I’m always interested in how others get organised. Sometimes we talk about if there is such a thing. Does anyone feel 100% organised all of the time? It’s also about juggling rather than having everything sorted in a military style. I guess we also decide how long our to-do lists are, but there’s the daily and weekly tasks as well as our other mini life projects (family, us, or work-related). At the last Mothers Meeting of 2016, I asked the panel about their top tips for getting organised. Cherry Healey and Jenny Scott hosted the chat with Anna from Mother Pukka, Zoe from Dress Like A Mum, Steph from Don’t Buy Her Flowers, Hollie, creator of Yes Mum cards, Clemmie from Mother of Daughters and Clemmie Telford from Mother of All Lists. Here’s what they had to say…
- Outfit organisation…Jenny shared her top tip of getting everybody’s clothes ready the night before (including your own!). I know this trick has worked wonders for me. Although sometimes I leave out two options for me in case I wake up a bit indecisive.
- Time away from the family and kids…Anna mentioned something she did the other week. She spent the weekend at home on her own. Her husband took her daughter away for the weekend so she could focus on house and work things on her list. Clemmie, Mother of Daughters, also suggested getting some childcare sorted if you can. This can just be a one-off or temporary arrangement with family or friends. Clemmie talked about when her mums helps her out lots with her twins. It allows her to focus on her work for a couple of days a week. The benefit of this is that on your days with the kids you aren’t trying to work too and you can just focus on the little people.
- Pick your battles…Not just with adults but also with the little people. Anna talked about breakfast battles and if it means settling for a breadstick for breakfast that day so be it. She wisely mentioned that it’s not about wasting time on the smaller battles.
- Getting ready for bed…To keep organised you also have to look after yourself. That means giving yourself a break from the online world. Steph recommended leaving your phone downstairs when it’s bedtime. That way you don’t look at it when it’s time to focus on sleep and when you just wake up. She also reminded us that it’s cool to get yourselves a retro eighties radio alarm clock where you can wake up to some tunes. Clemmie Telford also mentioned setting boundaries. So if it’s time to go to bed that’s cool. It may sound boring but it’s important to get lots of sleep when you can.
- Divide your day…Hollie splits out her work time in half an hour segments. Focusing on thirty-minute slots also gets you focused on particular tasks like paying the bills.She also manages to squeeze in a few minutes break-time for Instagram-checking.
- Delegate…Think about who can help you sort out stuff too. Who’s good at getting things done. Clemmie Telford flagged that when you’re stressed you can actually take on more and more. So be prepared to delegate and hand tasks over. Over the years I’ve got better at delegating. I’ve also learnt that things that don’t have to be done a certain way so respect the help you get.
- Shared calendars…Whether they’re online or up on the back of the kitchen door, let others know what’s happening and when. If you want, jazz it up with some colour codes for stuff to do for the kids, you, the home and work. Share the calendars with the right people like partners and family members.
So, what are your top tips for getting organised? Leave a comment below and share your tricks…
Don’t forget to check out my post on what the panel learnt from their 2016. This blog post also has been featured on the Mothers Meetings website which also featured the photo round-up by the talented Nicola from Tribal London.
