Organizing Challenge, Week 2

As I mentioned yesterday, Week 2's assignment is to write out the bare minimum that I should be accomplishing every day. Well, there's a ton of stuff I have to do every day, like feed and clothe the kids, clean up from one meal to the next, brush my teeth, but I'm not going to list the things I already do by necessity or habit. Instead, my list is stuff that should get done every day, but I'm currently challenged to either remember or follow through. I'd like to add more things (like 10 minutes of de-cluttering or 30 minutes to work on a project) but I'm not there yet. Hopefully I can add those later as I get better organized. For now, here's my Do Or Die list:

-1 load of laundry. This has been my "system" for a year or so. I've tried other systems, like Mondays=dark load, Fridays=whites, but that didn't work; so everyday I try to throw in a load--it's not a perfect system, my husband still has to remind me when he gets low on socks or boxers. And sometimes (like this week), I go a few days without a load and things pile up and it's hard to get caught up {thank you, mom, for throwing in a load while you were babysitting today}. So this makes the list.

-go thru the mail. Ugh, mail drives me crazy! I can pretty easily take the bills out and put them in their folder; I put the magazines to the bathroom; and the junky junk goes in recycling; but then there's the other CRAP. We get tons of EOBs from insurance (Explanation of Benefits), and I do like to open that, throw out the extra page and envelope, then add it to its pile--but they aren't urgent. Then there are credit card offers and stuff with personal info that need to be shredded. It's that crap that, if I don't take the time, gets piled. Right now I have two piles worth of this junk to sort through. So my daily Do Or Die will include going through the mail till there is no pile--everything sorted. And hopefully little by little going through the backlog.

-run the dishwasher. I used to have a good system going. Do a load of regular dishes one day and a load of kid dishes the next (bottles, sippy cups, pitchers, plates and bowls). That was when L drank bottles and we'd run out in 48 hours. Then we switched to cups and we had enough for more than 48 hours and my parents moved in and we had to do regular dishes more often and so it was all a little more haphazard. We survived, but now I'd like to get back to the old alternating system--so we never run out of silverware or sippy cups (actually what we run out of in the kid load are plates and pitchers). {{Why do I wash regular and kid dishes separately? It started off because L was allergic to everything and I didn't (still don't) want food getting on his bottles/cups. But we also have an express cycle on our dishwasher for pre-rinsed glass and plastic--so that works great for the kid load. Two different cycles=two different loads.}} So for my daily Do or Die, I will run a load every day, alternating between regular and kids.

-get dressed. Thank you, Catie, for reminding me to put this on the list. I get dressed nearly every day, because I leave the house at least 6 days per week (barring illness or other change in routine), but I tend to wait till it's time to go somehwere before I get out of my pajamas. Even though I don't plan to dress up all pretty first thing in the morning (I like to be comfy around my house), I can at least upgrade from pjs to sweats.

-make my bed. This has been a goal for the last year and I've made a lot of progress, but I'm still only doing it about 75% of the time. So it goes on the list to remind me. I never used to care or bother; every few nights Hubby and I would straighten the sheets before going to bed. But what I like about making it in the morning is my bedroom looks instantly nicer and it makes a good surface for folding laundry or whatever.

Brenda also provided us a list for specific days of the week. For Sunday, I've written down "meal plan and grocery list"--that usually gets done by necessity, but it's good to have the reminder. And for Monday, I've written "clean out food from fridge" because Tuesday is trash day and that's a good time to throw out rotting leftovers. I couldn't think of any other day-specific tasks.

That's my start. Like I said, I'd love to add more to the list, to build on my success (if I have any!) so I'll keep you posted. To join the organizing fun, head to Unsolicited Advice.