitchen, where it’s highly visible. And I make lots and lots of lists. Especially for groceries. I add to it throughout the week until we go grocery shopping. I still forget things, but not as much as if I tried to remember everything. In school I had a small daily calendar that I put everything in, no matter what it was, and kept it in my backpack. I checked it every day, after each class, at the end of the day, etc. That helped a lot.
Lists and routine. And still I forget things, like feeding the cats, and bringing coupons with me to shop.
I always go to the grocery Sunday during Mr. Boy’s nap. I make the list right before I leave, based on the menu that I have on a wipe off board inside one of my cabinets and an inventory of the fridge and freezer.
Every Monday, I have to bring Mr. Boy’s clean blanket and tuition to daycare. When I wash the blanket, I put it on top of the dryer. I put it in the car with the tuition check before I wake him up.
At work, I keep a note pad, and when I think of things I write them down. I also have a wipe off board that I use for keeping track of things too.
I like the notebook in the purse idea.
Lists, lists and more lists. and a few checklists. I also have a desk calendar pad that sits under my keyboard - I just have to remind myself to check it every day.
Now, my husband is worse than me. He has SO much running through his head throughout the day. (We run a restaurant.) I bought him a dictaphone (like doctors use), just a little Sony, about $50, so he could keep it in his pocket and just pull it out to record whatever was going through his head (grocery lists, payroll, payroll taxes due, etc.) He thinks a lot while he is driving and can’t write out those lists, or by the time he stopped what he was doing to find a pen, paper etc, a million OTHER things would crop up and he’d forget what he meant to write down in the first place. They would pop out of his head almost as quickly as they popped in. The dictaphone helped him a lot. He felt a little awkward at first, talking into the machine, but within a week or two, it became part of his routine. He just listens to it to remind himself of all those little things.
I rather suspect a hearty dose of Adderal or Ritalin would do him a world of good too, but, baby steps.
Well…i’m a fabulous list maker, but i’m also a fabulous list looser/forgetter! So basically I just forget shit and deal with the consequences later……..I don’t have kids and my husband pays the bills…just sayin.
Oops I put this in the wrong spot.
I had a semi sleepless night, I woke up concerned about our daily schedule. I’m afraid that it is not structured enough. So, I am making a magnet board and cards that have everything that I want to accomplish in the day, normal daily stuff like brushing teeth, cleaning and vacuuming etc. The magnet board has times from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm. Hopefully it will help remind me to have a reading time during the day and turn the tv off.
My normally horrible to deal with OCD has an added benefit of making me enjoy things like lists. So I have a notebook with times in it, and I write everything in. I also have a colour coded to-do list that I do with one of those 4 coloured pens. Everytime I think of something that needs to be done, I write it down…black if it doesn’t need to be done for ages, blue if it should be done asap but with no extra hurry, and red if it needs to be done within the next day. Then every night I go down the list and circle anything that has turned to red. And then I go through the red list and do them.
Oh, and I can’t figure out what to do with the green colour on the pen, so I use that for ruling lines on the page. lol
I’ve been known to leave post it notes on my front door AND on the steering wheel of my car if it is really important.
Groceries? I start the list and carry it around in my pocket all day. That way I can add to it as I think of things and I can’t forget it when I go to the store (although I can stand in the store for 5 minutes searching for it before I remember that I put it in my pocket).
This might sound crazy but I read this somewhere once. If you’re trying to remember to take your laptop to work, for example, think of something ridiculous, like your laptop being really huge and right in your way when you’re trying to leave the house. It’s supposed to help you remember. Concentrate on that for awhile and let me know if it works for you. LOL. Me, I have to write everything down or I forget everything. LOL.
My husband, the stay at home dad and general household manager, is in charge of doing the remembering around here and he relies on lists–lots and lots of lists! He has a general one saved for each day of the week and they are very detailed. They have really basic things like “feed dog” and “take boy to pre-school”. They also have weekly tasks detailed on the appropriate day (ex: Monday is bathroom cleaning, water the plants on Tuesday and Friday, vacuum on Wednesday, etc.). Each night before bed he prints off the following day’s list and pencils in any other appointments or essential things to do. He lives by the lists, and it works for him! He also does as much as possible the night before, like laying out his clothes and the kids’ clothes, setting out cereal and bowls for breakfast.
I used to forget EVERYTHING before I had kids. After my first one, I still forgot everything. After my second one, my mom told me to grow up and get my butt in gear. Now, after three kids, I am a little better.
What had driven me the most to be more organized was the fact I didn’t want my kids to be like me. I thought if I modeled good habits, they would too. Not so. My oldest is the most forgetful child on the planet. But when I forget something (I still do) he is always the first one to point it out.
I guess I am rambling here. I try my best now. With lists, phone messages (I leave for myself), etc. Most likely the kids will grow up and remember the times when I forgot something. Isn’t that how it works?
I generally remember stuff but sometimes it gets too much. I use multiple methods to keep everything in track.
1. put reminders on my cell phone, generally for birthdays, anniversaries, etc and also for things like “return library book” which I set for first thing in the morning and I do it as soon as I see the reminder.
2. We use Google calendar in office (maybe cuz I work in Google!) so all my office stuff is in there, I leave personal notes for myself.
3. For groceries and other stuff, I leave a post-it on my refrigerator, and keep adding onto the list till its Saturday and time to go shopping!
Its quite effective, though its all in three different places
I use one of those giant desk blotter calendars and I hang it on my kitchen wall near the door I walk out of every morning. I write every single appointment or event I or my children have to attend. And if I have to take something special with me that day, I write it in the square for that date. It’s worked pretty well. But I’ve still been known to leave my grocery list at home. And God forbid I don’t write something on the calendar because then I will surely forget.
I’m all about my new filofax. I’ve actually carried around one of these buggers since college and can’t seem to transition to the electronic side of things. I always have a little notepad and stickys inside so I can jot down stuff when needed. Organizing sucks.
I am soo forgetful (early onset alzheimers?). But at the same time, I’m an organizing freak. I can’t function in chaos. About 2 years ago I read somewhere that it takes 21 days to make something a habbit. So, I bought a dayrunner and for 21 days straight, I set aside time every morning (between blurry eyes and coffee) to jot down things I had to accomplish that day, appointments, etc, and made sure to put the dayplanner in plain view where I could see it every morning, first thing (The bathroom of course!) Now, I can’t function without my dayrunner. So much so infact that I’ve started designing my own forms to refill it with.
I see I am totally behind in the game here! I carry a small notebook with me at all times. I never know when it might come in handy! I ALWAYS have to have a grocery list at the store, or I am totally screwed.
Don’t feel bad. I think it’s ’cause we are all mom’s. We have A LOT on our plates. We are bound to forget a few things,right?
I carry a notebook too. If I don’t I will not get out of the store with everything. I really believe the rumor that when you give birth the child takes a bit of your brain power. What has become of me?
I’m so behind in my reading that I’m just now here. But I had to respond (and I apologize if someone has already said something like this–I haven’t read the other comments). You say, “It’s like I need a checklist before I walk out the door in the mornings. A list that must be filled out before the door will open. Why hasn’t anyone invented that yet?”
Well, I have exactly that. And I’m not talking about your garden-variety “to-do” list. Actually, it’s one of those super-sticky extra large post-its on which I wrote a simple list of the important things that must be done every weekday morning before leaving the house–Al’s lunch packed, workout clothes packed, teeth brushed, pants on, things like that. Seriously. I check it before heading off every day. I got sick and tired of forgetting basic things. Checklists are your (and my!) friend.
I have a Mom calendar that has a column for each family member.
http://tinyurl.com/ypxqfr
It has to be written on the calendar! My 17 year old son has now realized the importance of this. We gather at the calendar a couple of times a week and go over whatever is happening. I also have implemented the 48 hour rule. If I do not know about the event 48 hours ahead of time, he doesn’t get to go.
Cool link