Becoming Organized--Week 2

What does it say about me when I am too busy to make time for week two of my quest for organization?? It was a busy day at work. I hit the floor running, and didn't sit down except for lunch. I used each and every moment for teaching, not releasing my students until 2:45, and we were late for carpool. I brought a whole bag of "stuff" home to do, after, of course, the dishes, the laundry, the baby. And then, I remembered. This is the night I have set aside each week to read and work on my organization goals. Hmmm...maybe I oughta stick this on the calendar???

Week One was all about jounaling and listing and finding out just why I am so unorganized. And after completing last week's assignment, I am leaning toward the conclusion that it is all a bunch of bunk (but I am going to finish this!) According to this book, there are two possible explanations--1. My parents and home life were chaotic, so I am just doing what I know, or 2. My parents were overly rigid and strict and I am rebelling. blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. (Somehow I think mocking the book is not a good sign!) Neither of those really applies. I think that I am busy, I have too much stuff, and I tend to be a bit on the lazy side when it comes to putting things away.

Week Two is about scheduling your time. It includes things like getting a good calendar (which will sit in my purse/on my desk/on the counter/on the wall and not be used after the first two weeks, in which I will calendar everything we do obsessively), setting up routines, identifying time wasters. I have a good calendar, several even; we have routines, albeit chaotic ones; and I know what my time waster is, and I am not sure I am ready to give it up. I could easily give up my "sit on the couch and play on the computer time" in the evening, and instead clean and tidy and organize and do laundry. But my computer time is my outlet--my time to write, to read, to catch up with my friends, to research, and yes, to reveal my inner geek, do crossword puzzles. And if I don't have that time in the evening to decompress and let go of my day, then I don't sleep well. And if you have read this blog for any length of time, you know that not sleeping well usually leads to partial or total emotional breakdown (I must remember to check and see if people who suffer with chronic disorganization make excuses excessively).

One important nugget I did gleam from this chapter is this: I need to learn how to say no. Daryl says--and rightly so--that I do not like to be told "no." When we discuss something and then we/he decide that no, we can't do something that I really want to do, I don't like it. I pout. I feel sorry for myself. I probably do my fair share of stomping around the house. When I prayed for a baby when we were first married, and God said, "no...not yet" I threw the equivalent of a three and a half year temper tantrum. (And then He showed me, huh?) For this reason, I think, I have a hard time saying no to the children. Some things are easy. Things that cost lots of money, things that I think are dangerous, things that are inappropriate. Other things are not. Asking to go out with friends, even though it means I will have to make three trips to McDonough in one day. Even though it means that I will spend my day in the car instead of doing the things that need to be done. Even if it means that my precious weekend family time is wasted away playing chauffer, that the time I get to spend with the little girls is in the car.

So this week my one job is to work on my time management. Examining routines and establishing new ones. Identifying time wasters and eliminating them. Organizing my calendar. Learning how and when to say no. But for now, I have to go...I've got a newsletter I volunteered to write...right after I check Facebook. Baby steps...