Do you always misplace your keys? On more than one occasion, have you missed your child’s dance recital? Do you always go to work at least half an hour late? Do you rush in the morning to get everyone to school and yourself to work? At night, do you rush back home, prepare dinner, ready the kids to bed, and fall asleep without even taking a shower? If your life is a constant motion of rushing to and from work, school, and the grocery store, are you sure this is the kind of life you want for your family?
While missing your kid’s recital and misplacing the car keys are not life-and-death situations, you could be in for a treat if you miss out on a meeting with your mortgage broker. Imagine setting up that meeting and not showing up for it. Imagine the opportunity you could have missed if your broker was supposed to offer a great deal on interest rates and that meeting was the last chance for you to get it. A lack of organization can cause a huge deal of stress for homeowners.
The simplicity and beauty of being organized is knowing what to do, where to go, and who should do a particular task. It’s life-changing for many women who have to balance their careers, personal lives, and child-rearing. If you have to spend 10 minutes of your time every morning to find your car keys, that isn’t a great way to start the day. Developing a system that everyone can follow will change your life for the better.
Disseminate Tasks
Do you know why you can’t finish all your home duties? It’s because you have to take care of everything—from bathing the kids to cooking to doing the dishes to washing the clothes and folding them. These take a toll on you. A whole 24 hours isn’t enough for you to finish these. As a result, you’ll put off other duties for tomorrow and then your whole weekly schedule is in disarray.
Learn to trust your family by delegating them to tasks. Your partner can do the grocery. The kids can do their homework on their own (unless they absolutely need your help). Even your three-year-old can take the dog to the backyard for a walk. Everyone needs to do their part, so you can do yours, too.
Follow a Strict Schedule
You can’t expect everything to be organized if you don’t have a schedule. Are you hitting the snooze button every morning? If so, you need to start waking up when you said you need to. You also need to sleep when you know you need to. Hitting that snooze button is the reason why you’re running late to everything. It’s also why you are less productive than usual. If you’re rushing from one thing to another, there’s no way you are accomplishing tasks effectively.
Be very strict with your schedule. Make sure everyone understands that schedule and follows it. When others divert from the schedule, don’t let the rest follow them. Stick to the schedule, so that everyone can do their parts well.
But Be Flexible When Needed
However, also be flexible when needed. If there’s an emergency, attend to it first. Allow other things in your life to fall apart, too. You can take care of less important stuff later. Don’t stress yourself trying to get back on schedule. Sometimes, life happens. And when it does, you just have to let go and flow with it. That’s usually how many people survive a chaotic phase in their lives.
But when you get a chance to take control back, grab that opportunity. What many people don’t realize is that it’s okay to let go of the reins for a while. People get tired, too. When you need to rest, do it. That’s for your own good.
Take a Break on Weekends
Weekends should be for fun and family. If you keep letting work overtake your weekends, you’ll end up hating both—your career and family. So, make it a cardinal rule to not let work and errands interfere with your weekends. It’s bad enough that you have to spend five days of your week running around town, trying to get everything in order. Your weekends should be sacred. You’ll be recharged come Monday. Taking a break during weekends is a reward you owe to yourself.
You don’t have to be a tyrant in your own home to get your kids in line. Be honest with them. Discuss with them that you cannot do everything on your own. Once they understand that by helping, you can all spend more time together, you’ll be surprised how quickly they’ll offer to help.
