Table of Contents

-Introduction
-Monthly Mission – Kids Stuff
-Check Out These Pages! – Relevant pages and new site additions
-Going With the Flow

Introduction

Hello Everyone! It’s been a while since I’ve checked in. Quite frankly, my mental load and all the school and home responsibilities took my attention. We’re only human, and we can only manage so much without getting overly stressed out. (See below)

In August, I went back to work, and the kids went back to school. Our days are back to being busy with school responsibilities and less time for our home responsibilities. At the same time, I’m glad we’re all busy being part of our school community and friends and not just sleeping in every morning anymore.

A new school year means a new wall calendar! I put all my upcoming events for the school year on the calendar and we're ready to roll!

If you love to shop online and you're not using Ebates, you're leaving money on the table! Earn cash back for your online purchases you were already making! I have received several "Big Fat Checks" over the years! Check it out. Click on the Ebates logo.

With the start of school (especially those younger grades) you have lots of school projects to adore and store. As well, kids in general have a ton of stuff to organize. I keep thinking that as kids get older, they’ll have less stuff, but my daughter has proven me wrong so far. To help organize most of your kids stuff, see the monthly mission for September, here.

If you prefer to go digital, you might enjoy the Cozi Family Organizer. You can sync everyone's schedules together at no charge.

If you’re in a hurry to put some order back into your home, perhaps Mimi Tanner's unique method will give you that jumpstart. Check out her method at Declutter Fast: How To Get Your Home In Order Almost Immediately.

Here are some pertinent pages on the website you may have missed along with any new pages.

Garage Organizing - It's almost summer with lots of warm weather... the perfect time to get out there and clean out that garage! Crank the tunes and bring your favorite beverage!

Organize Toys - The kids are out from school. Why not make a plan to have them help you organize all their toys?

Home Filing System - Get your home filing organized before tax season gets here.

Meal Planning - Plan ahead for meals to reduce trips to the grocery store and save time.

Time Savers - Here are a few quick time savers to make your day run more efficiently.

Going With the Flow

I’ve been busy with medical appointments, going back to work, kids going back to school, school appointments, social get togethers, etc. It really keeps the calendar loaded and colorful (I love to color code my calendar) . There are days though where my first instinct is to look at everything on the calendar and the to do list and feel overwhelmed.

Lately though, I’ve been more in the mindset of “I’m only going to what I’m able to do.” If my day is busy, I’m only going to do what I need to, and not try to squeeze every minute of the day full of extra chores and errands. Why do we push ourselves so hard?

I do not consider myself a slacker. I prefer to busy and productive. But I also don’t like to exhaust myself and cause undo stress.

Just because there are several items on a day’s to do list doesn’t mean it’s going to be an all out crazy exhausting day. Chores, errands and appointments may take a good chunk of time, but it doesn’t have to be high stress and worry the whole time. I have been trying to stay in the moment and focus on the task at hand and it helps me to relax and not stress.

So let’s say… after working for part of the day, it takes 20 min. to pick up kids from school. 30 minutes to drive to the appointment. 30 to 60 minutes for the appointment, depending on what it is. 30 minutes to drive home. Next week we have three appointments in one day!!!

We are where we are, stuck driving in a car, or sitting at a doctor’s office. It only becomes stressful when we think in our heads that we should be somewhere else doing X, Y, Z. It is what it is, so be here, where you are right now, and do your best to enjoy it. Play some music while driving and chat with the kids. While waiting in the doctor’s office we play “I Spy” or bring a book. When we’re done, we’ll go home, and it’ll take as long as it takes. We don’t need to be anywhere else except where we are. Dinner will get cooked after I get home, not before, so why freak out about it.

I’ve let myself off the hook and doing only what I’m able to do comfortably and not getting upset that I couldn’t do everything on the big never ending list.


Until next time, happy organizing!

Tracy Greene
Plan-and-Organize-Life.com