Mailbag: Question & Answer Part 3

Question #4
My questions is this:  How did you learn how to become so incredibly organized with planning and organizing meals, family time, homeschool, church, Bible study, cleaning, etc.? You seem so on the ball!

Answer
Pay attention to the word you used in your question - "LEARN how".  That is exactly how, I learned it.  I spent years getting sick and tired of things not being how I wanted them, not having a schedule to my day, being disorganized and I just resolved to change it.  No fancy program - definitely not Fly Lady! She drove me nuts LOL.  Just pen and paper, the good ole' fashioned way. I do use Google calendar now some but my main tools are still pen and paper and that is how I've done most of my planning.

I have weeks were I don't clean and things get hectic and it is because of those weeks that I strive all the other weeks to keep that from happening! I can't even think straight if things aren't where they should be, etc. How can you think amidst clutter, dirt and filth?

I want things really simple and what may work for others wasn't working for me so I had to find what worked for ME. I still feel like I have a ways to go because the whole house is not how I want it yet but I have come a long way with other areas and for that I'm grateful unto God for helping me get a schedule and way that worked for me.

Above all you must have GOALS. I know a lot of people always make fun of people that make goals and such but they are usually the same people who aren't getting anything done. Fitzhuh Dodson said

"Without goals, and plans to reach them, you are like a ship that has set sail with no destination."

Not only having them but writing them down! There is something about putting things down on paper that sets it in your mind - one reason I'm a writer - its not only a passion and love for me, its therapeutic! If you don't write your goals down, one man said, then they are just wishes.

I made a list one time about what I envisioned the perfect day in my home to be like.  I simply wrote down bits and pieces of this vision/dream and then sat back and just drank it all in, figuratively speaking.  It was a wonderful feeling!  I then acted upon those things as best I could and ditched what I realized just wasn't logical for me at that time.

As far as homeschool goes, that is just trial and error - finding out what works for me.  I really put my all into it because I believe my calling is not only a wife, mother and homekeeper - I'm also my child's greatest teacher!

To sum it all up - if what you are doing isn't working, quit doing it and try something new till you find what works for you!