How do you stay organized?

[Hybrid Mom]

Do you have an organizer that works very well for you? Do you plan in advance in order to stay as organized as possible? Is you PDA the most trusted device you own? Does everything have its proper place in your home?

How do yo stay organized?

[Kelly - Macaroni and Glue]

This is one of my favorite topics. I have a "system" for everything. People think I'm nuts, but it gets the job done. I blogged about it here: http://macaroniandglue.blogspot.com/2008/03/order-from-chaos-how-i-...

I swear by scheduling. In fact, I've recently revamped the "system" to include blocking out specific chunks of time in every day for the tasks I need to complete that day. Taking that additional step has actually improved my ability to separate work time from mommy time - something I didn't feel I was doing very well before.

[Dannie]

I keep everything organized around me, but me - I am very unorganized. Blogs, work, kids is all scheduled, but there time is my time. When I get time to myself, I have no clue what to do. I will be using a phone PDA soon, iPhone 3G - but right I keep everything in an online calendar, except my blogs. Those are written out in weekly blocks by the day I choose to work on a specific blog.

[MicheleD]

I've followed the "plan weekly, prioritize daily" approach for many years and it works well for me at work and home.

Once a week, usually a Sunday evening, I sit down with my calendar and put in all my high priority tasks and/or goals for the week. I avoid filling my calendar to more than 60-65% capacity and will sometimes enlist the help of others to ensure I don't overbook myself. As the week presses on, I'm able to handle unexpected events (which always happens) with a minimal amount of stress.

Then daily, I review my task list and appointment calendar to determine what things must be done first, second, next and so on. I do one no-brainer, easy task first (just to get me going), next I tackle a tough one (like sales calls or high-concentration projects), and then I work on the remaining to-do's in order or urgency and priority.

Keeping on this kind of weekly routine requires discipline and sometimes there are Sundays when I'd rather skip the process. But when I do, my week is often chaotic, stress-filled, and I don't get the important things done.