Home Organization 101

How organized is your home?

My husband and I have struggled for the past 10 years with a routine and organization that works in our home. We have tried everything from hand-written to do lists, online apps, sticky notes, and even hand drawn organizational diagrams.

Each time we tried again, our frustration with ourselves renewed; we tried to focus on the ideal of a better way. Each and every time we failed. Sometimes, it would work for a day. Occasionally, it would work for nearly two weeks. In spite of our best intentions, we could never create the routines or habits needed for continued success. Something wouldn’t get written down, not checked off out list, or a kid would get sick. Anything and everything would side-track us and derail our progress.

Big things happened

When I quite my day job last year, I had an unhealthy and unrealistic expectation that I would now have all the time needed to complete everything that we had been unable to finish. I thought: “This was the year that we would be able to get into a routine. This was the year where everything would not only have it’s place, but actually be in said place.

I was very wrong

Without proper expectations, tools, and commitment things will not magically change. I am a fantastic doula and educator, however, I am not a great home-maker…at least not yet. Over the last few months, a few things have become very obvious; the areas where I am lacking and the areas where he is lacking. This helped us to have more realistic expectations and a direction in which to head.

A Change In The Wind – The Search for Organization

We have a new focus, and commitment to getting organized. When you work for yourself, it is just as important (if not more) to have sufficient organization and adequate routines in place for your business to be successful. If we were continually failing at home, then being successful in business was going to be a struggle. We adjusted our expectations by being honest with ourselves about our strengths and weaknesses. My husband also found a great multi-platform tool for organizing.

Nozbe – Organization on the Horizon

The Nozbe app seamlessly syncs with all our devices and across platforms. It connects with everything: Google Calendar, Evernote, phones, tablets, and our computers. It allows the user to break down everything that he or she is doing into small, achievable steps. Each task or event can be in a project or category. We have projects like “home reboot” and “daily routine.” I also have my business goals set up under different projects such as “doula work,” “lamaze work,” and “website.”

As I am doing research online for a topic, I can save it to Evernote with a tag to remind me about it for a blog article. With tags put in place, Nozbe will automatically see that tag and pull the article link into my ‘write a blog’ to-do.

Every item in my to-do list is scheduled and put on my calendar. I get reminded 30 minutes before it is due. I also have to go in an check it off or re-schedule it if I haven’t gotten it done, so there is accountability set up into the program also.

The app developer has also set up 10 videos on how to get organized, each one is 5 minutes on a different area of organization. This has truly revolutionized how we do everything around our house.

You can see the video on the introduction of the company here: Nozbe intro vlog

You can find the Nozbe website to learn more. NOZBE website.

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