So many accomplishments are placed on hold indefinitely due to overestimating the effort required to complete them. This causes loads of regret and frustration. If you find yourself always having an excuse, consider this saying: "I have learned that I can long after I can't!"
Don't pause here to feel guilty. Rather, take stock and renew your commitment to living by your priorities! Be willing not to take yourself too seriously. Equally important in the journey toward productivity and organization for busy moms is willingness to learn. You don't know what you don't know, so "fail fast and often," to quote a favorite business mentor of mine!
One such thing that I did not know growing up was my love and ability for languages. In high school, and even college/seminary, I took NO language courses. It was not until I was completely immersed in a foreign country and thousands of miles from my comfort zone that I discovered this love and my gift! Every uncomfortable learning experience you reject keeps you from discovering beautiful gifts in your life.
I gained confidence in my productivity skills early in my organizing journey, but the confidence for organizing didn't come until I came across solutions for people with ADD. I didn't want to take the time to make things look nice: I just wanted to be able to find them FAST!
These systems have worked for a very long time, but would probably give your typical professional organizer a stomachache to leave untouched.
Recent changes in our family life have rendered the ADD systems I used for laundry and linen obsolete. Although I felt making things more "pretty" would be outside my comfort zone, I was delighted that with the right products, it felt pretty good. I am quickly defecting over to the "pretty"
side.
My during photos (That's right, there's no such thing as before and after! Life is "during" until death!) will probably shock, and hopefully ENCOURAGE you! Organizing and productivity are LEARNED skills, and not inborn:
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Socks Were All Together, ADD-Style
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Tshirts, ditto
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Remember that deep linen closet?
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Progress with Drawer Designers!
This is day 12 of the Fill Your Tank Challenge.
My personal challenge is 21 workouts out of 30 days.
I have 14 workouts left!
I quickly went from just me, to a family of 5 (got married, had a kid, had another kid, had a third kid). It was a "boom, your an adult" wake-up call for me. Growing up, I wasn't very organized, never kept my things in mannerly fashion, but I always knew EXACTLY where things were, and could always tell if someone else had moved them. With three young children running around, organization has become a must, especially when my 2yr old and 1yr old get into drawers and cabinets and shelves (the 4 month old, is obviously not mobile yet haha!). Organization is definitely a learned skill (almost an art form in some cases), and pretty is definitely not on my priority list as high as functionality is.
ReplyDeleteSarah, thank you so much for sharing this! Welcome! You are such a busy mom,and we are glad to have you here.
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