mrkt by ABL
  • mrkt
  • checkout {blog}
  • inventory {work}
  • abl
  • speak to the manager
  • mrkt
  • checkout {blog}
  • inventory {work}
  • abl
  • speak to the manager
mrkt by ABL

Checkout what's new
Things i've got my eye on

if i could save time in a bottle: organizing resources

1/27/2014

4 Comments

 
Picture
I'll be honest. In theory, I am super organized, I have an idea of exactly how everything should be organized and I love to buy bins and organization paraphernalia. But, in execution, I stumble. Sometimes I get the system in place, but then get swamped for one reason or another and it falls apart until I have a lull in my commitments and can devote time solely to getting reorganized. Sometimes I get the tools and never quite implement them and sometimes my nascent hoarder tendencies plus my current lack of space (though I can't blame it only on my current living situation) combine to create a stress-induced paralysis where I feel the job is too big and so I don't start. 

Picture
I feel so much better when others share their moments of disorganization. I can't tell you how happy this picture of Jessica Alba's full sink made me. Cleaning is another thing I struggle with, though most of our issues are paper and toy piles, okay, and the dishes. I think about cleaning and try to come up with a plan, like wash sort Mail on Monday, Dust on WeDnesday, vacUum on TUesday, but inevitably something comes up, or I get tired, or the kids refuse to sleep and I just give up. And as they say, something has to give, and for me, it's the cleaning up. When it comes to spending time with my kids or cleaning/organizing, well, I'm always going to choose my kids. And I don't apologize for that, but I definitely need to come up with some plan that I can actually stick to.  

I also have the additional problem of working from home. My husband is great, and he really does pull his own weight, but sometimes, whether he means to or not, I get that sort of "you were home all day, why didn't you clean anything" type of comment. So I started saying, "I was working all day. Did you clean anything while you were at work?" A few times of that and he got where I was coming from, but I think he would really like to come home and find that I've accomplished some household project. I'm sure other freelancers, bloggers, and people who work from home can relate to where I'm coming from.  And to be fair, it's mainly my personal life that suffers because I put home stuff aside to make sure my professional deadlines are always met. I recently took on a new part time job on top of my freelancing, and now that both kids are out of the house all day, I'm hoping that I can use some of the time on work-from-home days to clean/organize. January has been a rotating schedule of sickness for our family, so I already feel behind, but I'm trying to not let those feelings overwhelm me.

I originally wanted to make last year my year to get organized but I totally underestimated how exhausted I would be after having my second child. So, I'm hoping that I can regroup and make this the year that I get it under control, at least more than I have been in the past couple years. So with that in mind, I've come across a few organizing resources that I'm going to try: 

  • New Year's resolutions for your home - broken down by months, everything seems a little more manageable rather than thinking about it all at once
  • Paper pile makeover - as I said, I'm a piler, but I'd prefer to get back to being a filer. The criterion she used to determine what to keep and toss was interesting to me; I'm so sentimental though, I wonder how much I can actually let go of.
  • Apartment Therapy's January Cure - so I'm already a month behind, but it's really more about getting something done each day, right? 
  • 10 ways to declutter your life - some great tips here; I'd like to try the app, and I think the over-the-door storage is smart, too
  • 10 tips for better meal planning - we do so much better during weeks when we meal plan, but sitting down to plan the meals and grocery shop is what we keep putting off


Do you struggle with any of these areas? What works for you? 

P.S. Don't watch a bunch of Friends reruns while trying to blog about getting organized or thinking about time-management. It's really antithetical. Oops.


images via small notebook, lonny - instagram/jessica alba

Xx a
4 Comments
Maria Myers link
1/27/2014 09:26:43 am

I'm a total paper piler, and while I love this idea, I have yet to find a way to keep the piles from coming back. And right now I'm overwhelmed with life and too tired and terrified to tackle my paper piles. Any ideas on how to stop the madness is appreciated! Most of our paper comes from kid daycare and school projects...and they can't bear to have their stuff thrown away. :(

Reply
amy
1/28/2014 12:23:44 pm

I hear you, lady. My new approach to the kid art is this: anything that is exceptionally good or has their picture, hand or footprint incorporated automatically gets saved in a basket. Other things that are clever often get saved, too. Things that are mostly scribbles or that don't really need to be saved are recycled or tossed, and if I feel guilty about it, I take a picture of the thing first. At the end of the school year, I'll go through and weed out some more. Ultimately, I'm planning to make a photo book out of most of the projects and keep only the really fabulous ones.

Reply
Lori
1/27/2014 05:18:26 pm

Meal planning - when the kids were young, a blackboad was a great way to keep everyone in-the-know on meals, and get buy-in. Now that they're older, we have 3 separate pages on the iPad: (1) a wishlist for meal ideas, (2) the current week's meals, and (3) the shopping list. If you have a request (or use up an item), you know where to find the iPad... Everyone pulls together. The idea page is great for recipe links, too. The notes sync to the iPhone, and voila...a list in no time at all.

Reply
amy
1/28/2014 12:22:51 pm

That's a great idea, Lori!

Reply

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    #checkout this blog with shop-themed puns

    archives

    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013

    categories

    All
    Accessories
    A La Plage
    Amalfi Coast
    Amanda Nisbet
    Anthropologie
    Architecture
    Art
    Back To School
    Baking
    Bath
    Beach
    Beauty
    Bedding
    Bell
    Bicycle
    Black Crow Studios
    Books
    Botanical Garden
    Cape Town
    Carrier And Company
    Cary Grant
    Charity
    Closet
    Color
    Consumerism
    Consumption
    Coogee Beach
    Culture
    Decorative
    Design
    Designer Collaboration
    Designer Collaboration
    Desk
    Diy Envy
    Entertaining
    Exhibit
    Fabric
    Fall
    Family
    Fashion
    Flowers
    Food/drink
    Freedom
    Freelance Work
    Fun
    Furniture
    Gift
    Gift Fair
    Giveaway
    Gray Malin
    Halloween
    Hampton Designer Showhouse
    Hamptons
    Hardware
    Holidays
    Icff
    Inexpensive
    Inspiration
    Interior Designers
    Interior-designers
    In The Details
    In-the-details
    Jewelry
    Katie Ridder
    Kelly Wearstler
    Kids
    Kips Bay Designer Showhouse
    Kitchen
    Lbls
    Lifestyle
    Lighting
    Lisbon
    Luxe
    Maison Gray
    Men
    Montreal
    Moody
    Music
    Nature
    New York State Fair
    Nonprofit
    Office
    Organic
    Organize
    Outdoors
    Paint
    Palette
    Paola Navone
    Paperless Post
    Peach
    Personal Care
    Philanthropy
    Photography
    Pillows
    Poketo
    Pool
    Popsicle
    Product
    Redbook
    Rugs
    Sales
    Season
    Showhouse
    Stationery
    Storage
    St Tropez
    Studio Four
    Summer
    Sydney
    Syracuse
    Tabletop
    Tech
    Textiles
    Tilton Fenwick
    Tom Scheerer
    Tracy Hiner
    Traditional Home
    Trays
    Trend
    Vacation
    Vintage
    Wallpaper
    Weddings
    Women

    RSS Feed

    © 2014  |  mrkt