One Year to an Organized Life Experiment - Week 1 - Time Managment...

Ms. Leeds uses this first section to help the reader journal to look at their time management skills. The journal segment is designed to help the reader look at their past to see how that is effecting their present. If you’re organizing along with me, answer these questions as honestly as you can in your journal. Notes that italicized with the questions are the author comment’s on the questions.

Journal #1

Question #1 – These questions are about your home of origin.  Were your parents on time or do you remember both of them being chronically late? What specific memories do you have regarding time?

Question #2 – How were you affected by parental dramas regarding time? Did you have one on time parent and one habitually late? How did you feel about each of them? Often we identify with one parent and emulate their behavior.

Question #3 – Moving forward, were you a person who was always on time until something happened that derailed your usual modus operandi? It’s powerful to understand the catalyst to change.

Question #4 – Your reaction to being late: Does it bother you to be late? Often being late is how we draw attention to ourselves. If arriving late makes you feel terrible, it could also point to low self-esteem.

Leeds then discusses setting goals as she continues with the journal section. Here are a few notes on what Leeds says about setting goals:

            Be specific about the changes.

Write your goals in the present tense and not the future tense. This helps you keep yourself accountable (i.e. I make the bed every day instead of I will make the bed every day).

Keep your goals realistic. You don’t want to set yourself up to fail.

The next journal project is to make a list of what takes up time in your life. It does not have to be in any particular order. Here’s my list:

            Work

            Housework

            Sewing

            Friends

            Husband

            Dog

            Reading

            Cooking

            Grocery Shopping

Keeping up with family and friends

Grey’s Anatomy & Bones

After you make your list, read the following questions/statements and decide if you need to make any changes.

            Your list reflects who you really are.

Is there anything you need to eliminate to make room for other things that didn’t make your list?

Be prepared to make changes in your life to bring your time into balance.

For more in depth thoughts, not summaries and for more journaling activities, check out the first week of the kitchen chapter in Regina Leed’s, “One Year to an Organized Life”.

How are you doing on your 21 day habit? So far, I’m doing great. I’ve made my bed every day so far!!

Look at that made bed!! I just made the king size pillow cases at the back. My first big sewing project!

Close up of pillow fabric - I have a great sewing teacher :D

One Year to An Organized Life Experiment....

I love reading and sometimes I pick up really random books. I recently picked up a book called, "One Year to an Organized Life" by Regina Leeds. I really like her style, so I'm actually going to purchase a copy of this, not just renew the library's copy like crazy and go through a year of organization. Since I blog, I figure why not let the whole world in on this great experiment. For anyone interested, here's an introduction to why this is happening:

Prior to getting married, I lived with clothes on the floor and my queen-sized bed as well as in my closet and drawers. I cleaned enough to be sanitary, but was never tidy. During college, my textbook and research piles could have made small coffee tables. My purses and bags overflowed with extra pens, highlighters, gums, and snacks for class. I was constantly searching for things, but justified the stress and mess by saying I never had time to clean. After I got married, I knew things had to change. Suddenly, I was in charge of an entire house and two people’s belongings. Thankfully, I was good at keeping a clean kitchen and hated dirty floors, so these tasks seemed pretty easy. Unfortunately, my tendency to pile and put off routinely caught up with me.

My husband and I are now in our second home at our second military base and I am trying my hardest to keep myself organized. After several months of falling off the bandwagon, I discovered a book called, “One Year to an Organized Life” by Regina Leeds. I’d like to invite you to come along with me on a journey of organization and self-discovery. It won’t be easy and it will take dedication and repetition, but I bet if we try hard, we can do it!

The guidelines for this will be pretty simple. I’m reading the book. You are welcome to read the book also. Each month covers one organization area. This could be a room in a house or something like your finances. I won’t necessarily be going in the same order as the book, but I will use one of their areas each month. The first week of every month is time for journaling. The author has you look at your life and your past and determine how that will effect your organizing. The journal also gives you a chance to write down ideas and brainstorm. Each month has a habit to ingrain in our brains. Each habit is an action that you have to accomplish 21 days in a row. If you mess, you have to start over.  Since I’m not going in order with the book, for the last two weeks of March, I’ll be doing the first two weeks of the kitchen section, which looks at the basics of organizing. Then, I will be moving on to the bedroom section.

If you’re ready to give this a go, decide on a new habit with me. It will overlap a little with April, so don’t go too over board. My habit for the next  21 days is to make my bed every day. This is a pretty simple one, but one I need to work on.

I hope you’ll all come along with me to get ourselves a little more organized over the course of the year!