I've been reading a book on an ADD-friendly life, and one part which I really identified with was that you need to make things easy for yourself so you don't get too overwhelmed and can focus on your strengths. So, I want some ideas! I have certain things I do which help my life run smoothly, but I think I could do with some more. My good habits/systems are:
1. automated food shopping (some of it). I have a regular order with the milkman who comes 3 times a week. He brings milk, sliced bread and cat food regularly, and I can change the order online or add extras like yoghurt if we're running low. I love my milkman!
2. vegbox: I get a vegbox, fruit box, extra apples and bananas, cream, eggs and yoghurt every week. The leftover fruit is made into juice, I try to make soup with the veg, though not always successfully!
3. For the rest of the shopping I shop at the smallest, nicest supermarket I can find, and stick to the same 2 branches depending on where I'm heading so that I know where everything is. I take my kids wherever possible because they help out a lot and make it more fun! If I ever venture to a big supermarket I get completely overwhelmed very quickly, buy crap I don't need and have a miserable time, so I learnt to avoid big supermarkets where possible.
4. I put on a load of laundry every morning whenever possible. Hanging it out and putting it away is less easy, but overall I feel in control of my laundry situation, especially since I allocated my boys a clean laundry basket each which they are responsible for.
5. I trained my kids to empty the dishwasher on command. Emptying it is a chore too far for me, filling it is satisfying but I hate emptying it.
6. I also outsourced most of the cat feeding to my kids, my cats seem to eat 4 times a day and they get annoyed when I get distracted before I can feed them!
7. I book aerobics classes in advance and have them in my mental diary as they're on regular days. Exercising maintains my sanity, helps me sleep and if it goes, my life falls apart and I have no energy. Making sure I exercise is probably right up there with sleep in importance to my well-being.
8. uncluttering seems to really help with life generally, I used to always lose my car keys until I cleared enough space in my kitchen to be able to see them in the bowl where they now live most of the time. I still lose them, but it's less frequent. Ditto my mobile and my purse, I try to keep them in my big bag which I use for uni and try to remember to check I have transferred them to my little handbag I use on other occasions.
There may be a few more good systems I have for an easier life, but where I struggle is in routine stuff like regular tidying and cleaning, making sure I update my diary and actually LOOK at it, managing my to-do lists, dealing with procrastination, filing paperwork, that sort of thing. If anyone has any clever ways of making these easier or has any other systems which really work for them without being too restrictive, I would love to hear them!
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Posted 1 year ago #
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My mother is a very disorganized person. To deal with that she keeps her appointment book in the same place. She immediately writes down appointments, social engagements, even when I'm coming over. She keeps all frequently used and important phone numbers in the book as well.
For the routine stuff:
Make a list of all your routines under categories that make sense. Morning, noon, dinner time, and before bed are often helpful, but choose ones that work for you. Getting all that stuff out of your head and onto paper will help immensely. It will even help with procrastination.Filing papers: Ugh... my worst offense. It is said to file when that paper is in your hand. Never put it on a pile, although some people find that filing once a week works for them. Make it a routine - perhaps doing it after you pay the bills.
Posted 1 year ago # -
There are some cleaning chores that have become a routine for me. H and I try to rotate 50/50 monthly (so far without complete success as he is extremely lazy at times, hence my flip-out the other week), but one rotation is:
Monday:
- wash clothes (if there are some, that is)
- fast vacuuming (two people and a cat in a small space where I also have studied from a distance the past six months = lots of dust)
- clean a couple of areas where kitty sits frequently
Thursday:
- change bed linen
- wash clothes and household textiles
- vacuum and dust
- disinfect kitty house every two weeks
- clean bathroomThe other rotation.
Thursday:
- clean kitchen
Saturday:
- collect bottles that go back to the store when we go grocery shopping
Every day:
- wash dishes
- take out trash (when necessary)Daily: H cleans the kitty house and I feed the kitty.
It took quite some time for me to see how much textiles we produce for washing, but washing twice weekly means the drying rack isn't standing between the living room area and kitchen all the time, cluttering both visually and physically. It soon became clear that we have to vacuum twice weekly or there's dust and cat hair flying everywhere. We're still working on having this become *our* routine, not just mine, but it could be worse too :)
Posted 1 year ago # -
Wow, lottielot, I love the way you've automated so much of your life. That's the way I like to do it, too. Get things on autopilot.
I think checklists (I use iphone or ipad) are an excellent way to cover those things you're attempting to make routine. I did a review on my website of an iphone program that works for me (HomeRoutines) but there are tons of programs out there including the good old reliable little notebook in which you list your chores, a la juliajayne's suggestion.
To manage todo's, I've also gone digital. I like toodledo, but rememberthemilk is also popular. If you keep lists on paper, productivity guru Mark Forrester (you can google him) has lots of good ideas.
On chores/cleaning/etc. I used to be a key-loser as well, but now I robotically drop them into a kitchen drawer as soon as I walk in the door. I also do "half-assed housekeeping hour" every Monday, small loads of clothes daily, and use other mental crutches such as "polish your place" and "shine your shitspot" etc. etc. etc. to keep the debris moving out in a way that seems bearable. My whole system's on my website.
I have mixed feelings about the concept of zone cleaning to keep things under control (that is, say, kitchen concentration first week of month, livingroom second week, and so on). Theoretically it's a wonderful way to do things, but in practice I've had trouble keeping up with it.
I do believe having one place to put all your bills and one day per week to deal with paperwork/financial matters/other desk stuff is wise, especially if that's the kind of thing you procrastinate about.
And remember: the science of behavior tells us that reinforcement, or reward, is the best way to increase behavior. So why not make a list of fabulous rewards and every time you spend, say, an hour filing or doing some other activity that causes your procrastination to kick in...give yourself a beautiful chocolate bar as a reward.
Posted 1 year ago # -
I also use habit and routine to make my life possible (to borrow a phrase from the excellent film Memento). However, I've almost entirely stopped using lists except for a grocery list. If something needs to be done, I try to do it NOW. This has been a struggle for me, but finding a still-incomplete TODO list from FIFTH GRADE(!) 15 years later was sort of a wake-up call for me.
Posted 1 year ago # -
Parsifal, I find your idea of not using lists fascinating...and frightening! I, too, carry over so many items on my lists from year to year. However, one thing I find useful in having those (to use David Allen's phrasing) someday/maybe items is that it helps to clear my head of bouncing ideas.
I may just do an experiment on your sans-list/do it now method.
Posted 1 year ago # -
Parsifal, To-Do lists may lead to procrastination since the things remain on the list but aren't dealt with. The GTD idea of immediately dealing with tasks that take around two minutes appeals to me, but my routine described above forces me not to do things in an attempt to procrastinate before they are actually due. Think "wash laundry even though the machine would be only half full".
Posted 1 year ago # -
I've started to mentally lump things into 1 of 2 categories when they come up. Take a bill, for example. Either I deal with it right away and go straight back out to the mailbox or it goes on the calendar with a specific deadline or day to pay it.
This has helped me avoid ending up with a rolling list of two dozen items and not being able to tell what is and isn't important. Obviously the point isn't to be completely list-less, or I would spend half the day running from one issue to another without any sense of priority.
Posted 1 year ago # -
Lots of great ideas in here!
Wow, lottielot! I didn't know there was any place where a milkman would still deliver. I don't believe I have had a milkman since high school, in the 60s! There is no place around here where you can get boxes of fruits and vegetables either. There are some farmers' markets, but they are too far away. That would definitely make my life easier, but it just isn't available. I can only do a big grocery shopping about every two weeks or so. The supermarkets are at least 20 miles away, and the one where I usually shop is 50 miles away. In the meantime, I fill in with small purchases at the small, very expensive local store.
List making is a challenge for me, because I lose it so often. I usually make a grocery list right before I go. As a result, of course, I forget to put some things on the list.
I wish I were more organized. Sigh!
Posted 1 year ago # -
I heartily second everything said about making lists and setting routines.
If I go to the store for 3 things I need and I don't have a list, I guarantee that I'll forget one of them and not remember it until after I get home.
I'm also a fan of "a place for everything and everything in its place," with the phrase "and where I can see it" tacked on the end. I took the sliding doors off of the clothes closet so I could see all of my clothes at once. My stuff is either in clear plastic containers or open containers so I can see exactly what I have and in most cases just toss everything in where it goes.
When I get the urge to clean, I clean.
Posted 1 year ago # -
One thing I have found useful is to tag a new habit onto one that I already have mastered. For example, always take a vitamin with breakfast -- my bowl of cereal triggers the vitamin. You might want to tie-in updating and looking at your diary, for example, with another habit you already have -- like as soon as the kids go to bed.
Posted 1 year ago # -
@Claycat IIRC, our Lottie is in the UK, but I also have weekly milk delivery (the dairy's recently gone back to offering glass bottles, even!) and I'm in the States. I have a standing order with them and with our local CSA, when they're running -- there's a new place that's started building greenhouses heated by a geothermal plant on site, and if they can follow through on their plans to offer fresh things year-round, I'll switch to them.
@Lottielot My DSP has ADD; I'll ask her if she has any ideas!
Posted 1 year ago # -
Clay cat, how about making a master list of things you use regularly and putting it some where visible (on the fridge?) and checking off the items you need so when you're going to the store you can just grab it and go. This would work on an iPhone as well, of course.
We have a list of household thing that need to be done weekly/ monthly/quarterly/semi annually. For the last two we have months assigned (I.e. Turning the mattress gets done in March and September). When we made the list we tried to balance the chores over the year, though some are seasonal and had to go into appropriate months.
Posted 1 year ago # -
wow, so many eclectic ideas, excellent! Thank you everyone! I think I'll go through them and see what will work for me:
JuliaJayne: I've sort of adopted your mother's thing with the diary, I have become pretty good at keeping it with me when I go out and having it either by the fridge or in my bag when I can remember. I also got a family calendar for the fridge so my dh can write down what he's doing, not sure about running 2 systems but given his terrible communication skills it seemed easiest. Just now he told me the dates he's going to Africa so I wrote them down instantly in both places, if I keep that up it'll work. Lists of morning/evening routines: I tried that once following flylady, it lasted about a month before I got bored and forgot it all, too much effort to follow it though the house looked nice. I do however make a point of giving my downstairs bathroom a quick swish and swipe most mornings, so maybe I absorbed something. Only once I had a nice bathroom though, it had to be pretty before I would clean it!
ninakk, well done on getting a routine which works for you, not sure the day by day thing would work for me, my schedule keeps changing and I hate the idea of having to do a particular chore on a particular day, even if it is what I need!
habithacker, I visited your website a few months back and liked it, I will have to visit again! And I'll google Mark Forrester. I do seem to get on better with paper than electronic lists, because I can keep them with my diary, but I have an ipod I use a lot for emailing, surfing the internet, listening to soundblocking stuff when studying, and I've started using alarms and timers a lot more just to get me started, so maybe something on the ipod may work. I seem to use it at home rather than out though... I'll think about a checklist type thing, it needs to be really simple so I don't get fed up... I tried the zone thing too, it so didn't work for me either! Maybe it'd be easier now I've uncluttered the place a bit? Re the reward: I actually don't like chocolate very much! And I'd get fat, but maybe a list may be a good start.
Parsifal: how do you manage without a list? What if you remember you need to make a phone call but are out without the number or you're somewhere you can't do it? If I didn't have some form of recording then that thing would drop off the face of the earth in my brain! I seem to need to write things down, otherwise I keep forgetting, remembering, forgetting, remembering them again and again, drives me crazy! Kudos to you for doing it though, I do try to do things when they crop up, sometimes successfully and sometimes woefully unsuccessfully.
Claycat: having stuff delivered is great! Where do you live? I know in areas of rural France where we've camped there is often a van which comes round and sells the basics once a week, like a little shop. 50 miles is a huge distance, I would never go to the shops if I had to go that far! Do you grow your own veg, make your own bread, that sort of thing? I have to say, I make bread when I'm too lazy to go to the shop to buy more!
Nithy: your description of cleaning when you have the urge mirrors my current modus operandi. Sadly, I hardly ever have the urge! I can see the dirt on the carpet, I can count the crumbs on the sofa and still take a couple of weeks to actually haul the hoover out and deal with it. I forget about those crumbs the second I leave the room and the intention is gone.
susan, that was one idea in the book which appealed to me, the habit-tacking. I seem to be much better at getting up in the mornings lately, so perhaps I could stick a couple of extra things onto my morning routine. I take my tablets with my coffee, perhaps the diary checking and making a to do list would fit well with that habit. Not too many things though, otherwise I couldn't stay on task and make sure my kids are up and eating their breakfast and putting their socks on and taking their bags and brushing their teeth and wearing their clothes the right way round. Some days they are lovely, and others I have to use every speck of energy to get them to eat their breakfast so they're not late!
I have another idea: before my kids are allowed to eat their pudding, I am going to give them one task to do. Just then I got them to empty their laundry baskets, it took them 30 seconds and no nagging on my part. I think I'm on to something here! Pudding isn't a reward as such, it's just part of the meal but it's an extra incentive to do the small task I set them. Maybe I may do that 2 minute bedroom tidy thing linked in with pudding...Posted 1 year ago # -
I find that having the right tool for a task can make it that much easier or even pleasant.
also, it is important to try systems and constantly tweak them. They need to be adapted to one's situation, and as situations change, the system needs to be altered to fit the new reality/schedule/whatever.
what I am working on is learning to plan. I am not a strategist by nature, but I am discovering that if I assign a date for everything that needs doing, somehow it gets done. I guess it stays at the forefront of my mind then I tend to take action just to be able to tick it off a list finally. Simply starting the first steps of a task also helps to break it down into manageable chunks, making continuing easier.
Posted 1 year ago # -
my life changed when i read getting things done by dave allen.
i don't do everything he suggests (the 43 folders never worked for me)....but i do a few things.
i have learned to capture things as soon as they cross my mind and i have learned which tools are best for me to do so.
i have also learned to CHECK my capture tools regularly.
i am a big fan of the two-minutes-or-less rule (if it takes less than 2 minutes to complete a task, then do it right now).decluttering has been the icing on my organisational cake.
with less stuff to clean, to organise, to repair, to replace, to distract me generally....i am amazed at how much extra time i've got.
i am always looking for more non-essentials to carve away and streamline my life even more.
it's a work in progress.Posted 1 year ago # -
I consider myself very organized but I became even more so when my husband and I decided that we would do ALL of our cleaning on Thursday. It has changed my life. EVERYTHING gets done on Thursday. The weekend is then free to do whatever we want. I am not constantly cleaning and vacuuming. I think to myself
"Oh that will be done on Thursday" and then move on to reading, knitting, or beading :-)
Life is so much easier now... I highly recommend it!
Grocery shopping on Friday.
Then everything is done.Posted 1 year ago # -
djk mentions assigning dates for each thing. GTD works well around this concept as you always have an overview of all your ongoing projects on the Projects list and future projects on the Someday/Maybe one. Since you have to break down each project into its Next Action, those are really easy to put into the calendar the way djk suggests. I know that it's hard to do something on command sometimes, but I find that I actually don't get anything done unless I assign smaller chunks in the shape of the Next Actions. After I succumbed to this the clutter has begun to move. Just like bandicoot says, GTD changed my life too, even though I do my own version of the folders too. I just find it works for me, but anything that works for you is what you should stick to.
jmhva, Thursdays man, Thursdays! Due to kitty there's more to clean now, but otherwise that would be the only day when we do anything too (except for the clothes; there aren't enough hours for everything to be washed in one evening). I tried doing what Nithy said about cleaning whenever the urge comes over me, but that seems to make things worse, push the place into a worse state than if I clean regularly even if there isn't that much to take care of. It's also easier to make a habit of it when it's done on an assigned day, I think.
Posted 1 year ago # -
Great thread lottielot. Am going to take some of these ideas on board too. Like you, I am not really bothered by dust and the odd bit of dirt (but my sister can spot it at ten paces). Decluttering makes cleaning so much easier as there are far fewer surfaces to wipe than before :-)
Posted 1 year ago # -
one more thing: i automated every bill that offered it.
a small thing to be sure, but it all helps.
now when they come in, i check them and file them and recycle the envelopes almost in one movement.Posted 1 year ago #
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